Volunteering

Volunteers Are Needed to Help Older Adults in Our Community!

Your talents, time and experience can assist an older or disabled younger adult who lives in Lower Merion or Narberth.

Who Can Help?

• Working Adults
• Retired Persons
• Students
• Groups

Whatever your professional
background or age, you can help someone who needs the assistance of
caring neighbors to remain in their home. The experienced ElderNet
staff provides orientation and direction.

How Can I Help?

Transportation: Give rides and escort frail or disabled persons to medical appointments, shopping and other necessary trips.

Telephone Reassurance: Call a homebound person daily or as
needed to make sure the person is all right. Be part of an action
support system for emergencies.

Shopping: Shop regularly with or for an older person.

Financial Management Assistance: Help balance checkbooks,
organize a bill paying system for monthly expenses, read or explain
mail and help fill out benefit forms.

Friendly Visitors: Make regular visits to an older homebound
adult. The visitor eases loneliness and isolation of an older person,
performs small tasks, and serves as a liaison between the community and
the individual.

Respite for a Caregiver: The family member of an older person
may be strained with the responsibility of constant supervision, and
need someone to help for a few hours weekly.

Odd Jobs: Wash windows, hang pictures, help with laundry, put in
screens or storm windows, change light bulbs, pack or organize closets
or household goods, perform simple repairs or housecleaning.

Garden Help: On a one time or regular basis, mow a lawn, rake
leaves, trim bushes, plant flowers, shovel snow, provide fall and
spring yard clean-up or clean-out storage areas.

Skilled work: Use your skills for minor repairs, small carpentry
jobs, painting, programming telephones and appliances. Other skills you
have to share are also needed.

Holiday Food Baskets: You or your organization can be matched
with one or more area families to help stretch their holiday budgets.
Buy and deliver a selection of Thanksgiving, Hanukkah or Christmas
dinner items or gifts.

Travel and Expenses

ElderNet can reimburse volunteers for mileage, gas and parking expenses. Public transportation fare may also be reimbursed.

Student Volunteers

Students who attend Main Line area Schools and Colleges are welcomed
and valued Volunteers at ElderNet. They give at least an hour a week of
their time by arrangement.

Job Descriptions for College Students and High School Students

Friendly Visitors: Friendly visitors call on older homebound
adults and disabled younger adults who are still living in their own
homes in Lower Merion Township and Narberth. They usually spend an hour
or so each week doing whatever their friend wishes - sometimes reading,
sometimes looking over old photographs or news clippings, reminiscing,
sometimes chatting about college life or family while sharing a cup of
tea. We try to pair students with clients who are easily reached and
whose needs and interest are compatible with their own (current events,
travel, work or leisure interests, for example.)

Friendly Shoppers: Friendly Shoppers are students who have cars
and are willing to do errands for the homebound elderly or disabled
adults. They do grocery shopping, pick up medicines, and go to the bank
or post office. They do not take people in their cars. (Exception - a
minor student living at home, with parents� approval, may transport a
client.)

Odd Jobs Helpers: Volunteers are needed for occasional requests
such as raking and bagging leaves, helping a client to clean out a
closet or pack to prepare for moving, washing windows, snow shoveling,
painting, housecleaning or doing laundry. Many of these are one-time
assignments, others are ongoing.

Interested in Volunteering?

Print out the form at the top of the page and send it to ElderNet (see address below) or contact
Beth Fast, Volunteer Director at 610-525-0706 or by e-mail at volunteerat@eldernetonline.org