Friendly Visitor Needs Volunteers

BROOKFIELD — On three Tuesday evenings in October – the 9, 16 and 23 – persons interested in volunteering for the Friendly Visitor/Tele-Care Program may begin training at the Brookfield Town Hall. Sam Deibler of ARC (Associated Religious Communities) will be the facilitator.

The training is open to anyone interested in becoming a Friendly Visitor/Tele-Care Volunteer; however, volunteers with bilingual capabilities are particularly needed. Volunteers who speak Spanish, Portuguese, or Italian as well as English are needed. Call the New Milford or Danbury office to register and get the details. Refreshments will be served. Training sessions are scheduled for the early evening.

Program volunteers have exceeded 10,000 donated hours visiting or telephoning senior adults in the 14 towns served. No Friendly Visitor or Telephone Reassurance caller is left without backup or guidance. Staff and seasoned volunteers are always ready to respond to a new volunteer’s questions or concerns. Companionship visits are sometimes the only personal contact a senior has beside family.

The Friendly Visit/Tele-Care Program matches caring, trained volunteers with lonely, homebound area senior adults for weekly companionship visits and reassurance telephone calls.

Major funders of the Friendly Visitor/Tele-Care Program are Western Connecticut Area Agency on Aging, The United Way of Northern Fairfield County, and the Housatonic/Shepaug United Way. Area faith communities, civic organizations, and individual donors are also most generous in their support of this program, which provides trained, supportive friends to our older citizens who may be isolated. The ability to remain independent is supported by a weekly visit from a friendly person. Terry Janaitis, program director, says “Isolation is damaging and debilitating. Any personal interaction lessens its effects.”

The 14 towns served are: Bethel, Bridgewater, Bethel, Kent, Danbury, New Milford, New Fairfield, Newtown, Redding, Ridgefield, Roxbury, Sherman, Washington, and Warren. Program coordinators ask for a commitment of a one hour visit per week, for at least six months.