This is what members have been doing . . .
Volunteer Recruitment I interviewed a woman, Joyce, this month who I think will be a fantastic volunteer. She is interested in doing mail sorting and checkbook balancing. It was perfect timing because we got a request from a senior for these services just about the same time that I did the interview. I also interviewed a UVM graduate who specialized in audiology. She has a lot of experience working with seniors, and it will be easy to find opportunities for her to do services with seniors. Lisa Leary, CVAA 5/2008
Successful Aging Program My biggest opportunity this month was giving my presentation on Australia at Pillsbury Manor North, in South Burlington. Between this presentation, visiting Ila as she writes he autobiography, and going there for a volunteer match, I have gotten to know a lot of the residents and staff there. At Ilas’ request, I put together a slide show of my semester traveling in Australia. The program was very successful, and 14 residents came and really enjoyed learning about a different country. Kayla Thibault, CVAA 5/2008
Learning through Serving Others I agreed to do a direct service for a woman named Lynda who has multiple personality disorder (MPD). She was having an out patient surgery and needed transportation to and from the hospital. I was a little nervous about taking her, since her case manager had told me that she might get very anxious and I might see “splitting” of her personality. I arrived at her house early in the morning to drive her to the hospital. She immediately spoke with a high pitched, child-like voice. Eventually, her voice switched to what I imagined Linda’s voice actually was. She explained to me that there were lots of “kids” in her head this morning and many of them would speak throughout the morning. After getting into my car, Lynda (with the help of the other people who are her multiple personalities) explained her history with MPD and how she deals with it. I successfully dropped her off at the hospital with no trouble. And later, on the way home, we talked more about her disorder. It was incredibly interesting to meet someone who is living independently (she still drives) while coping with this significant disorder. Kayla Thibault, CVAA 5/2008
Community Partnerships and Outreach I have made some outreach attempts to form community partnerships for future Healthy Aging Programs. These include Covenant Community Church in Essex and Jericho and Colchester Libraries –potential sites for computer classes, and The Converse Home – potential site for a walking group. This month I had the opportunity to participate in two fantastic events that focused on community building. The Vt. CNCS Conference for all AmeriCorps members serving in Vermont and the E-State Symposium - “Building Community in a Connected Age.” Both were inspiring, thought provoking, and educational. Most of all, though, I saw how many people are willing to truly dedicate their time to making a better Vermont. Chantal Champaloux, CVAA 5/2008
The value of communication Probably one of the "greatest stories" I've experienced during my time as an AmeriCorps Member occurred during a direct service for Forest H. Due to genetic hearing loss, and advanced cataracts he lived in his own world, independent and happy, but virtually unable to communicate with those around him. My direct service involved accompanying him to the MD and eye doctor and serving as a sort of interpreter. Armed with a large pad of paper and thick black marker I hastily scrawled the doctors' questions and comments in large print so that Forest could communicate with his doctors. It was very satisfying to know that I had helped this man receive medical care, and also to meet someone who was so humble, grateful, and kind. Shannon Lucy N2N SVCOA 4/2008
Blossoming Healthy Aging Programs Ongoing activities at the Barton senior Center are gaining popularity as more seniors return from Florida and other winter locations. By popular demand, the square dancing group, scheduled to terminate at the end of May, will continue through the summer. Outdoor activities, such as our community garden, are underway. Other activities, such as a walking group that will meet at Crystal Lake, are in the planning phase. Frank Fischer, N2N NEVAAA 5/2008
Stretching, Strengthening, and Tear of Joy This month I have been providing direct service to a disabled adult who was born with Spina Bifida. Against the advice of the attending physician, her mother took her home a birth and was determined that she would walk. She reported that she had taken her first steps at age 6. She is a very determined individual. She gets around to some degree with a walker, but has had little incentive to exercise or to try to improve her abilities in the past few years. She has had more than one stroke, but has not had physical therapy since before the strokes. We have been working on some very basic stretching and strengthening of her arms and legs, as well as strengthening her core muscles. As a result of just a few exercises, she has decided to call her physician, ask to go back to physical therapy (if insurance allows), and to continue with her goal of being more independent. She is so delighted with her slight improvements that she actually cries with happiness when we talk about it. It seems like no one recently really saw any possibilities for improvement in her condition, so she gave up on herself. Pat Paine, N2N NEVAAA 5/2008
