Samaritan's Feet: An Organization with the Goal of Zero Shoeless Seniors with Deborah Cox-Roush

Welcome to the Living to 100 Club Podcast.

Well, hello to everyone joining us today on our podcast. You're listening to one of our Successful Aging episodes this month on the Living to 100 Club program, and I'm your host, Joseph Casciani. Each program, our conversations educate and inspire, helping you get the best out of all the years we're given, regardless of what obstacles come our way. You can learn more about our club at our website, Be sure to take a look at my new training and activities manual, Better, Longer, and Happier: A Guide to Aging with Purpose and Positivity. This is a series of 12 modules in a card deck format developed for activities directors at senior living communities to learn more about psychologically healthy aging. You can visit our website at livingto100.club. Blh. Now on to our podcast. On today's program, we are introduced to Samaritan's Feet International, an organization devoted to giving shoes to seniors around the world. As I understand, that includes over 10 million pairs of shoes to seniors over the past 20 years. Our guest is Deborah Cox Roche, Development Officer and Senior Program Manager for the organization. We discuss the prevalence of food problems in older adults, how the lack of proper footwear can increase the risk of falls, contribute to balance problems, foot pain, and difficulty with mobility and independence. How does the aging process affect the biomechanics structure and function of the foot? And how does proper footwear contribute to a more comfortable, happy life marked with dignity and hope? And how does Samaritan's Feet reach the shoeless around the world and distribute footwear to these millions of people? Stay tuned and, and learn more about this. First, a little background. Deborah is the Senior Program Manager and developed this program to serve senior citizens with new shoes while also giving them hope through service to them. Deborah said she'll never forget the smiles on the recipients' faces and the feelings of self-worth and dignity that they experienced while serving for the first time with Samaritan's Feet. Well, first of all, congratulations to you, Deborah, for the good work that you're doing. Welcome to our program.

Thank you so much, Joe. Thank you for having me. I'm just honored to represent Samaritan's Feet Seniors today.

Yeah, we're thrilled to have you. Tell your story. Tell us— I always like to, you know, start by having our guests tell us the story, the journey that brought you to where you are today. You've covered a lot of ground, I know, but maybe give us the highlights of your work.

Well, as you mentioned earlier, I am the former national director for AmeriCorps Seniors for the federal government, and I served in that capacity for 5 years. I oversaw 200,000 senior volunteers and 1,100 grantees that worked hard every day in the communities they served to provide resources for seniors. Well, during this time, we had what we call National Days of Service, and Martin Luther King being one of those days. So in 2017, I volunteered in Washington, D.C. at the Liberty Baptist Church for an organization called Samaritan's Feet. I knew nothing about them, but I arrived at Liberty Baptist Church that day. I met the founder, Manny, which you hear me talk about a little bit later. We serve the unhoused, we serve seniors, and we serve children on that day. And honestly, it changed my life. There was a gentleman there that was 96 years old that was volunteering to serve shoes. So it goes both ways. They're not only recipients, they volunteered. And after my term as director of AmeriCorps Seniors was over, Manny called me, the founder, and said, what's next? And I said, I don't know, what do you want to do?

Yeah.

So we discussed Samaritan's Feet and how they were missing a demographic, and certainly that was our aging population. So Manny and I talked, and that's how Samaritan's Feet Seniors was established. I came on board in April of '21. We spent the summer developing the program, developing, developing a prototype shoe. For our seniors. And I'll have to say, this is the most rewarding work I've ever done. And it's also very, very personal to me because my father fell 2 years ago and he did not survive the fall. So I know firsthand the importance of proper footwear.

Wow, how important. Yeah. And you, you connected with Manny and you gravitated to the same— sounds like the same principles and desire to fill the needs. And tell us a story about Manny. Is it Ohome?

Ohome, yes. Well, Manny's from Nigeria. It's an amazing story, and I just love telling this story. But he's from Nigeria, and he never had a pair of shoes until he was 9 years old. Not one pair of shoes. A Good Samaritan came to his village in Nigeria. The boys were in the basketball— in a basket in a park playing basketball. And this good Samaritan came to the basket— no rim basketball park and said, whoever can hit this shot gets this new pair of shoes. So of course the guys all got excited, right? And make a long story short, Manny hit the shot.

