Support services for homebound seniors and persons with disabilities
Volunteering with About Care is not a zero-sum endeavor where the client is helped and I am equally burdened. It seems to me that the clients’ needs for friendship, transportation, household help or respite care are small, and yet they respond with so much gratitude, I can see it means the world to them. Both of us are blessed!
When Patsy retired seven years ago, she immediately began looking for a volunteer opportunity to occupy her time. She discovered About Care from a friend of a friend and has been volunteering with the organization ever since.
Patsy has formed a bond with two clients. She drives one to the grocery store and another to weekly hair appointments. When she is not volunteering, Patsy loves to work out and participate in Jazzercise multiple times each day.
Margie has been with About Care for three years. She and About Care volunteer, Helen, go grocery shopping and run errands together about once each week. The two have become friends through About Care, swapping stories about their grandchildren.
Helen has been volunteering with About Care for about four years. She has five clients, who she’s dubbed “her ladies,” that she drives around. Helen takes each client out to lunch on their birthday. Helen’s favorite part about volunteering is listening to clients’ “amazing” stories.
Helen helps her clients in any way possible, driving them to the grocery store and medical appointments and even fixing light bulbs. If she takes a client to the doctor’s office, Helen stays with them the whole time so they won’t feel alone.
“I am a disabled ex-police officer and USMC Vietnam veteran. I know what it means to serve, and About Care, Fred epitomizes the words: to serve. Through [About Care’s] generosity and the help of computer guru, Fred Lynn, I was given a computer that gave me a new lease on life. “
I believe so much in the About Care Mission that in addition to being a client, I became a volunteer too. I send out birthday cards to all clients. I wake up each morning with a purpose that extends beyond my normal daily activities. I feel happy knowing that these cards may encourage or brighten someone’s day.