Mardie Toney and T. J. Roethe
When real life emergencies arise, from a lost wallet to the loss of a spouse, are you prepared? The Community Church at SaddleBrooke’s Women’s Ministry hosted a workshop for ladies of the SaddleBrooke community and its church membership to learn how to best respond to such emergencies.
Eighty women attended the workshop entitled Just in Case-—What Women Need to Know presented by Ms. T. J. Roethe, a professional organizer, on September 20, 2014, at the HOA 1 Activity Center.
The goal of the workshop was to prepare women to handle such unpleasant events as identity theft, accidents or the unexpected passing of a spouse. Ms. Roethe has developed and published a quick reference workbook designed to give women easy to use forms and worksheets on which to record and locate vital family information and documents.
As T. J. Roethe led the ladies through her workbook, she provided helpful and practical tips. One idea was to make a practice of carrying a small sheet of pertinent personal information even when leaving the house to take a walk. She advised using a small piece of paper to list your name, number, allergies, emergency contact and doctor’s contact. She then placed it into a small pill container attached to a coiled wrist band and recommended wearing this when taking a walk, just in case.
She advised keeping the wrist band on the door knob so that it was easy to remember to wear when leaving the house for a walk. In the event of a fall or a heart attack anyone providing help could contact family or facilitate care if an ambulance were needed.
When a loved one passes, Ms. Roethe described how information that is scattered in many places or missing creates a real hardship for the person who must plan a funeral or assume financial responsibilities. Gathering information in one notebook reduces anxiety and facilitates taking the action these situations require. Thus, family members are able to manage such urgent and important matters smoothly, even in the face of their own grief.
Ms. Mardie Toney, a member of the Community Church at SaddleBrooke who organized this pertinent event met a real need in the SaddleBrooke community for this education. She had attended the Just in Case workshop in another state several years ago. Mardie reached out to T. J. Roethe after a friend’s spouse suffered a heart attack while hiking. She knew that encouraging women to gather information in a simple workbook format could be a helpful service to our community.
The Community Church at SaddleBrooke welcomes people from all denominations. Weekly Sunday services are held in the DesertView Theater and begin at 8:30 a.m. The Women’s Ministry provides Bible studies, social events, community outreach opportunities and workshops that welcome church attendees as well as members of SaddleBrooke and other communities. For further information about the Community Church at SaddleBrooke, please contact the church parish house office at 520-825-5394.