He got it.

He got his first pair of shoes. And then it got even more amazing because he started playing basketball and he ended up receiving 5 scholarships to play basketball in the United States. So Manny came to America. His family sold almost everything they had and bought a one-way ticket for him to come to America, and he played basketball at North Dakota State University. Of course, we joke with him, why did you have to pick the coldest state in the country to play basketball? But that's another story. Yeah. But in 2003, Manny went back to Nigeria to bury his father. In all seriousness, he saw children without shoes, with footborne diseases, with amputations, and you know, it all came back to him. He said, All of a sudden I remembered I didn't have any shoes either. And so he and his wife Tracy— Tracy's from North Dakota— they decided that day they would create a world with zero shoeless children. And we've now, um, expanded that to zero shoeless people by adding our aging population.

So all ages, children through adults, through seniors, through to 100. Yeah. With a distribution of over 10 million shoes. How remarkable.

Yeah, we celebrated our 20th anniversary last year, and on October 23rd in South Africa, we distributed, um, to a young boy our 10th million pair of shoes.

Wow. So how do you identify— how do you, how do you reach the people who are in need?

Um, that can be in, in many different ways. We have partners all over the world. And, you know, my main concentration for our senior program is domestically, and that's here in the United States. I'm kind of a firm believer that let's serve in our own backyard, you know, and, and because there's so much need here. But, you know, we serve all over the world, and, um, uh, we have partners. We can be either location partners, sponsors, recipient partners, We depend on our partners. Like I say, we have financial partners, we have location partners, meaning they want to provide the facility where we do our shoe distributions. You know, we all work together with our partners, and they can be corporations, they can be churches, they can be other nonprofits, they can be community organizations. But we work together to fund, plan, and distribute the gift of shoes to those in need.

Yeah. 10 million. That's nothing to sneeze at. That's, that's huge. That's more people than a lot of countries. So, yeah. So let's, let's back up a little bit. Let's talk about how aging is impacted by foot stability or instability. And we know the risk of falls and you have experienced that personally, but How does aging impact the foot for balance and mobility?

Well, you know, the aging process is associated with changes to the, to the aspect that, like she said earlier, the biomechanics, the structure and function of the foot. It may present itself through many different ways, foot conditions, pain, disability, other overall health problems that constitute a major public health concern. You know, the prevalence of research has shown an increase in foot problems, especially in the consequences of increasing life expectancy.

So what, yeah, that's, that's an, that, I mean, that's age-related, but it's also issues that come into play when there are other medical conditions, so stroke or you know, being confined to a wheelchair, using a walker. So, what are the risks about improper footwear or no footwear? What complicates the picture here?

You know, it's probably hard for a lot of people to understand, but foot problems are extremely common conditions in just the general population, but especially in the elderly. Foot problems are common in seniors and are associated with balance impairment, increase of risk in falls, which you just discussed. They have difficulty putting on shoes, fractures, restricted mobility. You know, some seniors can't even perform their everyday activities because they just don't have the mobility that they need to stay active. This can cause a serious physical, mental, and social consequence for our aging population. You know, studies have shown that Foot disorders currently affect between 71% and 87% of older patients, and they're a frequent cause of medical and foot care. As I think about it, lack of proper footwear can have a negative impact, as you said, on their health and wellbeing. They can't live independently. They can't continue to be involved in their community and also economic stability. Every second of every day, an older American over the age of 65 falls, suffers a fall in the United States every second of every day. It makes falls the leading cause of injury and death among seniors. Over 36 million seniors in the United States alone fall each year. 32,000 is the result, is death.

So, um, that's huge. Sure, it is. Yeah. So, your percentage there is 70 to 87% of older adults have problems related to feet, foot disorders of whatever kind. And then there's the people that don't have these foot problems, but they still don't have proper shoes or are still at risk. And any sense, Deb, what the percentage is of people who are just at risk of falling because of improper footwear? I mean, half, would you say?

