AARP Montana Presents Portrait of Care to Glenn Ridenour from Kalispell MT

November marks National Family Caregivers Month, a time to recognize the 40 million Americans – nearly 118,000 from Montana – who help older parents, spouses, and other loved ones live independently at home, where they want to be. The unpaid care they provide – managing medications, cooking meals, driving to appointments, performing complex medical tasks and more – is valued at about $1.4 billion in Montana alone.

AARP Montana is recognizing Glenn Ridenour of Kalispell MT with a Portrait of Care, an artist’s painting of him and his wife, Karen. Randomly selected through AARP’s storytelling initiative,  I Heart Caregivers, Glenn is one of 53 family caregivers from every state, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands receiving a hand-painted portrait. Thousands have shared their stories on the site.

Glenn and his wife, Karen love to travel the world, all the while Glenn cares for Karen, who was diagnosed with MS in 2012. This will be their 20th year to travel to Mazatlan, Mexico where they have more extended family of tourist and Mexican friends.  Glenn and Karen have been married 31 years and "still going strong." 

“Today in Montana, a silent army of family caregivers are the unheralded backbone of our state’s care system providing home care for older Montanans and adults with disabilities,” said Tim Summers, State Director of AARP Montana. “Family caregivers are the first line of defense against older Montanans being forced from their homes and into nursing homes or back into the hospital, this is not an easy task."

Find additional resources for family caregivers at  www.aarp.org/caregiving.