'A calling to work with the elderly'
November 26, 2009
Millie Giesecke, the administrator of the Cape Elizabeth Home, South Portland, serves lunch to residents and guests Wednesday. At the table are Betty Honan, a volunteer and board member, and resident Margaret Salway.
Jack Milton/Staff Photographer
MILLIE GIESECKE
WHO: Administrator,
Cape Elizabeth HomeADDRESS: 521 Ocean St., South Portland
PHONE: 799-4992
WEB SITE: www.capeelizabethhome.org
E-MAIL: ardmor5@aol.com
AGE: 63
ABOUT SHOPTALK
THE QUESTIONS for Shoptalk are compiled by Staff Writer John Rolfe.
DO YOU know of someone who would make an interesting candidate for Shoptalk? Send your suggestion to jrolfe@pressherald.com.
Q. How long have you been in this job?
A. Well, I started working at the home in 1987, as a caregiver, and became administrator in '01.
Q. What have you done for previous jobs?
A. Actually, let's see, for a while I had to do night jobs, while I was raising kids. I was a waitress at the Marshview for eight years. I also taught English and history at Southern Maine Christian School, which used to be the St. Louis Home for Boys (at Dunstan Corner).
Q. Are you from around here?
A. I'm from Boston. I moved up here to work at Jordan Marsh in the early '70s. I was a salesperson in toys and lingerie Then when the school closed down, in 1986, a friend of mine recommended that I try the Cape Elizabeth Home, and I thought gee, I don't know, I can't cook; I never thought of working in a place like that.
But they hired me right away, as what they were calling, and still call, a caregiver. Someone who goes in and cooks the lighter meals and takes care of the residents when the administrator and the chef aren't there, at night and on weekends.
I did that until '01, and then the administrator retired and recommended me, so I got the job I'd majored in anthropology (at Beloit), so none of this had anything to do with what I'd intended to do!
Q. But the job seems like a good fit for you.
A. I think I have a calling to work with the elderly. I was very close to my grandparents, and I think this is a very meaningful and important line of work. Our society is very ageist, and I think the elderly are least cared-for in this population.
Q. How do you define elderly?
A. You know what, I had a dispute with a radio station — I e-mailed twice saying something like, "Why are you calling someone 'elderly' who's only 65?" They replied in a very nice and sympathetic way.
I don't want to be called elderly in two years. The older you get, the further ahead "elderly" gets pushed. I'm thinking of people in their 80s and 90s. All our residents are in their 90s. We have one lady who's 100.
Q. How many live there?
A. We're a 10-bed residence. We have one opening now. Over the years, since I've been here, the residents have gotten older and older. As we like to say, 90 is the new 80, and 80 is the new 70. People are "staying young" longer, and staying in their homes longer.
Q. Since the residents are older, they need more care?
A. People here are increasingly frail. I think when the home started, in 1915, the (minimum) age was 60. Now it's 70, but that doesn't happen any more; people coming in are in their upper 80s and early 90s.
Q. How much turnover is there?
A. Much more than in the past. In the early years of the home, through the '50s and '60s, people who wanted to come here turned over every penny they had, and were taken care of for the rest of their lives. A doctor or nurse would visit, and people would die here then; I think that happened two or three times a year.
That plan ended decades ago; we could no longer afford to provide medical care. When I came in, there were still two residents under that original plan, who had come in probably 20 years before. Now, this home is for people who can't quite make it on their own, but don't need to be completely taken care of.
It's a real home, until people need more care than we can provide. That was my vision when I became administrator, to make it as much like a residential home as possible. We have a chef who used to be the chef at the Purpoodock and in various good restaurants. Now, he loves cooking for and taking care of these people.
Q. How does the arrangement work now?
A. Residents just pay monthly rent. There is no contract, no lease, no anything. You come in and pay rent, and if you leave, you leave The rent? It's $1,180 now, for (private) room with bath, and all meals, and laundry and stuff, too.
We're a nonprofit, licensed as a charitable organization. The original endowment actually subsidizes a lot of the cost for some residents. We have a 15-member board of local people, and they're very caring and involved.
Q. Pets?
A. Unfortunately, no. We do have a cat, though. We just got a new one; the old one, Missy, a boy actually, died, after 19 years. The new one, Lord Byron, is from the HART (Homeless Animal Rescue Team, in Cumberland) shelter.
Q. I remember it as the Cape Elizabeth Home for Aged Women, when I was a kid. Does everybody get along?
A. Oh, sure. We actually take men anyway, since the early '90s. We usually have two men at a time. The (home's) name changed, obviously.
Q. How do men affect the dynamics of the place?
A. It makes it more interesting, more like "real" life. We have a male chef, and the handyman, and the male residents. We have male entertainers; a pianist and a guitarist, professionals, come in to perform. This is a fairly active place. Family members are coming and going; we're on the bus line; it's not as if it's a secluded place.
People range in independence, from using a walker to taking the bus. As long as they can get up and come into the dining room, we try to let them stay as long as possible.
Q. Has anyone ever been kicked out?
A. Well, there was one person, this was before I was administrator, who was asked to leave; she threw a teapot at the head of a board member. There was another lady, in my time, who was very difficult and not getting along with other residents. She was very insulting and just said mean things to people. Everyone had moved away from her table — there are two in the dining room.
We didn't think it was right to ask her to leave, so we started serving her at a little table on the porch ... That was fine, and that period didn't last long; she went to a nursing home. I think she was in the early stages of Alzheimer's.
Q. Any drawbacks to the job?
A. One is that you get really attached to the residents, very close to some, and don't have them very long. I think there have been 20 who've died just since I've been administrator. But at least, you know ... One woman who was closest to me in my time here was able to die in her room. Her daughter came to be with her, and she passed very peacefully. That's very rare; for the most part people are taken to the hospital.
The other drawback is, with a very small staff, you're always kind of on duty, because it's so hard to get the right coverage. I went like eight years without a week's vacation.
Q. Doing anything special for Thanksgiving?
A. We have four residents who will be here for Thanksgiving, and the chef and I and another person on the staff will be there. One resident has a family member coming, so there'll be eight of us, for a nice family Thanksgiving. Plus the cat. It will be a beautiful Thanksgiving dinner.