The statistics kind of daunting. 3 million older adults are treated in emergency rooms every year due to a fall, due to an injury from a fall. 300,000 seniors are hospitalized for hip fractures just caused by falling. So we believe that the need for proper footwear to to just do everyday activities. You may not have a foot problem, but yet as you age, your ability to move, move around as well. So we believe just the proper footwell will prohibit that fall. You know, I do distributions and seniors come in with flip-flops or house slippers. In January, I did one on Martin Luther King here in Columbus, Ohio, where I'm located. And I had seniors show up in flip-flops in January.

Yeah.

Well, first of all, it's cold outside, so that's not proper footwear, but also just walking in flip-flops is just not safe, whether you're outside in your community or just even in your home.

Yeah. Yeah. Putting themselves at risk for a number of, number of problems from that. So, what about exercise? I mean, we're talking about proper footwear, and that could affect longevity alone when you consider the falls and the risk of falls there. What about people that want to do some strength training and exercise and jogging? And where does proper footwear come into that picture?

You know, this is probably the one thing that I scream from the top of the roof from about. Because there's great programs that have been developed to help seniors with mobility when it comes to exercise, like aerobics, tai chi, Matter of Balance, jogging, strength training. Those are all very well established. But every time I hear, I attend a fall prevention meeting and they're talking about all these exercise programs for seniors, I stop and say, wait, wait, wait, what do they have on their feet when they're doing this? Yeah, you know, so the awareness of proper footwear, I think, when it comes to fall prevention is, is being acknowledged more each day. But again, I always hear about the importance of exercise, but people just aren't talking about what they have on their feet. And, you know, the shoes recommended are lightweight, anti-slip, anti-skid, Velcro-closing shoes. And that is what we have used as a prototype at Samaritan's Feet. But yes, that's, that's always a big, big thing for me because I'm like, I know these programs are great. I mean, I'm 70. They'd be great for me, right? But what do they have on their feet?

Yeah, you're right. And we talk about the importance of physical activity, but we don't necessarily tie that to the proper footwear. I mean, you know, the proper clothes are nice too, but footwear seems to be primary here with the Are you, are you stable and do you have shoes that are gonna support you? So this is really a huge, this is a huge issue, Deb. I can see this where we're really talking about a major factor that can affect the longevity of so many people.

Exactly.

As much as diet and as much as, you know, nutrition and social engagement. I mean, proper footwear seems to be really at the top of the list. Well, at the top, maybe.

If you think about it, it, yes, we want proper footwear for safety, right? But it's also part of our mental well-being. You have more confidence when you have better shoes on, when your shoes look better. I mean, let's be honest, I'm 70, even at 70, I want to look good, right? So, it just adds confidence. It gives seniors the ability to get back out in the community. Because they, they have the confidence that they can move around, they can be mobile, that they can be seen. And so that's why when Samaritan's Feet talks about mobility, health, and wellness, but more importantly dignity and hope, that's what we hope to give our seniors that are in need is some dignity and hope by having proper footwear.

Yeah. Yeah. So the physical health and the mental health, the confidence, the security, not just feeling that sense of stability. Literally but also figuratively, feeling, um, better about oneself because we have the proper clothing and proper footwear. Yeah, makes a lot of sense. So the distribution, you touched on that earlier, and you— it's really a worldwide distribution. But I know when we spoke earlier, there's also the component of, uh, foot washing that comes into the picture for many people who receive the shoes. Tell us about that.

Samaritan's Feet is a humanitarian aid organization, but we're also faith-based. And, you know, I love talking about this. I mean, in the Bible, washing feet holds a symbolic significance. And if you really think about what happened here in John 13:1-17, Jesus unexpectedly washed his disciples' feet demonstrating love and humility by serving them in this way. He exemplified the importance of selflessness, selflessness, and caring for others. So we believe the act of foot washing reflects hospitality and a willingness to put aside pride. It's a powerful reminder of our Christian principles and Jesus' teaching. But I do want you to know that, um, and to us that's very important. However, foot washing, I look at it, it can also be a healthcare component. We often have podiatrists on hand that can do minimal screenings, and the foot washing helps cleanse and identify any footborne problems. We don't wash feet, Joe, at every, at every distribution. It really depends on our partner or our sponsor, but it's also a very important part of our servant leadership. And the healthcare component is even more, more important. It is important also.

