About Team Oofta
The first Team Oofta/Doug’s birthday party was a blast. Folks got to meet other, reconnect, the cakes were stunning thank you Adriane, Ian and Eve, Tam, and Renee. Our faces hurt from smiling. Thank you so much to Rob of Avo’s, and Barb, Renee and Elizabeth for making the food possible, and to Doug for the beer, and to Willie and Susan for bringing instruments. Thanks to Vicki Cotton for marketing and web maintenance!
“THANK YOU for your interest in the support community for Doug and Ellen, officially named “Team Oofta” by Doug!
Team Oofta has two web-presences. The public site, and this site called Team Oofta, were developed because folks at many entities that provide support and resources for folks with a life-changing health issues kept telling us if we could share publicly, it would help so many more people. We have friends who are nurses, and friends with friends who refer folks here, so they can get an idea of how a web-based support team might be able to help them.
The public site also gives folks who might want to join Team Oofta an idea about what’s involved, how the team developed, insights into helping, and how they can use their particular talents and interests to help. The “Contacts” tab has an overview of people and ways to help; the blog provides a look into Team Oofta from the first meeting forward. “Stories” contains musings and lots of insight into the ins and outs of helping. Meandering around the site in a leisurely fashion will help first time visitors get an overview of what’s up.
The private site is Team Caring, and requires a user id and password to access the Team Oofta section. This is where you can find the calendar, help wanted sign up, message board and other features.
If you’d like to have a log-in & password, please contact Renee (970) 482-6274 or Ellen (970) 482-4574. To log on to the Team Caring website (with Team Oofta’s calendar, help wanted, message board): Visit Team Caring . Log on using the login already assigned to you. You can change both of these later to something easy for you to remember.
If you forget your user id and/or password, just contact Renee or Ellen. If you’d like a refrigerator magnet to help you remember the details, they can make sure you get one.
The Calendar, Help Wanted and Message Board sections are key to supporting our family. Members will maintain the support checking the calendar, help wanted list and message board and signing up to help as interested. The plan is to add to the calendar as needs arise, so try to check weekly. The calendar will most often be updated on Sunday night or Monday morning.
About the message board: This is where needs that don’t fit the calendar are posted, like resources to keep an eye out for, one more crew member needed, crew needed, etc. It’s also where the Team Oofta community can share thoughts and inspirations.
Please feel free to catch up on the results of the initial meeting held to launch the group and developments since. Receiving help and giving help is a process that improves with practice and experience.
The “Seven Principles”: Please keep these handy and revisit often. They’re the bedrock of successful teams.
"Learn about HD" - Want to know what to expect, what HD "looks like"?
“Compassion Fatigue” – this worksheet provides insight into “Marilyn Crabcake” and reminds us to take care of ourselves first.
Photos welcomed: We hope you’ll feel free to bring a camera to events, and post what you're learning, gaining or hoping from your Team Oofta experience so the message board can reflect the community spirit and learning this effort brings forth.
Doug and Ellen’s biggest hope is that all of you can get to know each other, and that more community and love will be created from a tough situation. Our big project days and several “Team Oofta” parties during the year help us in our goal of creating new friendships and relationships among our friends.
With your help, we can weather the changes with as much laughter, fun and support is possible! We can’t do it alone anymore, and we’ve “been there, done that” with self-inflicted isolation.
If anyone you know wants to join the team or explore what being a member involves, they can contact Renee Choury, 482-6274 and she can add them to the team.