At Home in Alexandria (Aha!)

Your support during Spring2ACTion is critical to the ongoing provision of our important services here in Alexandria. Susan shares her experience as a member of At Home in Alexandria (AHA). 

"A few years ago, we joined AHA because we believed in the work they were doing to support our Alexandria neighbors ages 55+. We enjoyed the social activities and my husband and I thought we might even benefit from their other services on occasion—especially since I had recently stopped driving due to medical reasons. AHA was a nice, occasional “back up” for us.

Then, life caught us by surprise this past year.

It began back in January, when my husband had two hospitalizations followed by a stay in a rehab facility. As he was still recovering in June, I was hospitalized for a serious infection. While getting back on my feet, I took a bad fall and ended up back in the hospital. I required surgery on my eye and on my elbow. After several weeks in rehab, I finally made it back home.

Now, we’ve always been self-sufficient. After all, we have military backgrounds and have always been able to handle whatever came up. People like us don’t find it easy to ask for help. But we had no choice but to rely on others—especially when we realized that my husband would not be able to drive for awhile.

Like many folks our age, we have an abundance of doctors—ten between us. Last week we had three appointments and, as usual, AHA provided the rides. AHA is always there for us. No request is too complicated for them to fill cheerfully and professionally. This year has also played havoc with the organization of our house. AHA provided us with Pete, a wonderful volunteer, who was a helpful “declutterer.”

In a nutshell, AHA was a lifesaver for us." 

Sue's story is a common one for AHA as we seek to provide Alexandria residents with a social network and at-home support services to make "aging in community" a viable option for our neighbors.

AHA is proud to be part of a growing "village movement" of small nonprofit groups forming in communities all across the country. We provide our older neighbors with a wide range of social events and educational opportunities to reduce isolation and build community, as well as transportation, light home maintenance, errands, gardening, technical support, snow shoveling, organizing, companionship, light housekeeping and so much more. This past year, we answered more than 1000 requests from our members and we love being able to make their daily life more enjoyable and less stressful. 

Our social and educational events cover a wide variety of activities - museum tours, small-group discussions, dining out, cycling club, and so much more. (In 2016, we hosted 109 different events!) Check out our active social calendar at www.athomeinalexandria.org.

Let AHA be your safety net. Your annual membership fee allows you to call our office and request services whenever you need them. We have a dedicated group of vetted and trained volunteers ready to cheerfully do the job!