Does it depend? I would imagine it depends on the location of the target group where they're, where they're living. If they're living in a, you know, their own home or village or versus, you know, staying in a nursing home without proper shoes matters too, whether the foot washing becomes part of that ritual.

Yeah, it's really what our partners want. Sometimes their funding would prohibit anything like that, and we understand that, right? Like I say, we're more of a humanitarian organization. But, you know, the first time I sat down and I realized I had to wash someone's feet, I was like, oh, I don't know if I could do this. It was so amazing. Yeah, so amazing, uh, the response you got from the seniors when we washed their feet.

Sure.

I will also tell you, I did a distribution, uh, with the Salvation Army for the unhoused. And we had an elderly man come in and he'd not had his feet washed for 3 months. And one of our volunteers spent almost 2 hours with that gentleman. And he was so thankful when it was over, but it also let us see some of the foot problems he was having, right? So like I say, it's our heart and it's our health.

Sure. Yeah, I can see it could be life-changing for both. The person who's getting his feet washed and the person who's engaging in that act. I can see that. Sure, it's heavy. Yeah, yeah. So, um, how does, how does an organization, how does someone get on the list, um, to be, uh, considered for distribution?

Call me. No, I'm just kidding.

I'm not kidding. You might get a few calls.

That's good. You know, we depend on partners. I will tell you that all the— when we give a— do a distribution for shoes, not only do they get shoes, that we have what we call a Hope Tote, and it's an orange cloth bag that includes a brand new pair of shoes, a brand new pair of socks, hygiene kit. When we have them, seniors get insoles that can help with their other shoes. They get information on fall prevention, and they also get what we call a message of hope. And it's a hand, a card that's written by people from all over the world, and it's just a message of encouragement. And I used to think, well, that's probably incidental. But in December, I got a call from a senior that said, you know, I was really having a bad day, Debbie, and my hope note was on my refrigerator, and it changed my day. So I look at those hope notes very strongly. But we depend on partners. We, um, uh, all across the world just to complete our mission. We have several kind of partners. Financial partners, those will help us fund and sponsor these distributions. That can be a corporation, a church, another nonprofit, a community foundation, whoever wants to serve in their community. We have what we call, I call, location partners. Those are the partners, let's say I'm going to use Columbus, Ohio as an example. There's a senior center in Columbus, Ohio, and they want to offer their facilities so we can do a shoe distribution to their seniors. So I look at them as location partners. Location partners. And then we also have what we call recipient partners, where they identify the seniors in need. So let's say if it's a senior center, it might just be who's, who's members of their senior center. Or I've had police departments where they say, you know, we're working in this elderly apartment complex and we think there needs to be a distribution for these. We see the need in this community. So it's really working with our partners. We do have guidelines on the program. However, they're not mandated. We— 55 and older, Medicare, Medicaid recipients are preferred but not required. 200% or below the poverty level, again, preferred but not required. If our partner says this senior needs to be served and they're 52 years old, we're going to serve them, whatever our partners recommend.

Mhm.

So that's kind of how we do it. You know, we do shoe distributions in many different ways. COVID also made us realize that we had to do things a little differently at times. We do in-person distributions where we literally— oh, I, I want to go back and add one thing about partnerships. We also have volunteer partners. So we have individuals that volunteer all over the country. We have corporations that their employees volunteer. So We do all this work with the godsend wonderful volunteers across the country. And one of my favorite aspects of that, I'm doing a distribution in September in Tampa where seniors are going to serve seniors. I love that, right? But I've also done where we've had youth serve seniors and that intergenerational component is also, you know, I was lucky. I grew up with a grandmother and grandparents, right? But a lot of times this is the only interaction when we do intergenerational that the seniors and youth have. So we, we like to do that one. Um, so that's kind of in a nutshell how our partners come to be.

So the financial partners, the distribution partners, the recipient partners, and the volunteer partners. That's, um, you're covering a lot of ground. That's, those are important pieces, important legs to this stool or table. Yeah.

All of our shoes are brand new.

Yeah.

