Caregiving can seem overwhelming.

The physical and emotional demands associated with providing care for a friend or loved one can leave you feeling tired, frustrated,overwhelmed and very much alone.

But SAGE is working to change all that with SAGECAP (SAGE Caring and Preparing).

Launched in November of 2009 and funded by the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, SAGECAP was designed to streamline caregiving needs by organizing a community of caregivers to share the care, and in turn, give the caregiver the time and space to rest and plan for their own future - a feat that is rarely accomplished in a traditional, one-to-one caregiving situations. 

Indeed, while many people see caregiving as a linear line of support, extending from one caregiver to one care receiver, SAGECAP recognizes that there are a multitude of ways that one can receive and give care, and that identifying and organizing a community of caregivers is one of the more effective ways to provide a healthier situation for both caregiver and care recipient.

The addition of CAP to SAGE's list of programs challenges the assumption that only family can be caregivers. CAP optimizes the strength and value of the friendships and alternate forms of family that the LGBT community has used to organize and support its members.

The CAP program is poised to meet the unique needs of working adults who not only find themselves challenged by the pressures of providing care to people in their lives but also in preparing their own aging future. One of the unique aspects of CAP is that it will help people identify their own caregiving needs [present time or future planning] and how best to organize and prepare for themselves and for others in their lives.  Additional components of the SAGECAP program include:

  • Building linkages and community supports
  • Developing Care Plans and documentation folders
  • Individual counseling and group support
  • Financial, Legal and medical planning
  • Self-care techniques and avoiding caregiver compassion fatigue
  • Self-help programming and 24 hour access to our web-based resource database and toolkits

The program and support to caregivers is available during both day and evening hours. The SAGECAP program works around the individual needs of its member caregivers and is accommodating to the time constraints that all caregivers face.

For more information about SAGECAP or if you or someone you know could benefit from this program, please call us at 212-741-2247 or email caregiving@sageusa.org

When you take care of yourself, you can better take care of your loved one.  SAGE is here to help you do both.