If you’re a caregiver, you don’t need to do it all alone.

That’s the message Nancy Halvorsen, the new coordinator for the Family Caregivers Network, hopes to spread to caregivers in Freeborn County.

Halvorsen, of rural Emmons, worked as the director of Ride Services within Senior Resources in the 1990s. She began her job with the Family Caregivers Network in early July.

She said she’s been drawn to working with seniors because — like with the general population — seniors “offer a rich array of personalities and talents.”

“Knowing someone who’s reached a more advanced age than myself is like getting an amazing glance into a land I may or may not be allowed to visit,” Halvorsen said.

With the Family Caregivers Network, she is responsible for listening and assessing needs, researching resources, providing opportunities for education and support, enlisting volunteers, providing training, and maintaining records required by grantors, she said.

The caregivers network provides education, support and respite services to family caregivers within the county.

“We specifically seek to uplift and relieve those caregivers who may be caring for a family member or friend who for some reason cannot be left alone,” Halvorsen said. “Three out of four caregivers live with the care recipient, which often means 24-hour-a-day commitment.”

She said she wants caregivers to know that the network can connect them with other caregivers in the same situation and offer other resources.

She encouraged adults who are able to volunteer with the program to do so.

“Someone will be very grateful for your gift of time,” Halvorsen said.