Home Sweet (Nursing) Home

Monday, September 03 2007 | Send to a friend

HOME SWEET (NURSING) HOME

Cordelia Taylor

In America, nursing homes are in high demand - there are only 17,000 slots for the 1.6 million seniors who can no longer live on their own. Overcrowding is common. Patients often talk of insensitive staff. Staff, on the other hand, talk of low pay and high stress.

But Cordelia Taylor has found a way to offer care to seniors that is like being home.

As a nurse, she was unhappy with how many elderly people were treated. So she decided to do something about it.

She tells Dick Gordon about quitting her job, selling her house, and moving into her old, derelict neighborhood so she could afford to open her own nursing home, called "Family House."

Cordelia says "Family House" has become far more than an elder care program. It's become a hub for community revitalization.

• See pictures of Family House and Cordelia with her staff
  
• Learn more about elder care at Family House

THE GIFT OF GOATS

Tom Currie -
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Tom Currie was out in the yard on the night of an eclipse, shooting the breeze with his neighbor, when the discussion turned to his neighbor's work with animals. Tom had a flash of inspiration - he didn't have enough space for cows, but he was going to try to raise goats. Tom then got involved with Heifer International, an organization that gives away animals to families in need. Tom talks with Dick about how raising and giving away goats has changed his life.

• Learn more about Heifer International

Music heard in this story: I Love My Goats by Caliche Con Carne for the album Goat Songs 2 the Flesh