Read the article that appeared in the June 2022 edition of Front Porch Magazine:
Each month I try to share with you a glimpse into the friendships being formed through Mental Health America of Fredericksburg’s Senior Visitors Program. In the past 20+ years the Senior Visitors Program has worked to alleviate the loneliness and isolation too many seniors experience by connecting them with a volunteer visitor. Having friends and connections within our community is so important to our overall well-being and resiliency.
In April the Senior Visitors Program hosted a luncheon to honor our volunteers who have individually given over 500 hours of service. Many of these volunteers have been with the program since its early years. Their dedication says a lot about them – but also about the important work of the Senior Visitors Program.
In their own words, here’s why they feel the Senior Visitors Program is important:
The Senior Visitors Program is important because if fills a gap between the random friend or relation who may or may not be available at regular times and the professional whose work is not free, will be much less regularly available, [and is] certainly not just [there] to say hello and spend some quality time. Like most volunteer service, both the server and the served benefit. – Dan
The program is important because there are so many lonely and disconnected older people in our community. It’s amazing how much encouragement a hug or phone call brings. – Joyce
Senior Visitors benefits the volunteers and the seniors in equal measure. Learning about each other’s history, backgrounds, and cultures, helps to enrich our lives. This program has brought someone into my life that has helped me see the bigger picture. – Steve
We need each other – to keep involved, informed, and feeling needed. Senior Visitors Program allows us to give of ourselves and help others at the same time. – Judy
The Senior Visitors program creates a lifeline for a senior population who for various reasons, has reached a point in their lives where they are disconnected and perhaps lonely. The socialization and affirmation we volunteers offer, help to normalize their lives and make living more pleasant. – Laura
The program is so important because it brings human contact to people who cannot get out or have no one. It is also very satisfying to the volunteer. It is not always easy, [yet] it is very rewarding emotionally. – Maria
I shall pass through this world but once, therefore, any kindness that I can do, I do now. I am “needed” and it’s my pleasure too. Everybody needs somebody and Joyce and I have each other now. – Barbara
I’ve met some wonderful people. – Richard
The thing that is important about this program [is] friendship, caring, and giving. – Pat
When asked why the senior visitor program is important my mind went directly to a Beatles lyric: “All the lonely people, where do they all come from?” In a world overcrowded with people, it seems a tragedy that anyone should be lonely. Since seniors have difficulty reaching out to others, they desperately need someone to come to them. In reaching out to help another, I found a friend and a purpose. How rewarding! – Lisa
I wish a whole lot more people could experience this and see through the eyes of a senior. – Janice
Laurie Black is the Senior Visitors Program Coordinator at Mental Health America of Fredericksburg.
If you know a senior who could benefit from having a weekly, friendly visit or if you would like to volunteer to visit a senior, call the Senior Visitors Program at (540) 371-2704 or visit our website at mhafred.org to download volunteer or senior applications. The Senior Visitors Program is a free community service program of Mental Health America of Fredericksburg.