People have asked for help in creating Caring “Villages” for elders in their own communities. From time-to-time, using the blog, I will comment on the how-to of implementing a successful program.
Matching volunteers with elders, in terms of interests and time of day and date of the week, as we help people to age comfortably in our community, used to be a time consuming occupation indeed for the one Morningside Village Coordinator…especially as we continue to expand the project. Some of our eldest members want several volunteers to visit in the course of a week.
Here’s how we are resolving this: we now have one Sub-Coordinator, a volunteer who is good as organizing, managing the visiting and care-giving for one particular elder, keeping track of what’s to be done on a weekly basis. It’s as simple as this.
So, rather than spend my Saturday figuring out who was visiting whom in the next seven days, I was freed up, and here’s what I did. First, I visited a new caller, an elderly Chinese-born man who wanted someone to walk him to the pharmacy. The trip up a slope and back, took some time, so I got to learn about Zhang (names changed, as usual) and what it was like migrating to the US at the time of the Chinese revolution. I look forward to our next trip. After walking him back home through the blustery sweet-smelling spring afternoon, I walked over to Riverside Drive, with wooshing boughs above and small flickering shadows along the sunny sidewalk beneath. I caught up with my husband, who had met up with two other volunteers and two elders, both in recovery from surgeries, and the six of us had the loveliest hour. The elders hadn’t ever met before, but as we left, George called out to Kitty, “I’ll be hopping up to see you soon!” So, here’s another tip for those who want to replicate our heart-warming Village project: There’s no time like spring for community building.
Irene Zola
Tags: aging in place, eldercare, eldercare village, elderly, organizing, seniors, Volunteers
