Volunteering with Lifespan

After I retired, I wanted to volunteer in some way, to make a contribution of time, not just money. I investigated the possibility of ‘friendly visiting’ for the elderly in Morristown, NJ, but they wanted a year+ commitment, and Charlie had just informed me we were moving to London. Luckily, there was an organization there called Age Concern that was looking for people to tutor some seniors in the use of their computers, and I jumped at the opportunity. I assisted about half a dozen clients, visiting them in their homes, trying to get them comfortable with email and word processing and simple internet searches (this was the early ‘90s, when dialup was still the norm – remember that?!). I finally settled on two of the women to visit weekly as part of their friendly visiting program. I looked forward to these visits as much as they did, and I made sure to schedule my week’s activities and vacations around them, when possible. Even after I moved home, I stayed in touch with both, and saw them every time I went back to London, until, sadly, they passed away. In the meantime, I was able to volunteer in Morristown, where I visited two elderly housebound women. When they died, I decided to take a break. But when I moved to Rochester, I was eager to get involved again.

My friend, and fellow Concentus singer, Kathy, introduced me to Lifespan. Interestingly, I am too young to be a friendly visitor here!  (you have to be over 55 and I’m not quite there... yet.) Instead, they have a program that matches volunteers with seniors who need in-home financial management assistance – right up my alley. There are many more seniors who need help than there are enrolled volunteers, and their needs range from simple checkbook balancing and budgeting to assistance with managing debt that is beyond their means to pay. My first assignment was a lovely, 90+ year old woman who insists on keeping two sets of checkbook records, but hadn’t updated either in about a year. I got her up to date, and in the process, discovered that she had significantly overpaid her rent, and I suspect the landlord, who was satisfactorily responsive to my investigation, had no intention of bringing it to her attention… At this point, our monthly meetings are about 15 minutes checkbook oriented and 45 minutes chatting and reviewing her mail, and I have assured her that just because her finances are straightened out, she can’t get rid of me that easily!

My second assignment has some memory issues, hoarding tendencies, and significant credit card debt, some of which is due to services she signed up for for ‘free’ (for the first month…) and forgot about. But those businesses didn’t forget about her, and were charging her monthly, without her noticing. We put a stop to that! Both women had been victims of bank mergers that put them in inappropriate account tiers, with monthly charges, of course. Neither woman has a support structure to assist in reviewing her finances, and I was reminded of my father, who had four children, but was too embarrassed or stubborn or independent to let me review his (and of course when I finally did, I discovered he was a victim of phone cramming).

I always feel guilty when I get the emails from Arnisha Jordan, who coordinates the Financial Management Program for Lifespan, with the long list of new client needs. I would love to help every one of them, but know my limits, and I need to get my second client a bit more under control before I take on another. Because I know that I won’t stop seeing these people when their financial issues are solved; they have become as much a part of my life as I have of theirs.

For more information about Lifespan, and opportunities to contribute or volunteer, visit their website:  http://www.lifespan-roch.org/