Senior Companions ‘give from their hearts’
“Dolores and John Hawkins’ contribution of time and service to our community is genuinely amazing,” says Terri Roeth, Panhandle Health District’s Senior Companion Program director.
The Hawkinses, who are often called on the spur of the moment anytime night or day, always “give from their hearts,” according to Roeth. They have volunteered more than 1,900 hours every year for the last nine years to Senior Companion Program Alzheimer’s patients.
For their service they were honored recently at an appreciation and recognition luncheon at Red Lion Templin’s Hotel along with 69 other volunteers from Idaho’s five northern counties.
Senior Companions are healthy, older adults who help other adults live independently, and also become part of a team of caregivers who alert doctors and family members to potential health problems.
Through the Senior Companion Program, volunteers provide assistance and friendship to individuals in need of extra support, who often are homebound and living alone.
Senior Companions not only assist frail adults with chores and errands, they also help make the lives of the people they serve less lonely. The program enables many older adults to live with dignity in their own homes.
Dolores originally responded to a newspaper ad requesting Senior Companion volunteers, and she is glad she did.
A natural caregiver, she has worked in convalescent hospitals since the early 1980s, and enjoys her home visits. She visits four clients weekly. Sometimes she reads to them, takes them grocery shopping, watches television, or just keeps them company.
“I will continue volunteering as long as I am able,” Dolores says. “It is amazing how fast the time goes by.”
John is a retired barber, and calls his service “a labor of love.”
“There is such a need for Senior Companions,” John says. “Our clients are so appreciative of what we do for them.”
The Panhandle Health District Senior Companion Program has been established for 20 years. Roeth, a licensed social worker, coordinates the program in all five North Idaho counties.
She currently has 71 volunteer companions who served 258 clients this last year, providing more than 65,000 hours of volunteer service in Kootenai County.
Roeth says many more are needed. “This amount of volunteers is not enough to cover a waiting list of 170 homebound seniors who have requested help, and have no family or friends who can help out.”
A proportion of these requests are for respite care where the volunteer provides short periods of relief to primary caregivers such as family members.
Many families dealing with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and dementia want to keep their afflicted loved ones at home for personal or financial reasons. These caregivers are not able to get out by themselves to do chores, errands, or even attend church. They lose friendships, family support systems, and become financially strapped because they are caring for an elderly loved one 24 hours a day.
The Hawkinses are first to come to the aid of families that need two senior companions, according to P.J. Christo, of the North Idaho Alzheimer’s Association.
Dolores stays with the client at the home, while John takes the caregiver out to do necessary errands and chores.
“Senior Companions Dolores and John are the best duo team ever,” says Christo. “I would love to recruit more husband and wife teams like them.”