The snow was still falling, her long driveway was impassible, and Marilyn Wetzel had a prescription to pick up and a COVID-19 vaccination appointment to get to.

Her husband has Alzheimer’s and her son, who used to help with things like this, recently passed away.

“I had no idea (TRIAD) could deliver it to me,” Wetzel said about her medicine. But that’s what TRIAD did, and also delivered her to her vaccine appointment.

Volunteers with TRIAD — “the right information and direction” — check in on seniors, those with disabilities, those recovering from surgery, or anyone on their own who would like to be checked on from time to time.

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TRIAD provides home visits, nursing home visits, hospital visits, funeral calls and EMT Thanksgiving meal delivery. Volunteers also provide and install green reflective address signs for clients, warn of scams, offer advocacy with government agencies and send birthday, get well and Christmas cards.

Since CVS does not have a delivery service, Wetzel said that Keith Baker with TRIAD and Susan Armstrong with the Brown County Emergency Management Agency told her to let them know when her prescription was ready and they would pick it up for her. All they needed was her birthday and address. “They know TRIAD, and they work with us,” TRIAD volunteer Warren Schade said about CVS.

Wetzel said she was going to spread the word of this service to her doctor in Bloomington, as he treats a lot of Brown County patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Wetzel wanted others to know about the great help TRIAD can provide to other seniors.

TRIAD has about 130 clients whom they call “friends,” Schade said.

Normally, one of TRIAD’s main services is personal visits. Due to the pandemic, this isn’t able to happen as much, unless it’s on a front porch.

For nearly a year, TRIAD also has been helping to put on the pop-up food pantries that have been happening around the county. “It has been a game changer,” Schade said. The pantries started because of TRIAD’s association with Midwest Food Bank.

There are currently 15 TRIAD volunteers and they also work with the Brown County Sheriff’s Department reserve officers. Eighteen officers are at the ready to serve someone in the community if TRIAD cannot make it. TRIAD also works with the veterans group.

“It’s Brown County,” Baker said. “Everybody volunteers for everything.”

“It takes a lot of people to do it,” Schade said, “but it works so well.”

TRIAD aims to reach those who may not be able to reach out themselves. They’ve worked with the Brown County Health Department to get locals COVID testing and vaccination appointments.

To TRIAD, the necessity of human connection is of equal importance to medical appointments and food delivery. With COVID changing the way they operate in visits, Schade said one of their volunteers came up with an idea to link people through letters, email and more, to make sure they are not lonely in an isolating time.

“Until you really need it, you don’t really know (it exists),” Wetzel said about TRIAD’s services.

Wetzel moved here from Canada, being drawn to Brown County because it reminded her of where she grew up in northern Ontario. Now, she’s found a “wonderful” community.

“What an amazing county we live in,” Wetzel said. “I’m almost in tears with gratitude.”

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Phone: 812-988-5606 or 812-988-6655 ext. 2112

Email: [email protected]

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