- June 15, 2024
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Local Seniors Helping Seniors owner Mike Walters with Maddie Munsch and caregiver Scott Tucker. Photo by Sierra Williams
The last two months have been a nightmare for Maddie Munsch and her 81-year-old partner, U.S. Army Veteran Joe Munsch.
He was first hospitalized in April and then sent to a rehab facility in Palm Coast where he was neglected, Maddie Munsch said. His five-day stay left him essentially non-responsive, she said, and he ended up being hospitalized again after falling overnight.
After the second hospitalization, Maddie Munsch said he was sent to another facility, this time in St. Augustine, where he was once again neglected. She said she was finally able to bring him home on May 5.
Joe Munsch’s health took a downturn over the May 19 weekend and he died peacefully on May 21. But helping her through it all, Maddie Munsch said, has been Seniors Helping Seniors.
Seniors Helping Seniors is an at-home senior-care services provider, offering a range of services from simple companionship and socialization to respite and specialized care. The company helps seniors across Flagler, St. Johns and Volusia Counties through its caregivers, who are able-bodied seniors themselves.
Mike Walters, owner of Seniors Helping Seniors for Flagler, St. Johns and Volusia Counties, said he just wants to ensure people know what their options are.
“A lot of times we do everything that you would do for your own mom or dad or spouse or loved one,” Walters said.
Walters said he sees a lot of stories like Maddie Munsch's, where a family member orients their life around taking care of their sick loved one.
And Seniors Helping Seniors is one of multiple companies that works with Veterans Affairs to aid the nation’s 16.5 million veterans. Over 8 million veterans are over 65 years old, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Joe Munsch served in the Vietnam War in 1967 and 1968 as a door gunner. While there he was exposed to Agent Orange, a herbicide used in the war to kill foliage. Agent Orange has been connected to multiple illnesses and diseases over the years, according to the VA website.
Among Munsch’s illnesses, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and, more recently, congestive heart failure. Maddie Munsch said she’s been her partner’s sole caregiver for years, sleeping or doing housework when he sleeps.
Maddie Munsch said she heard about Seniors Helping Seniors through a friend who is an attorney. Originally, she said, the VA would only pay for someone to come by for several hours, one day a week.
That began in March and the company sent over caregiver Scott Tucker to be Joe Munsch’s companion and to offer some respite for Maddie Munsch.
Right away, the two clicked, she said.
Tucker said Seniors Helping Seniors has a thorough survey process and connects senior patients with senior caregivers through their shared likes.
“I just can’t believe how perfectly it worked out,” he said. “He's more my friend and pal than he is a patient.”
Tucker said he’s been watching Joe Munsch’s ups and downs over the months, offering comfort and help to Maddie Munsch wherever he can and visiting Joe Munsch in the hospital and rehabilitation facility. After Joe Munsch’s multiple hospitalizations and rehabilitation stints, the VA paid for Tucker to be there for up to 36 hours each week.
Just as importantly, Walters said, Tucker’s presence was safe and reliable and allowed Maddie Munsch to feel comfortable leaving the house for the time he’s there.
“That’s a big part of what people like Scott do,” Walters said. “Just to have that what they call respite — that relief — to just sit out on the front porch and breathe for a second.”
“The only relief that I had before [Seniors Helping Seniors] came in was taking my dog out,” Maddie Munsch said.
Having Tucker and the staff at Seniors Helping Seniors around has been a comfort, she said. They’ve all been remarkable to her.
“They’ve done a fantastic job,” she said. “They’re all angels.”
