Making A Difference in Your Community : Aiding Injured on Road to Independence

The clients that Peter Lambert helps are often like puzzles with a key piece missing.

“They come to us sometimes as children, even though they have these adult bodies,” said Lambert, of people who have been injured and left with limited mental capacity. He runs the transitional program for the Independent Living Center of Southern California in Van Nuys.

Other consumers--as Lambert calls them--have perfectly clear minds, but their bodies have been crippled by a tragic accident.

“We want them to learn to become independent,” said Lambert, who after becoming legally blind four years ago was helped by the state Department of Vocational Rehabilitation, and now is using the lessons he learned to help adults overcome severe disabilities. He has run the ILC transitional program for three months.

As part of the journey toward self-sufficiency, Lambert handles the part of the ILC program in which clients make the switch from a daytime training house back into the everyday working world.

He finds volunteer work for them in law offices, hospitals, police departments and businesses. Repetitive work, filing or running errands is typically the best for those who have suffered short-term memory loss.

“We look at the volunteering more as an educational experience,” Lambert said. “The object of doing the volunteer work is to give them real on-the-job experience.”

A sad part of the rehabilitation, however, is when someone regains enough memory to remember how they were before the accident that injured them, Lambert said. Many have been professionals who may have lost homes and marriages, along with their jobs, following the injury.

“It’s very traumatic,” Lambert said. “There’s a young lady here who had everything going for her and some drunk driver comes along and wipes her out. Now, she’s learning how to walk again.”

But Lambert uses his own struggle with legal blindness to encourage his clients, and tries to develop a sense of humor with them.

“We always try to stay positive with them,” Lambert said.

In addition to supplying volunteers to local businesses, the ILC is also in need of volunteers, said Norma Vescovo, executive director of the agency. Volunteers help with maintenance around the buildings and in classes to help teach new skills to the clients.

Volunteers help teach art, drama and writing, Vescovo said, and also help find places for the clients to live.

For more information on volunteering, call the Independent Living Center administration office at (818) 785-6934. Those who may be willing to help Lambert find a placement for volunteer work for a consumer can call (818) 988-9525.

Other volunteering opportunities:

The Guadalupe Center, 21600 Hart St., Canoga Park, needs bilingual volunteers to help the staff in the reception area. The center, run by Catholic Charities of Los Angeles, is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call (818) 340-2050.

California Women’s Commission on Alcohol and Drug Dependencies is looking for volunteers to help with clerical work any time between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, call Esther A. McDowell at (818) 376-0470.

The Valley Storefront, 12821 Victory Blvd., North Hollywood, is looking for case aid volunteers to work one-on-one with seniors. Volunteers would help with referrals to various services and possibly help with individual counseling and support groups. Volunteers would have to commit to working one day a week and receive training and group supervision. For more information, call Rena Snyder at (818) 984-1380.

Glendale Memorial Hospital and Health Center needs volunteers for a wide range of duties, such as taking messages, assisting in office work in different departments and working the front desks. Some volunteers with computer skills are also needed. For more information, call (818) 502-2359.

Getting Involved is a weekly listing of volunteering opportunities. Please address prospective listings to Getting Involved, Los Angeles Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth, 91311. Or fax them to (818) 772-3338.