Electrician donates time, talent to Memory Care
Call him a Craig of All Trades. From lifting and toting office furniture, to wiring office data connections, there’s no task Craig Kelley won’t tackle in his volunteer work for St. Louis’ Memory Care Home Solutions – an organization that provides support to families caring for loved ones suffering from memory loss, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
The not-for-profit recently completed a move to a new building, thanks in large part to the generosity of Kelley – a production operations electricianat Ameren Missouri’s Meramec Energy Center – and several other Ameren employees. Besides the individuals’ donations of time and talents, Ameren also contributed enough surplus office furniture to outfit Memory Care’s new facility. Craig Kelley’s wife, Erin Kelley, had a special role in putting her spouse’s hands, back and banana-yellow pickup truck to good use before and during the move. “It’s really been quite a partnership, and we are super grateful for all of the time and effort Ameren employees have given
us,” says Erin Kelley, director of development, Memory Care.
“Whatever they need, that’s what we’ll do,” Craig Kelley says, adding that his own grandmother had suffered from Alzheimer’s. “I’m really proud of everything they do at Memory Care, and I step in wherever I can.”
“I’d be happy to lend a hand, even if my wife wasn’t the one doing the asking,” he jokes. Matt Thayer, managing supervisor, Investor Relations, Business and Corporate Services, sits on the Memory Care board and attests to just how much effort Craig Kelley and other members of the Ameren team have put into helping Memory Care. He notes that Kelley enlisted members of his family to help move more than a dozen chairs, several large cabinets and four “impressively heavy desks” from Ameren storage to the new Memory Care building. Thayer also provided assistance as he and Kelley wired office data lines and phones, completing the work necessary to make a smooth transition to the new space. That project alone took more than 10 hours to complete.
“Things come up, they need to get done, and Craig is the guy who steps up,” Thayer says. “He’s just a good guy to have on your team.”
According to Memory Care founder and executive director Lisa Baron, the work Kelley and Thayer did drew compliments not only from her staff but from the paid contractors working on the building.
“Thank you on behalf of all caregivers, staff and professionals connected with Memory Care Home
Solutions who benefit from your incredible commitment to our mission and the fact that you are two
highly skilled individuals willing to give so generously of yourselves, your time and your trade,” Baron says in praise of the Ameren workers’ contributions.
BY AMEREN JOURNAL STAFF
