The christian social service institution / meals on wheels

Since I am carrying my screwed up wrist around in a brace with very limited movement from the end of June, I am relying on external services. Thankfully, my accident insurance (in this case the ARAG) covers these expenses – rather uncomplicated.

I am therefore receiving these services (all of which I am actually not using):

1. Daily menu service (7 days / week)
2. Running errands and accompaniment while grocery shopping (once a week)
3. Accompaniment to doctor’s and other official appointments (up to 7 days /week)
4. Travel service to physiotherapy and other therapy sessions (up to 7 days / week)
5. House cleaning service (once a week, up to 2 hours)
6. Laundry service (once a week, up to 1 hour)
7. Personal hygiene (up to 7 days / week, up to 3 hours)

Beyond the above, more services, including an emergency call system, would be available.

#1 and #5 I call upon as offered. I have used #2, but rather as an exception. #3 and #4 I have not used, as either family assisted or things were in walking distance. 6 is rather useless, as my washing machine takes a good hour per load and since I generally have more than one load, I manage myself. I have an extra wide, walk-in shower, so there is no need for #7 either.

The services are performed through the christian social service institution (Diakonie) in Herne. The connection is made through the insurance company in cooperation with the worker’s samaritan foundation (Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund or ASB). This is – as the name would suggest – a protestant institution, but this atheist here does not particularly care. As a lot of people there are volunteering their time, I am taken care of by paid employees (yes, I did ask ).

The menu service encompasses a daily hot meal (with additional dessert or salad) – one orders their selection 14 days in advance from differing menus, there are always 6 choices to select from. When delivered, the meal is hot and is kept warm in a styrofoam enclosure. That works well for about 2 hours – fittingly until lunch time. The food is prepared by “Apetito” – they also service daycares and other institutions.

Let’s not fool ourselves here, in Canada we would call that a “TV-Dinner” and that has little to nothing to do with a freshly cooked dinner. But it is pre-sized, has lots of variety and tastes really good aside from some very few exceptions. One of those are clearly the mashed potatoes, irreconcilable with my taste buds and really unfit for consumption. But there are plenty of alternatives. Incidentally, I have always been a stew fan, and the different stews offered are really very good!
The salad is fresh and o.k., the dessert comes courtesy of a company called “Boermarke” – sounds dutch and it is.

At this point I would like to go to bat for the really nice caretaking by all of the employees around Diakonie Herne. You can set your clock on meals on wheels (10:15), all others call me up on service day to coordinate the exact time of their visit. They are on time, always friendly and there to help.

Thank you, Diakonie-Herne service team for a job well done!

Their detailed website (in German) with all information and the unavoidable Facebook presence are there for your review.