Service Opportunities As a result of my recent visit to the Barton Senior Center I am participating in the community garden project and planning a program around canning and preserving when the vegetables are ripe and abundant. A lady sat with me at the hot lunch, and she asked if I could possibly go out to her place and help with some yard work as she is going to have eye surgery and ill not be able to do it for couple of weeks. I am ready to lend a hand. Carole Shepard, N2N NEVAAA 5/2008
Community Outreach & Building Partnerships I was able to go to the Rand Memorial Library in North Troy and get in touch with Deborah R so I can be more involved in the Newport Community Garden. Next step was talking with Matt F to get the date for the next Community Garden meeting and get on his email list and show up to help with the rest of the planting. I am also trying to visit all the senior centers in Orleans County so I can start some more healthy aging programs. Brandi Robinson, N2N NEVAAA 5/2008
Seated Tap Dancing & Tai Chi I continue working to enlist seniors for my Seated Tap class in Lyndonville. 21 are now eagerly attending at this location, the 3rd site where I am leading this healthy aging program. Tai Chi training has taken more of my time and energy than I expected, although I think it will be worthwhile when I finally get this one started. The benefits of exercise for seniors are abundant and I look forward to this program’s growth. Darcy LaPointe, N2N NEVAAA 5/2008
Favorite Direct Service I did seven direct services this month. Three were new and the other four were repeats or assisting other team members. My favorite was helping CP stack her wood. She is 85 years old and had a huge woodpile in her yard. She insisted on stacking it herself because she knew where she wanted each piece of wood so the pile wouldn’t fall. Fortunately she let me haul the wood into the shed and hand her each piece so he could place it. I was able to move the whole pile into the shed and she was very happy and grateful. Tanager, N2N CVCOA 5/2008
The Importance of Keeping up with Chores There are eleven elders or people with disabilities who received in-home services from me during May, to help promote their independent living and keep them aging successfully in their homes. Three of them, including Isle, are “new.” Isle is homebound right now. She used to drive herself around and do everything that needed to get done around her house. She also was an avid knitter. Isle fell not too long ago and has carpal tunnel syndrome. Now she has a hard time just getting around her house and doing a few chores. The minute I walked into her home, I could tell that not being able to clean it the way she was used to was driving her nuts! She had me take off my shoes and put on a pair of slippers right away. She knew just how she wanted things done, and there was no question about doing them any other way because she was so beautiful and sweet. Isle needed some vacuuming as things were building up on the floor around her, and she wanted some windows washed to se could get some of that precious sunshine. I will be going back to help with a few more things that she cannot do. Believe it or not, it was just too cold to wash outside windows the day I was there. I am looking forward to the follow up visit. Lara Jarvis, N2N CVCOA 5/2008
The Importance of having Bird Seed I completed eight direct services, one was a “new” client. My most memorable direct service in May was Maria. I helped with her birds. She is a senior and has a broken hip. I visited her only one time with a large bad of bird seed. She was very worried that her birds would go hungry because she could not get out to purchase bird seed. It was very important to her that she takes care of her friends. After a trip to Agway, I went up to Maria’s house. We had a lot in common; she is also from another country, Finland. So, the bird food drop off turned into a warm welcome visit and great conversation. She also had a list of household chores she wanted me to help with. She was very organized. I think this visit improved her quality of life, eased her discomfort and increased her access to the telephone. She is very lonely and I think I should drop by again to say hello. Kyong Rorison, N2N CVCOA 5/2008
Sometimes things just work out Lindsey and I helped a case manager with a yard clean up. The client was a self-neglect case with a cluttered yard containing, among other things, two rusted out burn barrels full of medical supplies—needles, syringes—and other partially burned trash. We got all that bagged and loaded on the case manager’s pickup truck, but still the big yard was unmowed. The client didn’t have a lawn mower—nor were we eager to mow tall grass where more needles might be. “I wish we could get someone to mow her lawn,” Carol sighed as we drove back to Rutland. The next morning, when I came into SVCOA, the landscape crew for the building we are in was mulching flowerbeds. I checked in, then dashed down to the company pickup truck. “Excuse me, sir. Would you be willing to give me the name and phone number of the person who owns this company?” I asked a man in his early 40’s. “You’re looking at him. I’m Richard Rubino.” We shook hands, and I described, briefly, the situation with the previous day’s client. I asked him if he would be willing to mow her grass, say, twice a month. It would just be a tax write-off because there was no money to pay him. Mr. Rubino asked me where the home was, exactly, so I ran upstairs to get the address and one of my business cards. “I’ll go up later this week and take a look. How big is the yard?” I showed him about how large it was. “I’ll get back to you as soon as I’ve checked it out. I’ll do it myself, but it won’t be until next week because I’m really booked this week. I’ll call you as soon as I’ve taken a look, OK?”
