We are Winona. We are all caregivers.

“I read about it in the newspaper,” she said as I poured her a cup of coffee and asked how she heard about our event. Then she said, “And I thought: This is just in time!” She was talking about Connecting Caregivers: An event for the caregiver in all of us. The Saturday, April 22 community event was sponsored by Winona Health and the Winona Health Foundation, and it brought together resources from fellow nonprofit organizations across our community. Because we are all caregivers. Just in time? How so? Stephine, a teacher, was looking ahead a few weeks to when both of her parents may need extra help. Coincidentally, both might require different surgeries, possibly just a couple of weeks apart. With her teaching schedule and her parents needing her, she wasn’t sure how she would juggle it all. Stephine’s story highlights just one of the countless challenging situations people find themselves in – with or without warning. Phyllis was attending the event with a godchild whose mother is needing extra care. Phyllis, now retired, has more flexibility and is happy to be able to help when needed. They were at the event to learn more about the resources available to help care for someone with memory loss. And Lorraine, whose husband had a stroke at age 48. At the time, he owned his business and was suddenly no longer able to work. It was, of course, life-changing for their whole family. That was nearly 30 years ago. Since then, he has been in and out of the hospital for a variety of reasons. She is a caregiver. “There are only four kinds of people in the world: Those who have been caregivers, those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need a caregiver.” That’s a quote attributed to former first lady Rosalyn Carter, and it’s a thought worth taking some time to consider. As a healthcare organization, or rather as people who make up our organization, caregivers at Winona Health have determined this to be our mission: To inspire, recognize and empower the caregiver in all of us. Planning and hosting this community event furthered that mission. We’re grateful that we’re not doing this work alone. Caregiving, at its best, is not constrained by location, building or title. We are all caregivers, and this is a community of caregivers. People from local nonprofit organizations that provide resources and support were on hand to share information and answer questions. This included tools and resources related to caregiving, mental health, finances, food security, health, wellness, and, something many caregiver find little time for, self-care. Thank you to all of our fellow nonprofit organizations who were on hand to share resources at Connecting Caregivers. We’re taking what we learned from this first-time event to make our next event even more helpful for more people. In the meantime, we encourage our fellow community members, whichever stage of caregiving you’re in, to reach out. Connect with us at Winona Health for physical and mental health care: 507.454.3650, find information about support groups and other resources at http://Livewellwinona.org, and connect with each other. You’re not alone.