RSF woman’s fall shows why volunteers needed for ‘You Are Not Alone’ program

elderly_handsVolunteers with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department Sept. 30 discovered an elderly woman who had fallen in her home and hurt herself, putting the spotlight on a program to monitor seniors and the disabled.

As part of the “You Are Not Alone” program, two senior volunteers at the Encinitas station went to check on the Rancho Santa Fe woman around 9:25 a.m. in the 18000 block of Via de Fortuna, said Jan Caldwell of the Sheriff Department.

The woman had injured herself in a fall and couldn’t get up, Caldwell said. Paramedics were summoned to take her to a hospital.

Senior citizens and the disabled who live alone are eligible for the YANA program, which is free, Caldwell said.

Volunteers call YANA enrollees on the telephone daily, and will go to their residence if they cannot make contact. They also visit enrollees once a week as a matter of course, Caldwell said.

People interested in joining the program can call the senior volunteer office at the Encinitas sheriff’s station at (760) 966-3579.