Libby Carter, RN, recently told the Columbus Lions that she travels up from Spartanburg every day to serve as director of the Polk County Community Alternatives Program (CAP), a state function administered by St. Luke’s Hospital with an office in their hyperbaric building.

Carter said CAP’s mission is to help disabled adults receive support, enabling them to remain in their own homes rather than going into a nursing home. Applicants must be residents of Polk County and qualify for Medicaid, but the current funding limit is 53 people. A larger waiting list could lead to increasing that limit. Carter said she loves her work and her people and manages to visit each of them every month.

Clients range in age from around 20-years-old to one lady who was 107-years-old, who said the secret to living so long is to “never stop working.” She planted and tended a vegetable garden every year and ate what she grew, sharing any surplus with others. She said she had “never been to a restaurant.” Carter said when she met her for the first time, she found her picking green beans. She asked Libby whether she knew how to pick beans and handed her a basket when told that she did indeed.

Anyone who needs the services CAP can provide can contact Carter at 828-894-0564.

Columbus Lions meet at 6:30 p.m. on the first and third Thursdays at Calvert’s Kitchen in Columbus. Visitors are welcome.

For more information, contact president Fran Goodwin at 828-894-2505.

– article submitted by Garland Goodwin