Like many nonprofits today, Duet: Partners In Health & Aging was greatly impacted seemingly overnight by the COVID-19 pandemic. As an organization that supports family caregivers, homebound adults, grandfamilies, and faith community nurses through mostly in-person services like support groups, the team at Duet collaborated to move their supportive offerings online to continue to let seniors across the Valley know that they are not alone.

Duet now offers dozens of virtual or telephonic support groups for family caregivers and grandparents raising grandchildren. In addition, they continue to offer information and personalized guided assistance, educational resources, and one-on-one support over the phone. They also offer monthly virtual networking events for faith community nurses. To see the virtual offerings Duet has in place, visit duetaz.org/calendar/.

While most of Duet’s activities are virtual, there is still an urgent need for volunteers to pick up and deliver groceries to homebound adults and provide rides to medical appointments. There are nearly 40 homebound adults waiting to be matched with a compassionate volunteer. To help bridge this gap between volunteers and neighbors (their term of endearment for the homebound adults they serves), Duet is resuming in-person volunteer orientations in accordance with COVID-19 health and safety guidelines. Spacing is limited for safety; therefore registration is required. Volunteer orientations are twice a month and interested locals should visit duetaz.org/volunteer for more information. Potential volunteers can visit that the Interactive Services Map to see a live map with pinpoints of homebound adults near their address who are in need of caring volunteers.

“We cannot do this alone. Without support from caring volunteers and donors, our ability to serve those who are in most need at this time would not be possible,” says Julie Blake, operations director at Duet. “We have implemented multiple safety measures and are able to offer our volunteer orientations twice per month to accommodate as many new volunteers as possible that wish to join us. Our volunteers follow guidelines to protect themselves and the vulnerable individuals we serve in order to continue our mission.”

Duet is also restarting their signature Discover Duet tours. These 20-minute Zoom tours allow those who are new to the Duet mission to learn about their work through facts and stories from the people the nonprofit serves. The next Discover Duet tours take place on Friday, October 2, and Friday, November 6, at 10 a.m. To RSVP, visit https://duetaz.org/about. For more information about the tours, call Lori Appleby Hoke at (602) 274-5022, ext. 132, or e-mail applebyhoke@duetaz.org.

“We welcome everyone who has time or treasure to contact us and join in our efforts to bring compassion, dignity, and hope to those we serve,” Blake says.

To learn more about Duet, visit http://www.duetaz.org or call (602) 274-5022.