Helping seniors is a rewarding calling
RSVP’s Help on Call often has a waiting list of more than 100 seniors needing volunteer help.
RSVP’s Help on Call program assists one of our community’s most vulnerable groups: homebound seniors, often isolated by poverty, disability and a lack of support.
While “safety net” services can help them in an emergency, these seniors often need occasional assistance getting to doctor’s appointments or the grocery store, sorting mail, paying bills or tackling routine household tasks such as changing a light bulb or a smoke detector’s batteries.
Sadly, Help on Call often has a waiting list of more than 100 seniors needing volunteer help, according to program coordinator Maria Strohl. Volunteers can spend as little as 15 minutes phoning to check on the wellbeing of a homebound senior. Often, requests involve transportation to a medical appointment that can take an hour or two.
“Some clients just need to go to the local food pantry once a month,” she said.
Others are looking for someone to go grocery shopping with them every week. And others just want a friendly visitor to stop in and talk for an hour a couple of times each month.
“The best thing for Help on Call volunteers is the ability to set your own schedule,” Strohl said.
She periodically emails a set of client requests to the volunteers. Volunteers contact her if they can fill a request.
Requirements to volunteer for Help on Call are not especially heavy. Participants must pass criminal and driving background checks. Once qualified, volunteers are ready to go.
Volunteers should have “patience and empathy for the elderly or disabled,” Strohl said. “Communications skills are important in creating a good relationship with clients. The volunteer might be the only person who recognizes additional needs that can be communicated to us.”
Steve Sherman and Claire Porter are among Help on Call’s most dedicated volunteers. Their outlook helps explain what drew them to the program.
Sherman is a retired middle school world languages teacher who began volunteering in college, reading for the blind. He quotes Stephen Grellet to explain his philosophy: “I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now.”
Sherman, who also plays and teaches folk guitar, transported students with special needs for several years after his retirement from teaching.
“When I stopped doing that, I was at loose ends. I went to a volunteer fair and found out about Help on Call,” he said.
With a preference for driving in the afternoon, he found that he could “find people within my driving range — up to 30 minutes — who needed help. I feel like I’m the go-to person for my area. There are so many people who need help. I see it more and more now. I hope somebody is there for me when my time comes.”
Porter worked for the health information technology industry.
“I always felt I was making a difference,” she said.
Once she retired, she sought a volunteer activity that afforded scheduling flexibility. She found RSVP online (rsvpmc.org) and decided “maybe I’ll try to help the elderly.”
Porter began with one client, a blind woman she visits weekly to help with correspondence, bills and other paperwork.
“After a good year, I added a second person,” Porter said. “And then in the fall I added two more. There is just such a need.
“The important thing is to set expectations from the beginning,” Porter said. “I’ll either drive a person somewhere or help with bills in the home, but I don’t do both anymore.”
She decided on this approach after a particularly needy client asked for more and more help.
“Maria (Strohl) was wonderful in helping me decide what to do and set strategies.”
“Our volunteers love the program’s flexibility,” Strohl said. “They like that they can decide how far to travel, how many clients they want to help and how much time they are able to give. If a volunteer decides to spend the winter in Florida or travel for a month, that’s OK. Volunteers also really enjoy the wonderful people they meet, who tend to be very thankful and appreciative.”
Alexandra, a Help on Call client who lives in a Royersford seniors facility, said, “If it wasn’t for RSVP, I wouldn’t be able to get to my appointments. My driver [Sherman] is wonderful. I thank God for people like Steve who care and don’t have complaints.”
In a recent RSVP survey of seniors assisted by Help on Call, more than 80 percent reported an improved sense of wellbeing as a result of the help they received, 93 percent said they have food in their homes and eat better as a result of help from their volunteers and 96 percent said the rides they received saved them money.
Seniors cannot contact RSVP directly for services. Agencies such as county Aging and Adult Services or the Association for the Blind refer low-income or disabled seniors to RSVP for assistance through Help on Call.
If you’re ready to spend an hour helping a local senior, why not learn more about Help on Call? Contact Marguerite Cunning at RSVP, 610-8341040 ext. 123, to reserve a spot at an upcoming volunteer information sessions. Upcoming sessions include:
• Bala Cynwyd, June 1, 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Blue Bell, June 14, 1 to 2:30 p.m.
• King of Prussia, June 27, 10 a.m. to noon
• Kulpsville/Lansdale, June 13, 2 to 4 p.m.
• Pennsburg, May 31 and June 27, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Plymouth Meeting, May 24, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.
• Pottstown, June 20, 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Willow Grove, June 29, 9:30 to 11 a.m.
To see a video about the Help on Call program, visit rsvpmc.org/content/help-call-somuch-more-ride. For more information about our Help on Call program or about RSVP’s diverse volunteer opportunities, call Cunning at 610-8341040 ext. 123 or visit rsvpmc. org.