TLC, tender loving care, is a cornerstone of the P.E.O. Sisterhood. The loving concern we show for one another is one of the greatest benefits of
belonging to P.E.O. But TLC has a whole other meaning in P.E.O. culture too—the TLC listing, now found exclusively on the P.E.O. website under “Reference Listings” (formerly CARE), is a unique resource for P.E.O. members and their families. In the TLC listing you will find the names and contact information of generous and caring sisters from across the United States and Canada who have graciously volunteered to act as contacts for P.E.O.s when hospitalized or in need of assistance in any of the listed locations.
The P.E.O. Record receives dozens of letters a year from grateful P.E.O.s who have benefited from the kindness of TLC contacts. We have heard from P.E.O.s who have been involved in accidents while on road trips far from home, P.E.O.s visiting ill parents or loved ones in a strange city and P.E.O.s and BILs who have fallen ill themselves while on vacation. P.E.O. sisters who have made themselves available provide assistance of all kinds. P.E.O.s on the TLC listing do things such as provide meals and make hospital visits. Of course, P.E.O.s also reach out with simple gestures of TLC—talking, listening, holding a hand or giving a hug.
Another facet of the TLC program is College TLC—TLC listings specifically for college students. Many P.E.O. mothers have found comfort from this service when sending their children off to college. Many cities have chapters participating in the College TLC program. The sisters who volunteer as College TLC contacts are great about keeping in touch with students in their area—sending care packages and making the occasional homecooked meal.
Jan Angel, CE, Charlotte, North Carolina, first learned about the TLC 
program when she was in Hot Springs, Arkansas, visiting her father in the hospital. Jan said, “I needed to know such fundamental things in Hot Springs…how to find the post office, city hall, a church…I was there for almost four months without my husband so it was a lonely time with a lot of responsibility. I got around with the help of my computer and a GPS but there’s no substitute for a friend guiding you.”
Jan continued, “When I came home I wanted to know everything I could about TLC and how to fill that need for others. I love the concept and I wanted to talk about it with my sisters at a meeting immediately. What better way to inspire closeness than to help another P.E.O. when she’s far from home and really needs a friend. Who could do this better than a P.E.O.? Whoever thought of it, bravo!”
Jan now volunteers for the TLC program in the North Charlotte/ Concord/Huntersville area of North Carolina. She has yet to be called on but says “I am eager to lend a sisterly hand to someone in need so I hope the word will spread about this wonderful program!” 
Chapters or individuals interested in participating and being listed as available for the TLC or College TLC program should contact Millie Knee at the P.E.O. Executive Office, mknee@peodsm.org. There is no fee to be listed. It is a free service for sisters, by sisters. The TLC listing is updated weekly.
To find the TLC listing, log on to the members’ section of the P.E.O. website peointernational.org, select Reference Listings (formerly CARE) from the menu on the left. From there, click on TLC to search for TLC by State/Province/District or for a College TLC.
History of TLC
A unique opportunity to be of service to P.E.O. sisters throughout the United States was recognized by Chapter BM of Rochester, Minnesota,
when the chapter was organized in 1936. Rochester is home to the Mayo Clinic, the world’s largest association of physicians in the private practice of medicine. This world-famous medical center brings several hundred thousand patients and visitors from every state and every part of the world to Rochester annually. Among these visitors each year are many P.E.O.s who are patients or who have accompanied their BILs, relatives or friends. Because of this need, in 1936 Chapter BM initiated a chapter project of calling on hospitalized P.E.O. sisters.
Chapter CK, also of Rochester, shared the project with Chapter BM from the time of its organization in 1948. It wasn’t until January 1964, however, that the Rochester project was listed in The P.E.O. Record. In January 1985 and January 1986 only the Buffalo, New York, hospital program was listed (in the classified ad section). In June 1988 Rochester
again sent in notice and the total number of listings began to grow.
In October 1989 a separate listing was started in The Record called Rx:TLC; that first listing contained 17 entries. Now there are more than 750 TLC entries.
