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| Mary Nellis (right) and her husband, Bob (center), visit Betty Bormett (left) at Bormett’s home in Madison. The Nellises are part of the Parish Care Team through St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Madison and Catholic Charities Madison. Care Team members volunteer to help the homebound or those living alone to preserve a rich and independent lifestyle through home visits and other means. (Contributed photo) |
MADISON — “It’s a very personal ministry, taking care of people.”
For the past 10 years, Mary Nellis of Madison has been involved in that “personal ministry.”
She is one of two team leaders of the Parish Care Team at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Madison.
Nellis said the mission of the care team is “to be able to keep [those homebound or living alone] as independent as possible with a little bit of support from the parish and from fellow parishioners.”
Team members offer friendly visits and phone contacts; assistance with shopping, errands, and household tasks; along with emotional support, prayer, and home Communion visits.
“We will go in and bring the Eucharist to them and visit with them,” said Nellis, “and share something from the Mass the previous weekend, or just do a social visit with somebody who is lonely and who would appreciate somebody within the parish coming and just being a friend.”
The team also offers respite, relief, and support to family caregivers so they may rest and relax.
Catholic Charities Madison partners with the team to provide training and on-going consultation.
Getting involved
Nellis said she comes “from a long line of volunteers in my family,” and saw a need to get involved in the care team ministry as her own parents eventually needed respite care and realized some people don’t have anyone to come and check on them.
Her husband, Bob, got involved with the ministry first, and she soon followed.
One of her first partners was a wife suffering from dementia and nearing death.