CICOA Aging & In-Home Solutions is looking for inspiring caregiver stories for its 2018 Caregiver of the Year Contest. The contest, created in 2011, honors one personal caregiver in Central Indiana who models courage, sacrifice, strength and creativity while caring for another. This year, however, CICOA is making a change to the contest rules to better align the contest with its purpose.
Instead of asking the public to nominate a caregiver, CICOA is asking caregivers to share stories from their own caregiving journey. Anyone in Central Indiana who was an unpaid caregiver for a family member or friend is eligible. Possible topics include:
- How or why you became a caregiver
- How caregiving has impacted your relationships
- Unexpected lessons you have learned from caregiving
- What has been most meaningful to you as a caregiver
- What helps you maintain a positive focus as a caregiver
Stories must be true and, in the case of a family member or friend submitting the story on behalf of a caregiver, must have the caregiver’s knowledge and consent.
Stories must be submitted online at cicoa.org/nominate.
Caregiver stories are due March 9 and will be judged by a panel selected by CICOA.
The winner will receive a $500 cash prize, be recognized at CICOA’s annual Signature Breakfast on April 18, and be featured in the May-June edition of KIT magazine.
The Caregiver of the Year Contest is open to legal residents of Boone, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Johnson, Marion, Morgan and Shelby counties who are 18 years of age or older at the time of entry and who served as a non-paid caregiver for a family member or friend in 2017.
CICOA Aging & In-Home Solutions is a not-for-profit agency that provides information, advocacy and support services for older adults, people with disabilities and family caregivers. For more information about CICOA Aging & In-Home Solutions, visit CICOA.org.