I shook his hand, thanking him. “Oh, I do these kinds of things, you know, for community service.” I returned to my desk and began looking at requests for direct services. On top was one from a man who simply wanted the name of a lawn care service, someone he could pay. Richard Rubino, I thought. I can pay him back a bit for his kindness to our client. I looked in the yellow pages under lawn care, but Rubino’s company wasn’t there. I looked in the white pages and found his name and phone number, but no business name. I called the number listed. “You have reached Rubino’s Lawn Care. Please leave your…”
I called the gentleman who wanted to pay someone to mow his lawn and gave him Richard Rubino’s number. “God, I don’t know if he can do it; the grass is so long, I may have to make hay.” I assured him that Rubino’s could do it. The next day a happy client called to tell our Senior Help Line person, Ellen, that Rubino’s had done a great job on his lawn, only charged him $30, and had told him that now that the tall grass had been cut, from now on it would only be $20. The following week Mr. Rubino left me a message saying he had gotten the self-neglect lady’s yard mowed.
What amazed me about all this is that I got something taken care of just by asking, and that I was able to recommend this kind, generous man to someone else, who called to say what a great job he had done, and now we can give his name and number to others. And he wasn’t in the yellow pages. If I hadn’t had an encounter with him that day, I simply would have chosen names from the phone book yellow pages, at random. Connections can be so precious, and so beautiful. I mustn’t forget the in-kind form! Cynthia Caruso, N2N SVCOA 5/2008
Kindness Given Established a New Business Relationship that Benefits All Paul Colletti agreed to give eight chair massages to residents at Maple Village in Rutland during May. The ladies who came loved every minute, and instead of returning to their apartments when the massage was over, they lingered at the table in the community room, talking among themselves, raving about how good they felt, and sometimes chatting at the person getting the massage. “Doesn’t it feel great, Mary? Have you ever had anything like that?”
One of the happy ladies asked me if Paul could come back. “Not for free,” I told her. “He was kind enough to donate his time for this Healthy Aging Program today.” Virginia asked me how much he charged, and I told her the going rate was about $1 per minute, that the massage she had had ordinarily cost $10.
“Oh, I could afford that once a month,” said another lady as she sipped her water. Two other ladies agreed, as did Virginia. When I left this group of serene, happy women, they were talking to the activities director about having Paul come once a month. Again, a kindness given established a new business relationship that benefits all. Cynthia Caruso, N2N SVCOA 5/2008
AmeriCorps Conference What can I say about the National Service conference and trainings at Stoweflake? Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. The workshops were good, and the feeling of being important enough for the national AmeriCorps to budget some pampering for us was important, very important. It was wonderful to spend time with my Neighbor to Neighbor peers, but it was wonderful to meet other Americorps member, some right in Rutland. I swam for the first time in over a year. Thank you. Lindsey McFarland, N2N SVCOA 5/2008
Inspired by Mary K Cynthia and I have been doing a lot of yard work lately, and it was beginning to get tiresome and not very rewarding. However, on a late rainy Friday afternoon, my mood turned around. I went to Mary’s house and she instructed me on how to plant her daisies, tomatoes, and marigolds. Mary was so pleasant and expla8ined that she likes to watch the children in the park across the street play, but a bush was too large, and she could no longer watch them. I helped Mary trim the busy, and she told me stories about being a nun and traveling all over South America. Mary and I had a very nice early evening together. Mary calls occasionally to inform me of apartments that are available in her town (she knows my lease is up soon). It is very kind of her to look out for me, and I look forward to going and visiting her again soon. Now, whenever I am discouraged about going to do yard work, I try to remind myself of Mary K. Lindsey McFarland, N2N SVCOA 5/2008
Community Outreach and Building Partnerships I am trying to recruit Green Mountain College alums to volunteer to work with an Art Fits event I have planned in Poultney. I have collaborated with a VISTA member working in the elementary school in Poultney and we will lead a joint Art Fits event with the Girl Scout troop and the Young at Heart Senior Center. Seniors and Girl Scouts will sign up to be paired with one another and decorate puzzle pieces together. Each person will have their own puzzle pice, but the senior and the Girl Scout must find something they have in common together and paint their puzzle pieces accordingly. The Poultney Rotary Club has already agreed to donate $50 for paint supplies. I am meeting with the Poultney Artisans Guild to coordinate the auction of the puzzle pieces. I am very excited about this partnership project and hoe it all work out well. Lindsey McFarland, N2N SVCOA 5/2008
Building Partnerships and Meeting Challenges My newest healthy aging program is through a partnership with the cosmetology program at the Southwestern Vt. Career Development Center. The students there have agreed to do manicures for area seniors, and I am working on setting something up with the residents at Walloomsac Apartments. I have also received feedback from some of the surveys I handed out at the Senior Center. A few people indicated interest in having a senior talent show, so I am working on that. There is interest also in games, so I hope to begin a Scrabble or card games program soon. I have made a lot of progress with healthy aging programs in April. This has been both an opportunity and an obstacle. It has been challenging working independently and collaborating with directors of senior housing and senior centers who are less than enthusiastic. However, seeing the program slowly becoming realities has been very satisfying. Shannon Lucy, N2N SVCOA 5/2008
