After 10 years of operation in the Sawtooth Mountain Clinic, Care Partners of Cook County moved in February to a new location on Highway 61. Dedicated to offering “support and companionship on the journey of aging and end-of-life,” the organization is excited about the opportunities afforded by its larger office space.
Incorporated as a non-profit in 2015, Care Partners supports Cook County residents and caregivers in navigating the logistical and existential demands of aging. It provides a wide array of services, including care coordination, caregiver support, education, and companionship, as well as a volunteer program that offers rides to Duluth for medical appointments, and chore services such as home organizing, grocery shopping, and yard work.
Approximately 30 percent of Cook County residents are 65 and older. While the community benefits from the services and support of the Sawtooth Mountain Clinic and North Shore Hospital, the area offers few home care options. Care Partners Executive Director Julie Wilson explained that the organization seeks to fill this gap by “wrapping around people at the end of life” and connecting them with programs and resources to ease that journey.
Care Partners Board of Directors President Nancy Starr described one goal of the organization as “making people aware that they can age in a positive, quality way, living life to the fullest and being active.”
In early October, Wilson learned that the expansion of the Sawtooth Mountain Clinic’s behavioral health program would require Care Partners to find a new location in the next 90 days. Wilson sprang into action, driving up and down Highway 61 to scout locations that would suit the organization’s needs for parking and accessibility.
Serendipitously, she discovered Amax Plumbing and Heating, owned by Max Bruckelmyer. Amax had an unused, front-facing office space that would suit their needs. Starr characterized the connection with Amax as “just short of a miracle.” The organization negotiated a seven-year lease with Amax so that it would make financial sense to transform the space.
The next hurdle was time. The lease came through in December, leaving just two months to transform and move into the space.
“People showed up for us,” said Wilson. “The community got it done.” Richard Olson was the project designer and manager, supported by work from Nace Hagemann (Nace Hagemann Construction), Ian Barrett and Tom Krantz (Red Cabin Company), Isaak Beran (Beran’s Handcrafted Log Cabins), Howard Hedstrom (Hedstrom Lumber Company), Larry Martinez (via 1010 Interiors), Jeremy Ridlbauer (Sundew Technical Services), and Amax.
Critical to the project was ensuring accessibility. The new location offers wheelchair access from the parking lot, as well as an ADA-compliant bathroom. It also includes a meeting room and workstations for volunteers. Grants from the Cook County/Grand Marais Economic Development Authority and the Lloyd K. Johnson Foundation—as well as gifts from community members—helped to offset costs.
“It was a wild ride” to complete the project in two months, said Wilson. “The biggest surprise was the contractors and volunteers who showed up to help us. I could cry. We really needed people, and they came through. It speaks to the value of Care Partners and that it was important to people to help us.”
North Shore Hospital facilitated the transition by offering Care Partners a space to bridge the months that the organization was without a home base, storing computers and files and making a conference room accessible for team meetings.
New signage is on the way, and Wilson is excited about the increased visibility that this transition affords. “On our first day of being somewhat organized after the move, we had our first client walk in the door,” recalled Wilson. That organic access was hampered in the Sawtooth Mountain Clinic location, which meant that clients typically heard about the organization through referrals from the county or a medical provider. Now, clients and volunteers can pull right up to the curb. Upcoming events include an open house on May 20 from 4-6 p.m. and a brain health fair this summer.
The greatest challenge for Care Partners remains geographic: “We aren’t just rural,” said Wilson. “We are a frontier community. There are no shortcuts to Virginia or Duluth or Thunder Bay. We are locked and remote.” Staffing for home health care aides remains difficult, and even with staff, it can be difficult to access people throughout the county. She hopes to expand service farther up the Gunflint Trail and in Grand Portage.
Regardless of these obstacles, Wilson said that Care Partners will continue to “fill the gaps and to advocate for filling the gaps” for aging and end-of-life in Cook County. “I believe this community is creative and has creative solutions.”
Currently, Care Partners serves 200 clients. Its far-reaching education program, which includes topics such as grief support, health care directives, caregiver support, and LGBT support, reaches many more. Approximately 45 volunteers contribute their time and talents to the organization.
Wilson underscored that volunteers will find no shortage of opportunities to engage in ways that work for them, whether via one-time projects like washing windows or weeding a garden, or longer-term companion relationships that accompany someone through the end of life.
Wilson regularly hears from volunteers that one of their most meaningful experiences is hearing the stories of the people they serve. “So often people lose their identity when they’re isolated or when they are going through illness,” she said. “When people are able to share their life stories—when they designed that building in downtown Seattle, or wrote a book, or were an artist, or when they had an impact on the community—that benefits them,” and also the people who hear those stories.—Anne Graybeal
