My friend Ali works at a retirement
home called the Blair House in my hometown, Bloomington. I was allowed to volunteer with her for a
shift, which equaled out to seven hours!
We first served lunch to the residents and then socialized with them –
this included reading to an elderly woman who had lost her sight, playing bingo
and card games, and just simply talking.
There were many concepts from this FCS course reflected in the
activities. Many of the residents were disadvantaged
due to their age and the challenges that come with age. Really, most of the individuals living in
retirement homes are disadvantaged in some way – otherwise they would be able
to live on their own without assistance.
For example, Margie (the blind lady) was telling me how all of her four
children live in states other than Illinois, so not only is she having to
adjust to living without vision, none of her children are around to assist
her!
As
for networking, Ali’s boss Mitch was very gracious about this assignment. He had no problem letting me tag along on Ali’s
shift. When we were getting ready to
leave at the end of the seven hour shift, Mitch told me to come back anytime I
was in town and expressed his remorse that I couldn't be an employee of the
Blair House since I only live in Bloomington seasonally. Basically, I formed very good rapport with him
and for that, I am happy and grateful.
I
think the effect this type of service activity has on the community is just
making the elders of one’s community happy and paying them the respect and
attention that they deserve. To make
them happy made me happy, so it was a win-win situation! I really enjoyed this assignment – it really
made me want to make volunteer work a part of my everyday life.
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