Volunteers Ensure Maricopa Seniors Know They Are Not Alone During The

Published on January 05, 2023

It’s a labor of love says Jim DeVenezia, for the dozen or so volunteers who showed up with goodies in hand, ready to put together a special delivery for seniors across Maricopa.

DeVenezia, a Community Support Specialist with the Maricopa Police Department, has overseen the You Are Not Alone, or YANA, Program, since 2021. This holiday season, he says  YANA volunteers teamed up with more than half a dozen organizations to participate in Shoeboxes for Seniors, an outreach effort that includes putting together gift boxes for YANA participants in Maricopa.  

DeVenezia explains YANA is a free program driven by the Maricopa Police Department Volunteers who provide support to mostly older adults and individuals who sometimes have limited mobility or have suffered an accident or illness. It was first established in September of 2015. 

“YANA provides participants the comfort and peace of mind knowing someone will be checking in on them on a regular basis,” DeVenezia says. “This is especially important because some participants live alone and have no local family support.”

Besides weekly phone calls, DeVenezia says YANA volunteers schedule an occasional home visit in which volunteers are able to provide much-needed social contact while checking if there are any safety concerns or unmet needs. He says if there is a need, the volunteers are trained to connect YANA participants with resources that are available in the community. 

In a worst-case scenario, YANA creates a safeguard for families. If a volunteer is unable to make contact with a participant on their scheduled call day, volunteers reach out to the participant’s emergency contacts. If there is still no contact, volunteers are able to request a Welfare Check for an MPD officer to be dispatched to their home. 

In mid-December, volunteers gathered at the Maricopa Community Center to create an assembly line of goodies that would fill the boxes and make a great surprise for the seniors at home. 

“The outpouring of support from the community is what makes acts of service like this possible,” says DeVenezia.

The boxes included small toiletry items, handmade scarves and hats, card games, and not to mention a sweet treat or two. 

“It’s been well received in the community,” says Lisa Swanson, with ArtMobile, who originally started the shoebox project three years ago and continued for the last two with the support of YANA and Maricopa organizations. “It’s just to let them know that somebody cares, and that, you know, we're here and that we're checking on them making sure that they're safe, and that we care.”

ArtMobile provided an art project for each box that was delivered and a handmade card crafted by Swanson’s community center students. 

This year the volunteer packers were joined by a special guest, 93-year-old Mona Taplin, a former YANA participant. 

“About four years ago when I was living alone somebody told me about YANA so I thought, well it wouldn't do any harm to call,” Taplin says. “So, I did call them and people started calling me once or twice a week to just check up on me and made sure I was okay.”

She says this year she wanted to give back the same way the volunteers had given to her. 

“Now that I can do a little myself, why I can go out and help,” Taplin says. “I can't do a lot because I do have handicaps, but I can certainly do something.” 

“I'm not going to slow down. No, that's not on my agenda,” she says. 

A special thank you to the following organizations/individuals for helping make this year’s Shoeboxes for Seniors possible: 

1. Maricopa Seniors

2. MPD You Are Not Alone (YANA) program

3. Heritage Academy students

4. Pinal Gila Council For Senior Citizens

5. Arizona Associates In Dentistry

6. ArtMobile-AZ

7. Stitches 4 Love

8. Province Craft Group

9. MPD Dispatch

10. Other generous individuals

To learn more about YANA visit their page here.