Group Looking for Volunteer ‘Grandparents’

Sometimes, the parents who need the most help from the Family Friends project are recent immigrants who know little English and less about American culture.

“But everyone gets understood,” said Susie Forer-Dehrey, director of the organization, which finds volunteer grandparents for families with chronically ill or disabled children.

The Family Friends project started in 1986, matching senior citizens with families. The volunteers, who often delight in being called “grandpa” or “auntie,” may take the kids to a baseball game or other activity to either give parents a break from caring for sick children or a chance to spend more time with well children.

Even when the parents don’t speak English, their children usually do. And starting with the children is the beginning of the common bond that transforms the volunteers from strangers to family.

“In some cases, these are the only grandparents these children have known,” Forer-Dehrey said.

Some of the children have left behind older relatives in their native countries, or their own grandparents have died. Family Friends’ volunteer grandparents also act as advocates for the family, which may still be unfamiliar with American ways.

“Our grandparent represents someone that is well into the American culture,” she said.

On a simpler level, just by taking the kids to the grandparent often brings a sense of a normal life into a home where visits by therapists, social workers and other strangers are commonplace. The children have a variety of conditions, including leukemia, cystic fibrosis or Down’s syndrome.

The volunteer grandparents may help the children with homework. They may take families on trips to the zoo, the beach, a park or to the movies. And they may often become so much a part of the family that they often go away on weekend trips together.

One volunteer grandmother used to go with a mother and her two sick children when they had doctors appointments. Since the volunteer’s stroke after the Northridge earthquake, the family is caring for her and visiting her in a nursing home.

“The caring goes both ways,” Forer-Dehrey said.

The volunteers are encouraged to become mentors, passing on their knowledge and traditions to the younger generations.

“Someone who has got a lot of life experience is to these families a great gift,” said Forer-Dehrey.

Those in the San Fernando Valley 55 and older who want to be volunteer grandparents can call Terry Shajirat at (818) 761-3447. In the Pasadena area, call Stacey Steinke at (818) 397-3001. In the Los Angeles and West Los Angeles areas, call Darlene Basch at (310) 825-9647. The next training session is scheduled for early October.

The Family Friends Project works with the Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles.

Volunteers also are needed to visit isolated senior citizens in their homes for an hour a week. For more information, call Rena Snyder of the Valley Storefront at (818) 984-1380.

Burbank’s Retired and Senior Volunteer Program also is looking for volunteers 55 and older to help at:

* Bret Harte Child Care Center, 1421 N. Ontario St., which needs one or two office workers to help part-time. Hours are flexible and the duties include answering phones, light typing and filing.

* The Burbank Temporary Aid Center, 1304 W. Burbank Blvd., which needs volunteers to commit to a half day shift one day a week. Bilingual volunteers are especially needed.

* The Don Tuttle Senior Center, 1731 N. Ontario St., which is organizing a choral group and needs senior citizens interested in singing show tunes and novelty numbers for community performances. The first meeting will be in September.

To volunteer for any of these Burbank groups call Renee Crawford with the Burbank RSVP at (818) 953-9503.