GLSS warming hearts on wintry days

LYNN – Joanne Peters brought Phyllis Amaral an American chop suey meal Wednesday, but she also brought the 90-year-old West Lynn resident the comfort of knowing someone is checking on her during a winter when snowfall has been measured in feet, and not inches.Amaral, who lives at the end of Varnum Street, is one of 6,000 people in Lynn and neighboring communities who rely on Greater Lynn Senior Services workers for meals, rides, basic household chores and other help.Peters has climbed over snowbanks to reach clients, and coworkers have shoveled out clients? front walks.?They have gone above and beyond. So many of our consumers do not have family or neighbors to check on them. It?s far beyond a routine situation, and snow removal has been a huge problem,” said GLSS home care programs director Holly Jarrell-Marcinelli.A 5-foot-high snow mound is piled against a fence next to Amaral?s house and her daughter, East Lynn resident Pam Gallant, said snow made it difficult for her to reach her mother?s little corner of West Lynn until this week.?We barely made it through the other day,” Gallant said.Peters, a Lynn resident, delivers almost 80 meals a day, five days a week with GLSS coworker Jim Sullivan.Amaral grew up in Wakefield, worked as a ship welder in World War II, and lived in Florida for nearly three decades before her husband?s death brought her to Massachusetts to live near her daughter.Peters likes visiting with Amaral?s cat, Sissy, and laughs when Amaral searches in her GLSS meal box for a Danish or muffin to snack on.?I love seeing the elderly every day: They make my day,” she said.Amaral is one of her regular clients, and they even have a prearranged code Peters uses so Amaral knows who is knocking at her door.The chance to hand Amaral a meal means a lot to Peters, but the opportunity to make sure Amaral and other clients are not trapped in their homes by snow is even more important.?This is the worst winter I?ve delivered. The streets are tough; it?s been very tough,” she said.Gallant drives across the city almost every day to visit her mother and make her a peanut-butter-and-jelly or a turkey sandwich. She admires her mother?s energy and positive attitude, but she knows Amaral relies on help provided by Peters and other caregivers.?It?s too dangerous for her to go out,” Gallant said.Jarrell-Marcinelli said heavy snowfall means some clients are on the verge of running out of money to buy heating oil or pay utility bills after a month of freezing weather. Others are skipping medical appointments to avoid battling the snow.?They are afraid to go out,” she said.