Success Stories

All In A Day's Work

Fannie M. works for the center and delivers meals to the Elders who are homebound.

Nazlini is a small Arizona community in the middle of the Navajo Nation. According to the 2010 Census, there were approximately 1,260 residents; sixteen percent of these individuals were Elders aged 60 years and older.

“Nazlini” translates to “Bend in the Water Flow.” The community residents have a history of farming and ranching, as well as railroad and sawmill work. The community has a post office, a school, a Head Start, and an Elder center. There used to be a trading post, but it closed in 2002. Residents can shop in Ganado, nineteen miles to the south, or in Chinle, which is twenty-two miles to the north. The road to Chinle isn’t paved, so it takes longer than twenty minutes to travel there.

We recently traveled with the driver, Fannie M., of the Nazlini Senior Center recently. Fannie works for the center and delivers meals to homebound Elders. In order for the Elders to receive home delivery, they must submit a doctor’s letter to confirm their need for this special service.

Although she isn’t able to reach all the Elders, Fannie is able to deliver to about fifteen Elders each weekday. It takes about sixty minutes to get food out to all the Elders on her list. She packs her large, insulated, nylon food bag to keep the food warm once the cooks finish the meal preparation.

Tom was one of the first stops for the day, sitting outside with his puppy, named White.

Fannie enjoys working with Elders and shares a bit about each one as she stops to provide their lunch meal for the day.

Tom was one of the first stops for the day, sitting outside with his puppy, named White —an appropriate name as the puppy was actually white. Tom waved to us as we arrived. Although he was 89 years old, Tom lived alone. Fannie shared that he was thankful for his meal every day and smiled each time she arrived. Tom spoke very little English, but he said, “Thank you” and “Happy New Year” as we were leaving.

There were a few Elders who were not home during the deliveries, because they were at appointments or were taken to town for errands by a family member. Sometimes the Elders let her know that they would be gone, but that doesn’t happen all the time.

Rosemary cooks, washes, hangs the laundry, and sews colorful blankets.

One of the final stops was at Fannie’s aunt Rosemary’s house. Rosemary lived in her home with family, but was still very active. She cooked, washed, hung the laundry, and quilted colorful blankets. Rosemary was very happy to see us and gracious. She was very sweet and liked talking to us, smiling a lot. We teased her about being a model —she really was quite beautiful.

When we left, Rosemary thanked us for coming to visit her. She had beautiful quilts airing out on the fence that she had made herself. Fannie said she had helped build her Aunt Rosemary’s house by hand. A lot of the homes in the area were built by the people who lived in them or by their family.

Consistent in each delivery, Fannie was met with a smile and a hearty thank you. Fannie accomplished deliveries to fifteen Elders in sixty minutes — not bad for a day’s work!