“Every day is different and every day I learn something new,” says Dina Hitchcock of her work as a Florida State Guardian. “We protect vulnerable people and make sure their needs are met.”
Dina’s life started off serving people – her parents had owned a restaurant and bar in Mahopac, N.Y. – she was behind the bar as soon as she turned 18 years old. But she didn’t stay long in the hamlet.
By the time she was 24, Dina and Frank, her husband, son and daughter had departed for Florida.
“It was not a good job market in New York then.”
They found a place in Pinellas County and Frank got a job in the booming construction industry. Dina became a server at the legendary Kapok Tree Restaurant in Clearwater.
“It had 12 dining rooms and one kitchen. It was a crazy place! You could get a steak dinner for about $4,” she recalls fondly.
Frank had a dream of police work. He applied to the Police Academy and after graduation in 1979 joined the Lady Lake Department. He soon joined the Leesburg Police Department where he rose to the rank of detective. After working at the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Dina went to work for the Lake County Library in the reference department.
Librarians are not the meek and mild people people expect, according to Dina. At a “Murder in the Library’ event where Dina was the victim, she bounded off the stage to shake her husband by the collar. Sitting in the front row, he was laughing so hard that he was ruining her death soliloquy.
“I grabbed him and shouted, ‘I’m trying to die here!’ The fact that I was wearing a Miss Piggy costume at the time didn’t help.”
While living in Lady Lake, Dina and Frank would sneak in to the Chula Vista Restaurant in The Villages.
“We didn’t know that it was really open to the public,” she laughs. Eventually they looked at homes in The Villages when a sales person told them that they could buy even though they were not over 55 years old.
“We had a villa at first but that was too small. Then a designer that became too big and then a three-bedroom villa where I still live in the Village of Hemingway.”
After Frank passed away from cancer in 2009 Dina retired from the library. Her two children were grown. Christina lives in nearby Fruitland Park and Robert in Cocoa. The concept of being a guardian for people who needed help appealed to her.
Guardianship is the management of the affairs of someone who has been legally judged unable to manage their own affairs because of disability, mental state or other reasons. Dementia is often the deciding factor. The professional guardian assumes the legal rights of their client, a “ward” in legal terms, to make decisions about many aspects of their daily life. She is one of the approximately 25 professional guardians in the Heart of Florida Chapter of the Florida State Guardianship Association (FGSA).
Guardians are appointed by the court at the request of the family or after an examination by a three-person committee that includes a medical doctor. They are paid from the assets of the ‘client’ or, if the client does not have assets, the guardians provide their services pro bono.
“Clients can be the young – under 18 years old – or adults who are legally deemed incompetent to look after their own affairs,” Dina explains. “Guardians can be appointed by the court, called by an attorney or the family. In all cases it is a legal appointment and guardians must keep accurate records, submit reports and be audited annually.”
When appointed, the professional guardian will visit the client at least once a quarter, although it may be much more frequently in the beginning. The client time can include everything from counseling to accompanying them on medical visits. Guardians ensure that their clients are safe, free from abuse, engaged in social activities that meet their abilities and that their finances are kept in order.
With older people living on their own, creating an inventory of their belongings can be challenging and, at times, startling.
“Sometimes people are hoarders and we have to take an inventory. Among the collection of stuff we will find cash, diamond and jewelry, and stock certificates. Everything is catalogued and anything of value is recorded for the court.”
Sometimes the unusual is discovered.
“One client had a freezer full of buckets of hickory nuts. I was convinced that the lady was hiding cash in the nuts. Turns out she just liked feeding the squirrels. Another client had a freezer full of dead ferrets. She was going to make something from their pelts. The guardian who opened the freezer suddenly had a lot of eyes staring back at them.”
Dina’s typical caseload is about 10 clients. “I was once up to 18, but that’s too many.” Clients in care facilities may require only random checks to ensure that they are receiving good care. Others may require more time. One of Dina’s previous clients had extensive holdings in race horses and she got an unexpected crash course in stable management as a result. “There were bills to be paid and checks from race winnings. And who knew that a foal’s tail hair had to be submitted for DNA testing to assure that the blood line was valid?”
There is a need for more guardians. The older population is growing. Dina credits changing demographics for the need. “The trend is for children not to live with their parents, so there is no one to look after them when they need it.” She also cites sibling squabbles as a problem where they cannot decide on the needed care or one sibling tries to take control.
Dina is also an artist working on fabric and painting furniture, golfs and plays piano. But it’s not enough. “I need a purpose to get up in the morning,” Dina says. “Guardianship gives me that purpose. I get to help people. Learn new things. And every day is different. I like that.”
For information on becoming a professional guardian or for information on professional guardianship services, visit www.FloridaGuardians.com.
John W Prince is a writer and Villages resident. Learn more at www.GoMyStory.com.
