1
Revolving Doors
I reached for the snooze button as my alarm clock continued to ring "err, err, err." After pressing that magical button, which I hoped would make morning disappear, I dug my head into my pillow. Now I regretted writing my name on that piece of paper that was passed around at the meeting. I was a member of Key Club International and as members each month we were to complete eight hours of community service. What I thought seemed like a good idea two weeks ago, didn't sound like one at seven thirty on a Saturday morning. Why had I decided to volunteer?
The address was unknown to me and it seemed like it took me hours to get there. Palace Retirement Center, I read as I made a sharp left. I parked my car and proceeded to meet my friends. I talked and joked around as I counted down the minutes until we would leave. The automatic doors opened and out walked the director to greet us. She was a short and very petite woman with brown hair and a welcoming smile on her face. "Hi my name is Nancy and I'm here to tell you about Palace."
The first thing she asked us to do was to call. the elders inside residents, instead of patients. She informed us about the buildings four floors; as the floor number increased the patients got sicker and sicker. Those that were connected to machines and could not walk were on the fourth floor. "lfany of you can not handle dealing with the sick I ask you to wish you all the best, thank you for your time and good luck." She walked halfway into the building, when she turned around and asked us to please forgive the residents if they said anything disrespectful. After hearing those words, I decided it would be safer to stay on the first floor and avoid speaking to the residents.
A strong repugnant smell filled the air as we entered. It wasn't the usual hospital smell; it was one of sadness with sickness and loneliness. "Who are you here to visit?" I turned around to find an over weight woman sitting on a couch with a smile on her face. "We are here to visit the residents," I said as I looked at her. As soon as those words left my mouth a glow of happiness came over her. She proceeded to tell me about her day and how she had won at Bingo. Alma had been there since hurricane Andrew when her family had moved to Sebring, Fl. After sitting with her for about twenty minutes, she told me it was time for her to go watch her soap operas, but "thank you for talking to me."
I proceeded down that hall to see person after person either staring at the wall or asleep. I entered the rooms and talked to so many interesting people. They all had stories to tell. Some of the stories were fiction but it was worth hearing just to see the smile on their faces. They told me how they had been presidents and famous actors and about their families. After walking through the first floor I gathered up the courage to go to the second. The first thing I saw as I entered was a gray-haired elderly woman who kept starring at me. She then grabbed my hands and smiled as I saw tears run down her cheeks. Her name was Carmelina, and she kept repeating "thank you, thank you, thank you" over alive again. She continued to smile as she walked into her room.
After about an hour and meeting so many different people I encountered Pier. She had been drawing and as soon as I walked in she screamed "Coco!" I looked behind me but I was alone. She showed me her paintings and taught me some words in French. Another story followed by a warm goodbye and a smile as I walked out the door. As I visited person after person I went to the third and then the fourth.
My finger pressed the button on the elevator. I felt my heart beat faster and faster as the doors opened. I walked out of the elevator and heard complete silence. Room after room I saw one sick person after another. My eyes continued to fill up with tears as I looked at pictures they had in their rooms. These who now lay there staring at the ceiling had once been filled with happiness and joy. I thought how I would feel to lay there and feel so helpless. I could not believe that these poor people were so alone. I tried to speak to them and cheer them up but some responded by starring and others just ignored me. I felt so helpless and angry. After fifteen minutes of seeing their pain and sadness I decided to leave. I know there was nothing else to do but return to the others and see if I could bring a little more happiness to them.
I returned to the second floor to find Alma stealing cookies from the kitchen and hiding them in her dress. She looked at me and said "thank you for making my day." I looked at her puzzled and she explained that there were few visitors and for some residents none at all. "My family hasn't come in month. Loneliness is something very to talk to her. I looked at her bright green eyes and said, "Yes of course."
Week after week I returned for three months to find the same residents with smiles on their faces. They all asked if I would return the next week and I always replied with a yes. What I thought would be torture had turned into my favorite thing to do. I no longer reached for the snooze button when the alarm rang. I would get up and start my day with smiles and with the satisfaction I had made someone's day a little happier.
"Volunteering can be a very positive experience, from which you can learn a lot from," says Daniel Argudin. According to Shape magazine every year over 45 million Americans volunteer, giving their time to about 690,000 different organizations. These organizations could not function without the service and time that the volunteers provide.
The University of Berkley Wellness Letter says,“Volunteers walk away with satisfaction, but greater is the satisfaction of those they have helped." Adriana de la Torre says, "volunteering helps me feel like I'm making a difference in this world." In her article You can make a difference! .. helping others and yourself, Marlene Wilson speaks about making a difference by volunteering. She says that everyone can gain something through giving of their time to others. Volunteering according to her is a life changing experience that can contribute a lot to the person as well as to the ones they are helping.
Volunteers can even become interested in careers through their experiences. "I had always wanted to be a doctor. I remember when I volunteered at the hospital one year and I realized that there is so much more to being a doctor. I loved helping others," says " I have volunteered feeding the homeless, stuffing envelopes and even in hospitals," says Daniel Argudin. There are many ways to volunteer. You can volunteer at a school helping children with their homework, at a hospice, cleaning up landmarks and many other ways. "You need not give more than two or three hours," says Youth and Children Net. According to them volunteering can even be done from home.
One of the many ways to volunteer is working with the elderly in a retirement home or at a hospice. In today's society the elders are viewed as "problematic" says Luke GormaIly. In other cultures and in the past the elders represented wisdom and were the foundation of a family. In today's fast moving world those who can not catch up are obstacles and are placed in nursing homes and retirement centers according to Dr. Jim Mittleberger. These poor dependent people are forgotten in these places and experience loneliness and depression. "They end their lives with occasional visits and depression. The elderly have the same rights as other human beings," he says.
"When I visit nursing homes and spend time with those elders I feel like I have helped them. They get all happy and they talk for hours since they haven't had many visitors sometimes," says Cristy Ortiz. The people who see the effect on these volunteers are those that work with them. Carmen de los Santos, a physical therapist in a nursing home, say elders enjoy having the company of others and they benefit from it. She says, " I work with patients that their days are made by the volunteers. They ask us is it Saturday yet? They do this because Saturday is when the volunteers come." Without volunteers many organizations and agencies could not exist, says Joan Wolfe in her book, Making Things Happen: How to be an Efficient Volunteer.
Anyone can volunteer and gain a lot from it. Volunteering has been one of the best things I have ever done. I would have never imagined taking so much from one place. In my whole life I had never made a difference until I entered through the doors of Palace Retirement Center. Volunteering has given me a sense of self, and the ability to discover how a simple smile and hello could really brighten up someone's day. I gave a few hours of my time and in return received happiness and a feeling of completion.
Bibliography
Argudin, Daniel. Personal Interview. 8 November 2000
De la Torre, Adriana. Personal Interview. 6 November 2000
"Help others help yourself." University of Berkeley Wellness Letter, volume 6 (1989): p 1-3.
Grornally, Luke. "Human Dignity and Respect for the Elderly." Online. Internet. 8 November 2000.
Knaster, Mirka."Selfless acts: doing unto others does unto you." Shape, volume 11 (1991): p.90.
Ortiz, Cristy. Personal Interview. 1 December 2000.
Roche, Stefanie. Personal Interview. 30 November 2000.
Wilson, Marlene. You can make a difference! : helping others and yourself 606. Boulder, Co: Volunteer Management Associates, 1990.
Wolfe, Joan. Making things happen: how to be an efficient volunteer. Washington, DC: Island Press, 1991.
"Volunteer for Our Children." Youth and Children Net. Online. Internet. 8 November 2000.