The senior shoe, we buy most of those because like I say, they're special prototype shoes. But we have some great partners also. Orthofeet, I'm sure many of your listeners have heard of Orthofeet. They're a partner, donate a lot of international shoes for seniors.

Dr.

Comfort is also a big donation and then Aetrex gives us insoles. And then Bombas is also a partner. So if you hear that from Bombas, it says buy one, we give one, they really do that. So we have some great national partners.

And if someone was interested in the, the Hope tote, how would they go about making that possible?

Well, there's several ways. You know, if you want to support our mission, you can reach out to me. I'll give you my email address. I can be reached at dcoxrausch, dcoxrausch@samaritansfeet.org. And I'd welcome to hear from any of your listeners, whether they're individuals that want to donate individually or may know a need in their community that we could talk through. Um, so they could reach out to me by my email address. You can also go to our website, which is www.samaritansfeet.org and then backslash seniors. But you know, how can you support us? Through donations, by volunteering, by willing— being willing to partner with us. You know, our goal— we couldn't have served 10 million people without the support of just so many people across the world.

Yeah.

Um, our goal for 2024 is to distribute 1.1 million pairs of shoes this year. Right now we also have a, what we call an Adopt a Senior program. And so, you know, May was old— May's— we're almost to the end of it. May's Older Americans Month. So we did an Adopt a Senior program where individuals or whoever might wish to could donate $50 to provide the distribution to a senior, their Hope Totes. And that can be found at samaritansfeed.org/adopt.

Adopt. Okay.

There's many, many ways, you know, but I also look for not only financial partners, volunteering partners, but also if someone in your, or in your podcast or your universe is working with seniors. I also always look for advice, recommendations. Maybe, you know, you, maybe someone listening cannot do anything themselves, but they know an organization that might be able to. So we would love to hear about that.

Sure. Wow. Well, that's great. You have, uh, so many vehicles, so many ways for people to stay connected and get involved in donation, volunteer time, financial commitment. That's, um, that's really great. I mean, you open so many doors. Well, gold stars to you, Deb, and to Samaritan's Feet. I, I just think that's remarkable what you're doing and what you're, you know, so important on so many levels, on so many levels. So thank you for the work you're doing. What's the, what's the final takeaway for our audience? What do you hope they remember from this conversation?

You know, I always, I always joke when I'm talking to a younger crowd and I tell them, remember, you'll be 55 someday too, right? But, you know, in all seriousness, Samaritan's Feet just wants to inspire hope through the gift of shoes. And encouraging those who need it most. We believe that a new pair of shoes can provide protection for older adults from falls while increasing mobility and independence, that it can protect their feet and decrease the possibility of getting a footborne disease. And that, but more importantly to me, that propels them a more comfortable, happy life while inspiring dignity and hope. You know, I look back in the seniors in my life and the elders in my life, and they've given so much to me over my lifetime, as I'm sure many of your listeners have had the same experience, right? So, you know, it's time to give back to them. By serving a senior, I think we really truly expect the word servant leadership. And like I say, they've done so much for us. Let's give back to them and let them continue to have a long and healthy life.

Well, yeah. Well, thank you. Thank you for that. Those are important words to share. So just let me review, um, your email address: dcoxrausch, dcoxrausch@samaritansfeet.org. And the website is www.samaritansfeet.org. Seniors for information. People want to make some contributions or participate in the programs, they can contact you directly. They can visit the website and get more ideas, and you're open to tips and recommendations and suggestions and referrals. That's, that's great, keeping all the doors open. Well, it looks like we're out of time for today, but before we wrap up, I just want to remind my listeners to visit my website, livingto100.club. Sign up for my email list, download a free copy of my 9 Tips to Make Living Longer Enjoyable. And you're— if you're affiliated with a senior living community, be sure to look for my new training manual and activity guide, Better, Longer, and Happier. Deb, thanks so much for being a guest on our program today. I know our listeners will get a lot out of it, and I hope we get some response and participation from everyone in the audience. Thank you so much.

I thank you so much for allowing me to share our story and our mission today. And really, I want to thank you too for caring so much about our aging population that you do this podcast.

Thank you. Thank you so much.