I spent my last 3+ hours reading the Indiana Veterans’ Home (IVH) volunteer information. I am tired of reading it, but hey, I’m done now and I learned quite a lot about the Home.
Basically, they take care of about 300 people. About 250 of those people are Hoosier men who have served in the military during time of war and the 30-50 women are primarily spouses of men in the home or widows of veterans with a few female veterans mixed in. IVH is a large and State run institution, so it naturally has many inefficiencies, but it is readily apparent that they truly care for the residents and want what is best for them.
One other cool thing about the Veterans’ Home (especially applicable to me) is the way they use volunteers. They really work to put volunteers to work in a way that will use their skills, time, and motivation to bless and help care for the veterans. They do not ask you to do silly things or tell you there is nothing you can do. They encourage volunteers to work in dozens of roles all over the home, helping residents in every way from helping them get their meal trays to visiting with them to wheeling them all over creation to flower and garden work to who knows what else.
When I was there Thursday for orientation, we went on an extended and detailed walking tour of the campus. Carolyn (the Volunteer Coordinator) took us up to the Alzheimer unit because it was getting late (past 8 pm) and that’s the only place you’re sure to find people up. About eight very awake residents were sitting on couches and in various types of wheelchairs having ice-cream and sherbet. We got to spend about 10 minutes talking to them. Despite a few very sad comments from patients about wanting to go home and such impossible things, I had a blast with the residents and now I think I may do my service at least in part there in the Alzheimer unit. I never would have thought of doing that before.
How many pages was that volunteer information? I can imagine it was a lot, though that makes sense since you are volunteering at a state run institution. I’m also curious about how big their property is, since you called it a campus. To comfortably house around 300 people, I would think that there would be quite a bit of space.
ReplyDeleteI think that your willingness to help with the Alzheimer’s Unit is very noble. I have relatives living in Alzheimer’s Units and I am familiar with the residents and how they behave. It is very sad to have to tell people they can’t go home. By volunteering there, though, you can at least take them around outside and give them some additional freedoms they wouldn’t normally have. It can be hard to hold a conversation with a resident, but they are normally very lively. That can make for some very interesting conversations. I'm sure that working there will brighten your day a bit.
Wow, you spent 3+ hours reading about the veteran's home?! That is so tight..congrats to your perseverance, haha. I'm glad you got some stuff out of it, though. For nursing homes in general, volunteers are pretty invaluable, but in the veteran's home, they seem irreplacable. Are there paid employees at all? I'm wondering how they split the work between volunteers and employees. It's good that you guys can do a lot of activities and really get involved with the seniors there. In my nursing home, I had to beg them to find things for me to do, during the time before bingo. I almost felt bad for making them think of things for me to work on, but it's good that you won't be in that same situation as me!
ReplyDeleteThe Alzheimer's unit sounds pretty intriguing. I hope you enjoy your time spent with the residents there. I'm curious to know what you will discover/experience working with them. :)