Volunteers Sought to Call Homebound Seniors
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WESTMINSTER — The Westminster Senior Center is in urgent need of volunteers willing to make one telephone call a week to elderly people confined to their home.
Volunteers are assigned to a senior whom they will call weekly at a scheduled hour to check on them and remind them that “someone in our community truly cares for them,” said Betty Goyne, supervisor of senior services. “It develops into nice friendships over time.”
Before making contact, phone volunteers will be trained in such skills as how to distinguish between a normal reaction and an overreaction, Goyne said, and to listen for signs of elder abuse and financial problems.
The program, now in its seventh year, has 90 homebound elderly residents on its list but only 11 to 15 volunteers making the calls.
Goyne said that in the past three years the list has increased “because people are living longer and opting to stay in their homes.”
To volunteer or for more information, call Goyne or telephone reassurance coordinator Maureen Thistleton at (714) 895-2878.
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