COMMUNITY LIVING SERVICES:
I Made a Difference to That One
SeaStar. Wikipedia. Public Domain.
By Eva Veitch, Region 10 Community Living Services Program Director.
We all have a choice everyday as to how we will spend our time and energy. I decided a long time ago that I was not put here to just take up space; I want to spend my time making a difference in my community. I understand that philosophy is not everyone’s “cup of tea”, but I like to end my day feeling like I accomplished something for the greater good. I am fortunate that my work helps me fulfill a lot of that need but so do my volunteer projects.
I work with older adults who often call on me when they need some type of help or resources. I often end those conversations with a request for them to consider giving back when they can, not money but the gift of their time, experience, and talents. We all need a sense of purpose and a reason to get up every day. What better reason than to help someone else? They usually laugh and say “Eva; I am 87 years old what can I do for someone else?” My reply: can you help us make phone calls to check on people? Can you call volunteer drivers and remind them of their schedules? Can you fold newsletters or send cards to the homebound? Can you sit at the desk and check people in at the senior center?
What can you do to make life a little better for someone in your community? Region 10 has a new program-Region 10 Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), and we NEED volunteers who want to make a difference in the lives of others. We are partnering with The Shepherds Hand to begin a new Senior Lunch program and we need volunteers to help serve and deliver meals to the homebound in Montrose. We also need drivers in surrounding communities for home delivered meals. We need people who are handy to help with minor home repairs and installing grab bars and building wheelchair ramps.
Maybe you like working outside and would be willing to help with yardwork or other chores. Are you a special event kind of person that likes to plan and help with one-time events-we have that too. Would you like to help at the food bank once in awhile or give a caregiver a much-needed break? Don’t be nervous; we will provide training and support and nice benefits. The best benefit is that your quality of life is guaranteed to improve!!!
[Region 10“]
Time Bank:
One member’s story of helping others
Roberta Nowlin. Time Banker and member of the Threshold Singers. Courtesy photo.
By Roberta Nowlin.
Each of us is many things in this life, right? Here is my laundry list: I am an adoring wife; a so-so housekeeper; a pretty good cook; a loyal sister, cousin, and friend. I am a teacher, a traveler, a writer and a reader, a dreamer, and a thinker. I am a bike rider and roller skater – oh, and perhaps the most evanescent yet loveliest “thing” about me is that I love to sing. This quality is like water. It takes the shape of whatever situation I happen to find myself in. It is ever flowing, never stale – and often eases pain, brings joy, and expresses deep feeling where words fall short. I share this singing freely with children, adults, audiences big and small, as a soloist or as one voice among many.
When I joined the Time Bank in the winter of 2016, I was already an active member of the Singing Sisters of the Shining Mountains – a local chapter of the Threshold Choir, an international organization of women dedicated to singing for people at the thresholds of life in over 200 communities around the world.
ur local chapter usually sings at the bedside of people who are sick or dying (we receive many of our referrals from Hope West). How to describe this simple yet powerful musical experience; and the uplifting, healing quality when a handful of women’s voices join as one in utter beauty, simplicity, and song for “a friend in need”?
As I pour myself into this unique musical crucible of love, I find myself singing in the various assisted living centers around Montrose. Two of them, Valley Manor and The Homestead, are themselves members of the Time Bank. How about that! So, each time I sing for a client at one of these facilities, I earn time for myself from the Time Bank too. A double blessing!
What is your special “thing?” Think about it!
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