Sign into your Community Check in on your Community, share a photo or well wish or sign up to help. Sign into your Community here. Sign up for a free Alzheimer’s Live Chat with Home Instead Senior Care Get real answers and advice from Alzheimer's care experts about caring for your loved one with Alzheimer's disease or other dementias. The Home Instead Senior Care network is hosting a series of four Live Chats where family caregivers can ask an expert their questions about: Living with Alzheimer’s, Dealing with Difficult Behaviors, Capturing Memories for Someone with Alzheimer’s, and Coping with Grief Associated with Alzheimer’s. Sign up to attend a free Live Chat today. Companies That Care At Lotsa, we understand the needs of caregivers. We know that they need help to manage all of their responsibilities. It’s often said that it takes a village to raise a child, and at Lotsa, we believe it takes a community to support the caregiver. We often come across companies who also upport and understand the needs of caregivers. We are proud to present a list of Companies That Care. Resources for You Get Started Lotsa Helping Hands powers online caring Communities that help restore health and balance to caregivers’ lives. The free service brings together caregivers and volunteers through online Communities that organize daily life during times of medical crisis or caregiver exhaustion in neighborhoods and communities worldwide. Create a Community for yourself or someone you love today. Share Lotsa Today! Finished reading the newsletter? Take a moment to share Lotsa with friends and loved ones.	Dear Friend, WELCOME TO LOTSA COMMUNITY WORKS Featured this month: Promise to Help a Caregiver in 2013 Lotsa News – Upcoming Webinars Lotsa Tips Blog Roll — Read Our Past Posts We often honor or call attention to certain nationally recognized issues or events by specifying a designated calendar month as a time for distinction and attention. This recognition gives us a common language and platform from which to express our views and the importance of the causes close to our hearts. Every month we recognize multiple concerns and issues such as: Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, American Heart Month in February, and National Kidney Month in March. So, during the month of November, we tend to get excited at Lotsa. It’s the month dedicated to calling attention to and celebrating the more than 65 million family caregivers who selflessly take on the responsibilities and challenges of caring for aging loved ones and those with chronic disease or disability. As many of our community members know, being a caregiver can be overwhelming and isolating. This November, we thought it was a perfect time to not only recognize our nation’s caregivers, but make our resolution for the New Year. Why? Because our caregivers can’t wait. Lotsa’s network of caregivers and volunteers is more than one million strong. Caregivers come in all shapes and sizes – a common thread among them is that they need help. And help is what Lotsa Helping Hands Communities provide. This November, we invite the entire nation to join in “The Year of Helping Hands” and promise to help a caregiver in 2013. Visit our Promise Page and make a promise to help a caregiver.      From our Community to yours,           Hal Chapel, Co-Founder & CEO Lotsa News Watch the ‘A Cast of Caregivers’ Webinar If you missed Sherri Snelling’s informative webinar at the beginning of the month, you can view a recording of the webinar online. Taken from her upcoming book which is the “What to Expect When You’re Caregiving” how-to guide, Sherri gives the Caregiving 101 overview of the go-to resources to help you in three key areas of caring for a loved one and what signs to look for or discuss with love ones as families gather for the holidays. Free Webinar — Wednesday December 5, 2012, 2pm EST You Can Handle More Than You Think You Can with David Balch When Dave's wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, it seemed like an impossible situation; how could they get through all of this in addition to their already too-hectic lives? In this entertaining program Dave shares how they got through it, and how you can too. Participants will learn: Specific, doable coping techniques they can implement immediately that will help them through any personal challenge. That they have more control over their situation than they think they do, which leads to a feeling of hope and empowerment. They are not alone in many of the situations they face. Free Webinar — Thursday December 13, 2012, 1pm EST Caregivers Helping Loved Ones in Pain Join Lotsa and guest speaker Shirley Otis-Green, a licensed clinical social worker and Senior Research Specialist in Nursing Research and Education at the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, California, as we take an inspiring look at the experience of caregivers who are caring for a loved one in pain. Participants will learn: How to recognize when your loved one is experiencing pain Ideas for managing care for loved ones in pain Strategies in self care when caring for a loved one Lotsa Tips We’re sharing tips for those coming together to organize help in Communities this fall. Remember, you can always visit our How it Works Page for ideas about how to get the most from your Lotsa Community web site. Tip 1 — Create a Custom Section Whether it’s to post dietary restrictions for family members, notes on what to expect as a volunteer or a personal blog, Custom Sections are a quick and easy way to customize your Community to meet it’s unique needs. Visit the 'Administration' tab and click on ‘Add a Custom Section’ from the ‘Community’ column on the right. You can choose if you’d prefer it to be a gallery, button or general section. Next, give it a title and description, customize your permissions, and start sharing! Tip 2 — Organize Groups in your Community Consider organizing Members of your Community into Groups with various levels of permission for driving privileges, child care and more. Individual Members and/or Groups of Members may be granted different permissions for viewing and signing up for specific Activities, as well as permissions for viewing and posting to various Community Sections. For example, you can now segment a particular group of known drivers to provide rides to medical appointments. Tip 3 — Get Started with an Open Community If you are organizing events in your neighborhood, or want to volunteer in your local community, an Open Community can help. Open Communities at Lotsa often help more than one family, and the members of the Community may or may not all know the people being helped. Head over to our web site where you can search for Open Communities in your local town or neighborhood. All you need is a zip code, or city and state. If you don't find one today, consider creating one in your town, or check back soon as new Communities are being started every day. If you have additional questions, contact us at info@lotsahelpinghands.com. Promise to Help a Caregiver in 2013 This month, we are inviting you to join The Year of Helping Hands, by promising to help a caregiver in 2013. Join our nation of helping hands by making and delivering a meal to a family in medical crisis or offer your company to an aging neighbor. The ways you can help a caregiver are endless! Visit our Promise page to make yours. Join the Conversation on our Lotsa Blog Want to learn more about Communities at Lotsa, resources from our nonprofit partners, and stories from the people behind Lotsa? Visit our blog and post a comment. The Votes are Counted – Now Caregivers Need to Speak Up We Were Each Other’s Caregivers My Community on Halloween: Trick or Treating, Candy and Kind Neighbors
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