Does anyone know where I can search for someone to do activities with my Mom a few hours a week, free?

I agree with Garden Artist: No to Craig's list.

The remaining answers are good, and varied by answer.

I would suggest your local church. Good luck.

A friend of mine found a university student who was working on a health sciences degree to do activities with her mother. The student used the experience for a paper she was writing. It helped her mother and it helped the student. I wish I had thought of that for my parents.

Most communities have a local senior center where she can go during the day with nominal annual membership$25/yr. These are great places to meet new friends, craft workshops, games, cards, coffee, senior exercise class, and even day trips or outings. Very social and welcoming even for the most introverted plus they usually serve lunch daily.

Check with local churches. Many have senior volunteers that will run errands, or just visit with the senior, accompany them on walks, library, etc.

Some communities have RSVP = retired senior volunteer persons organization that does same as above! visiting seniors! doing things with them, etc.

If mom is doing well, consider organizing some local seniors in your neighborhood or community (4-5) and invite over for coffee and treats. Introduce to mom and try to foster a relationship such that mom can visit them or pal around with them. I know it sounds like one more burden.

Lastly, would mom go to the YMCA for silver sneakers? It's a an exercise program but maybe she'd meet new friends.

Check the Agency on Aging thru the local county government. They may be able to help you. As above, senior centers/day care centers are the best choices. Sometimes church volunteers or volunteers from other charitable agencies are available to help. Otherwise, if your mom has income ie social security she can pay to have a companion come in several hours a week to play cards/chat with her etc...

In our state, there is federally funded Adult Day Care, which is 3 - 5 days per week from 10:00am to 4:00pm.

Typically, it is offered at the local Senior Centers. It is awesome, and I have had clients go to that. If there are no ailments, that is fine. They typically have people with very observable physical ailments, and they have people with issues of Aging (Alzehimer's/Dementia), and then a group of people, that just need to get out of the house to avoid Isolation.

I would also try your local churches. There are many people looking to do volunteer work, and assisting the elderly has been very popular.

Good luck!!!

When I had my dad living with us, we went through the same scenario. So I signed him up for two weekly "outings": Church seniors group on Mondays, and an art class at our local Senior Center on Tuesdays. The art class assigned homework each week, which kept dad busy for the rest of the week. We arranged for a bus to pick him up and drop him off at our house, even though he was wheel-chair bound. The bus was equipped with a lift and for about 5 years, this routine was great for him. When he began failing a bit more, I arranged for CNAs to be here several days per week during the day, and one of them was an artist who continued to do dad's art with him at home.

some public libraries will bring books to the house for her to choose from. You might be able to contact the local high school to see if the students have to earn community service hours like they do in my state. Teen agers that want to go into nursing at college might be open to coming by to do activities??

If she has assets and income, she should be paying for her care. If she has no funds, she may be eligible for VA or Medicaid assistance.

An adult day health center (day care) can be a great solution. A van or bus picks Mom up and brings her home. She gets a hot lunch. There are often additional services available such as trimming toe nails or helping with a shower. Even if she doesn't interact much with the other clients she will have the attention of the staff as a change-of-pace from just interacting with you. That would be my first choice.

Senior centers also offer a lot of activities right in the center and also often sponsor day trips.

If she qualifies for some in-home care through Medicaid they will cover the cost of the appropriate care.

United Way or similar community-wide public service organizations typically have a database of free or low-cost services available in a community. They know where you might locate a volunteer companion. I used such a companion for a few hours a week before my husband got on Medicaid.

You are very wise to be looking into arranging for breaks for you. A couple of ounces of prevention is worth a ton and a half of burnout!

It would be nice if you could get her to go to a senior center; typically they have a variety of activities.

Does she have mobility problems that might make her self conscious about going outside?

If she prefers to stay home, can she read, work crossword puzzles, play board games, do craft work?

Perhaps you could set aside some specfic Mom/Daughter time, do something with her, then explain that you plan to spend the next x-y number of hours doing your own work. Put on some nice music or give her a magazine she might like while you're working, then after finishing, have another activity or just cup of tea session with her.

You could also get her to participate in folding laundry, setting the table and/or stacking dishes on the table for removal. She may not have anything to keep her busy, so little tasks like that might help.

And she's in your home, not hers, so the chores she might otherwise be doing are done for her. If she can participate in some way, she might find more enjoyment in free time.

Alternately, could any of her friends come and visit to play cards, just chat, or whatever? Does she have friends from church who would be candidates?

I'd be leery about bringing in strangers though. And don't even think about advertising on Craigs List!