Students Contribute To Elderly Independence

Author: Alison Hertel

Playing Scrabble, taking a walk, reading a book, playing the guitar — these do not sound like the activities of a volunteer, but for many Middlebury students they are. Those are just some of the things that students do when they volunteer at Project Independence, one of the many community organizations where students spend their time helping local residents and the elderly.

Project Independence is an adult day center founded in 1981 that serves approximately 160 participants per year and approximately 40 people on a daily basis. The center is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Friday and 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. As the name implies, Project Independence promotes independent living and personal freedom. Program Coordinator Eric Covey said, "No one lives here. The center serves people who have lost some degree of independence or who are at risk of losing more independence."

According to Covey, the center tries to "provide a rich and varied environment" that is "the next best thing to being at home." The center serves meals and organizes activities for the participants.

Over the course of a year approximately 30 or 40 Middlebury students volunteer at Project Independence, helping with a variety of services. Volunteers participate and lead games like cards, chess and cribbage. In addition they assist with social activities, including bingo, shuffleboard, music and comedy performances and taking walks.

Volunteer Jeanette Lam '04 said, "A lot of Middlebury kids go there." Covey added, "We love having people of a different age. They give a different perspective and add diversity and enthusiasm." Project Independence welcomes new volunteers.

Lam has been a volunteer at Project Independence since last spring when she found herself with some free time. Lam met with Jennifer Diggins, volunteer coordinator of the program, to look over a variety of volunteering options and determined that Project Independence was the right fit. Lam does not have a car and needed to volunteer somewhere within walking distance, and Project Independence is conveniently located in the white house next to the Middlebury Inn.

She now volunteers once a week for two and a half hours. Lam plays games with the participants, including checkers and scrabble, listens to music, runs exercises and organizes shuffleboard and bingo. "Shuffleboard is huge," she said.

Lam has been able to make personal relationships with many of the people involved with Project Independence. She mentioned Stella, who she watches knit, and Marshall, a former teacher and Project Independence volunteer who now has Parkinson's disease.

Project Independence has been a part of service learning programs with some Middlebury classes. Assistant Professor of Biology David Parfitt, a neuroscientist, tries to incorporate service learning into his classes.

Several years ago he taught a Winter Term class on Multiple Sclerosis (MS), teaming up with the local MS Society to do fundraisers and help with the MS Walk. Parfitt teaches several classes that deal with neurological disorders and believes that it is important for students to learn "how disorders impact people and families." He said, "There's more students can learn than just the underlying biology."

In addition to Project Independence, his students have been involved with Evergreen House, a vocationally oriented club for people with mental illnesses, and people with MS in the community.

Christine Gould '04, a coordinator of the Volunteer Services Organization (VSO), visited Evergreen House over Winter Term. "A couple students, psychology majors and VSO members visited with me, and we met all the members.

The student body's involvement with Evergreen has dropped over the past year, and we are working to rekindle it with individual student volunteers and a monthly visit to cook lunch for the members," Gould said.

In addition to offering volunteer opportunities, Project Independence is also a work-study site. Sarain Lay '02 began working at Project Independence during her sophomore year and currently works about five hours per week. She said, "I'd been working with the elderly for a long time on a one-on-one volunteer basis."

Then she found out that Project Independence was being offered as a work-study position. She explained, "They provide great care and keep people out of the nursing homes."

Lay told the story of a blind, elderly woman in her mid eighties who lived with her older sister and came to the center every day. Volunteers and staff members took half hour shifts sitting with her, keeping her out of the nursing home for as long as possible. Lay said, "They've given me a lot of responsibility because I've asked for it."

In addition to her work with Project Independence, Lay volunteers at Women Helping Battered Women in Burlington on Wednesday mornings, helping with office work.

For students interested in helping battered women, Addison County WomenSafe, Inc., located in Middlebury, is a nonprofit domestic violence and sexual assault program that needs volunteers.

Said Gould, "It is easy to get involved — contact VSO or check out the VSO Web site. They are always looking for groups and individuals to volunteer."