Legacy
Legacy
Please note: this post is 138 months old and The Cares Family is no longer operational. This post is shared for information only
In the fifith of his lovely blog posts about his developing relationship with older neighbour Mitzi, Mike Niles tells us about how he first came to get involved with NLC, and how Mitzi has helped him overcome challenges of his own...
BY MIKE NILES
You get involved in charity to do something good, right? To selflessly offer your time to benefit others less fortunate. It’s important to get something out of it yourself, though. No point turning up to something every week that you dread going to or resent the time spent there.
The first time I heard about North London Cares was in a text message from a mate who’d been to one or two of the film evenings. “This is definitely something you should do. A great charity.” It was exactly up my street – both figuratively and physically – as they match you with an isolated person that lives in close proximity to you. The time requirements also seemed ideal for me: once a week at a mutually agreeable time and day.
Photo’s I’ve seen suggest that Mitzi used to be a red head and conversations I’ve had with her suggest she used to be firey. She still is, to some extent. We went to Argos to see if we could get Mitzi a new fridge as her current one was on the blink. While I was flicking through the in-store magazine and punching in the numbers to the computer, Mitzi had apprehended the man from behind the counter and was making him search his staff computer. As the queues built up, Mitzi just hinted that he resolved her query faster.
I imagine it’s quite a big deal for an elderly lady, alone and cut-off, to accept a young scruffy bearded man into her home for “a chat” every week and our meet-ups to now had mainly been about just offering a listening ear.
Meeting up with Mitzi, however, has definitely become more of a two-way street than I'd imagined before. While I hope I’ve eased some anxieties and minimized some of the isolation she previously felt, she has provided me with support that I would expect of my close friends. When changes came in my professional life, including two new job roles and the stresses that come with that process, Mitzi showed an express interest through interviews to resignations and first day nerves.
That same friend who introduced me to the charity sadly died and Mitzi was there to offer comfort and support. Mitzi’s is a friendship I have grown to value and it’s thanks toFran that the two of us are able to support one another.
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Read previous entries in Mike's blog by clicking the links below, and stay posted for more...
1 - Time for Plan B
4 - Road trip
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