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 Jane Bakaluba has been helping others all her life, and she sees no reason to stop now. In November, she received a Board of Supervisors Award for her work as a Senior Peer Counselor for the Civic Center Volunteers Program.
“We grow old, but it’s not a precipice,” says Bakaluba. “It happens gradually, and so do old age problems and challenges. There are many elderly people who need help to deal with these problems and challenges and to know the services they have available. In search for solutions, we give them an opportunity to bounce off their fears and anxieties. We actually lend them ‘peer ears.’ I, too, benefit from my interaction with my clients.”
Bakaluba attends weekly meetings with other Senior Peer Counselors where they exchange ideas and information that enhance their rapport with clients. She also occasionally attends big conferences where she learns about solutions to problems experienced by elderly people.
“So many terrible things happen to the elderly, like investment fraud,” she says.
“These are things we try to draw attention to, and to put our clients in touch with SAIF, Seniors Against Investment Fraud. Finding affordable and decent housing is another problem the elderly face.”
Bakaluba fled her mother country, Uganda, East Africa, during Idi Amin’s regime in 1977 and came to the United States with her children. She now lives at Rotary Manor, owned by Rotary of San Rafael and managed by EAH.
“Rotary Manor is well-managed place for people over 65 years of age,” she says. “Security is wonderful, and there is a great camaraderie among the residents, complete with a lot of positive peer pressure."
Bakaluba’s two favorite hobbies are writing short stories and children’s stories and watching a family of deer on the wooded hillside a stone’s throw from her deck.
“They remind me so much of Africa that I often get homesick,” says Bakaluba.
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