113
Summer 2013
Escarpment Magazine
Home For Life envisioned a “Back to the Village” approach for the seniors in our communities; neighbours
helping neighbours. Our trained volunteers go to the homes of the seniors and discuss the hurdles they
are experiencing. It could be the seniors can’t cook for themselves any longer; they may have mobility
issues so gardening isn’t possible. They might be lonely and just want someone to visit them or to do odd
jobs around their house or apartment. Once these needs have been identified, the volunteer facilitates
the connection to the service provider(s). However, we have discovered that many of our seniors are
on fixed incomes with little money to spare. In these situations, our volunteers will pitch in and dowhatever
they can. We currently have volunteers visiting seniors, grocery shopping and gardening.
Here is an excerpt from the report of our volunteer Cameron Johnson,
who recently visited a senior we’ll call Lorrie:
“Mr. Johnson met another volunteer at Lorrie’s house today at 11:00 a.m. to install a grab
bar in her shower. He installed not one, but two grab bars, removed a dangerous shower
door, then bought and installed a shower rod and curtain. Then Mr. Johnson used some
plywood that Lorrie had in her garage and made a step at the front door...which was really
needed – Lorrie could easily have fallen. Lorrie could not get the smile off her face...
she was so grateful. She couldn't believe she only had to pay for the material used,
and was thrilled with how wonderful Mr. Johnson was to her.”
Home For Life also offers technical training, which helps isolated seniors to stay connected to their
world. Our trainers go to the seniors’ homes and teach them to Skype, email, use Facebook, or surf
the Internet; whatever the senior is interested in learning.
We are blessed to have our volunteers; they sincerely want to make a difference in a senior’s life. Our
volunteer opportunities are unique; the volunteers choose what they like to do and how much of their
time they want to donate. The flexibility works well for our volunteers’ schedules. We always need
more volunteers; if you’re interested, Dial 211, we would love to hear from you.
Seniors call us if you would like our help or if you know a senior in need.
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Contact us - Dial 211 or email us at
Our Website:
Home For Life
is making a
difference to
the lives of our
Seniors in
Southern
Georgian Bay
Home For Life also offers technical
training, which helps isolated seniors
to stay connected to their world.
Dial 211 - when you don’t
know where to turn.
TM