Page 2
The Telephone Reassurance program offers calls to seniors who want a check in and have a chat. Some are feeling isolated; some just want someone to know they’re okay on a daily basis. Many have pets, and they want someone to know there’s an animal at home in case something happens. We connect with these seniors Monday through Friday. Our 16 senior volunteers who make the calls on weekday mornings are good listeners who really do care.
Take the case of one of our clients who I’ll call Nancy. She’s been with us for a long time, and if we can’t reach her, she returns the call promptly to let us know she’s okay. If she’s going to be out, she lets us know that too. But earlier this summer there was one day when we couldn’t reach her. The volunteer let me know, and I began to call Nancy’s backups – a family member and a friend. Both ladies agreed that this was unusual for Nancy. We checked all phones here in the office to confirm that Nancy hadn’t checked in on someone else’s extension by mistake. (She hadn’t.) I called the property management company at her complex to see if someone could do a well check, and they passed the message on. Meanwhile, Nancy’s friend called a mutual friend who did a drive-by check to see if Nancy’s car was there. It wasn’t, which made us all feel a bit better – we figured she was out and just forgot to call in.
Turns out Nancy had slept in. She’d parked her car in a different place and hadn’t checked her cell phone, which was in another room. When she finally did, she found several messages from the volunteer, me, and her family and friends. She called me back right away to apologize. I told her this happens from time to time, and I was just glad she was okay. She told me she’s so glad she’s in the program (I always love hearing that). And then she added, “It really is very reassuring!”
We’re here every weekday morning, and we check the phone frequently throughout the day to make sure all our seniors check in. More importantly, we listen, providing a little TLC whenever needed. I’m very proud of this program – it’s a great resource for seniors, and our volunteers are the kindest you’ll ever meet. If you know of someone who could benefit from this program, please let me know. We’d love to give them a call. ~~ Debbie Mercer, 631-979-9490 x 121. dmercer@rsvpsuffolk.org
RSVP is happy to announce that we have added a new library to our one-on-one counseling sites. The new site is South Country Library and it is
located at 22 Station Road in Bellport. If you would like to schedule a free one-on-one counseling session at this site, please call the library, and say
you would like to meet with a HIICAP counselor. The phone number is 631-286-0818 x1. The counselor is there on the second Monday of each month. For a list of all the libraries that provide HIICAP counseling, visit our website at www.rsvpsuffolk.org
Thoughts From the RSVP Telephone Reassurance Coordinator Debbie Mercer