Working with seniors for the past 25 years and loving it!
Angelle Laplume has been working at the Missisquoi North Volunteer Centre (CABMN) for close to twenty-five years. Although her job has evolved over the years, her present job title is, Senior’s Services Coordinator and this is truly Angelle’s passion.
Angelle came to Mansonville after leaving a job at IBM in Bromont where she had been working in quality control for close to five years. She was offered a promotion with the company that would have taken her to Toronto for six month training and then back to Bromont to work. However she had decided to get married and did not want to travel from Mansonville to Bromont each day and so she left the company to begin her life in Potton where she opened a clothing and gift store, “Variété Hélan” with her dear friend, Hélène Pouliot. The store existed for ten years and when it closed in December 1993, Angelle began volunteering at the CAB (then Citizen Advocacy) as a receptionist.
“I volunteered for 4 months, 5 days per week,” shared Laplume. “I then advised them in April 1994 that I would be leaving because I would be looking for a paying job.”
The CAB wasted no time and shortly after that, Laplume was offered the receptionist job as a paid employee and was thrilled to find a job just a few minutes from home. Due to her contact with people in the community, Angelle quickly became more than a receptionist and began to develop her skills in referrals, matching volunteers with those in need as well as a strong implication in the Partage/share food bank and other programs through the organization.
“I never minded the extra tasks as I was usually the instigator of the extra work I took on,” she explains.
It did not take long as programs grew; new projects and staff were added to the CAB team before Laplume was working mainly with seniors. Her most important goal is making sure that seniors know what the CAB can do for them. Her priority is to listen, encourage their input and then bring the services, workshops and information that are needed, organizing workshops that can be fun, serious, informative, spiritual, emotional or legal, they decide.
“Another priority for me is to be aware of new and existing possibilities seniors or caregivers might be eligible for so I can transmit the information to them if they need it,” she continues. “We are there to guide them, inform them so they understand and use different services and options that are out there for them to access.”
Regardless of whether it is the person or their caregiver, Laplume stresses the importance of keeping the client feeling that age does not make them less important in society and strives to remind them of the vital role they play in society and community life. Information