100 Jan Lockard—Tennessee Respite Coalition
That’s What Friends Are For—Tennessee Respite Coalition
What’s a friend? Someone with whom you can laugh, someone who helps you with little things and big things, someone who makes you feel special—that’s a friend! Jan Lockard is good at being that friend to two ladies, who happen to be in a nursing home. That’s her volunteer service as a Senior Companion with the Tennessee Respite Coalition.
Jan has two “special ladies” she stays with for eight hours twice a week. They look forward to their day because time with Jan is fun—something that is too often lacking for ladies in their 90’s in nursing homes.
Jan is intentional about the “little things,” like playing Bingo or other games, taking her ladies to the onsite dining area to be with others instead of having meals delivered and eaten alone in the room, and setting up a personalized playlists of favorite music. She also listens to their stories of the good old days—something that busy staff aren’t usually able to do, but something a friend does willingly.
Because she listens, Jan learns what might be “big things” for her ladies—and she follows up. Reminiscing one day, one of the ladies told Jan she had never had a visit with Santa Claus. When the jolly old gentleman was due for a stop at the nursing home, Jan made sure that the lady was there and actually got to talk with Santa. The 93-year-old left with a big smile, a teddy bear she treasured, and new memories to reminisce about.
Another “big thing” Jan does is make each one’s birthday special—a birthday lunch that Jan prepares and invites the lady’s friends to come too. The party generates lots of laughter as everyone has a good time, and everyone at the table looks forward to celebrating their birthday with Jan’s special lunch.
Although she is giving service, Jan says she is “rewarded every day.” She sees her special ladies light up and enjoy themselves. The families also express their gratitude. Eyes that sparkle and words of appreciation are seemingly little things, but they are truly big things between friends.
For more about the Senior Companion program of the Tennessee Respite Coalition, listen to Retire to Volunteering Podcast, #96 with Jennifer Abernathy, the volunteer coordinator. Or visit tnrespite.org.
099 Tom Starling—Mental Health America
Before Stage 4—Mental Health America
“Before Stage 4!” Tom Starling, the chief executive of Mental Health America (MHA) of Middle Tennessee, explains his organization’s mantra: “People with something wrong with their body wouldn’t knowingly wait until the disease reached Stage 4 before seeking treatment. But when something is wrong mentally or emotionally, they suffer in silence.” Why? Because of the stigma that society attaches to mental illness.
MHA is not a direct-client service provider for persons with mental illness. Rather, their role is to crack open the hard shell of the stigma so that more people can move from suffering to recovery. A big crack starts with the awareness of just how many people are affected by the diseases labeled “mental illness”: 1 in 5 annually!
Some of those people might come to mind quickly, perhaps ones with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, but many more are “under the radar.” Mental illness spans the spectrum from “womb to tomb,” including moms with post-partum depression, children with anxiety or attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), teens who are bullied and become suicidal or who are in the grip of an eating disorder, soldiers with post-traumatic-stress disorder (PTSD) or addiction or depression, employees stressed to the max with family and worklife pressures, adults self-mediating their pain with alcohol or opiods, caregivers of their aging loved ones with dementia. All these illnesses take a huge toll on the individual, family, and society. Suicide, for example, is the 10th leading cause of death in Tennessee, greater than the number caused by car accidents.
After the illness “blows up” and can no longer be denied (Stage 4), people often say they “knew something was wrong.” But they didn’t know what was going on or where to turn for the prevention and intervention (at Stages 1–3) that could have helped. The Stigma had blamed the signs on bad parenting or sin, or on the individual being lazy or not taking responsibility or just being “trouble.” MHA’s goal is to educate individuals, families, caregivers, pastors, law enforcement, and society, moving them past the stigma to recognizing the signs and to helping those who suffer receive services that lead to recovery and greater well-being.
How do volunteers help? MHA of Middle Tennessee has numerous, important one-time opportunities, such as preparing for a health fair or other educational event, staffing the registration table at events or screenings, writing thank you notes to donors, scanning papers into the computer, or answering the phone. But volunteers who have a story to share have an opportunity to make an even bigger impact. They’ve lived through a mental illness of their own or of a family member. The reality—and the hope—they bring to a conversation, a workshop, or a speaking engagement is more powerful than all the statistics.
Volunteers do not need to have a counseling background. MHA provides training for the tasks, concentrating on the words not to use (the ones that inadvertently reinforce the stigma) but especially on the words to use in talking with people and sharing their story so that 1 in 5 people get help before Stage 4!
In Middle Tennessee to find out more or to volunteer, call 615-269-5355 or visit the website, mhamt.org.
Mental Health America is a nationwide organization with more than 100 years of service. To find a chapter near you, visit mha.net.
098 Mariah Ragland—The Nashville Food Project
Grow, Cook, Share—The Nashville Food Project
Think about times you have been hungry. Have you ever missed multiple meals? Have you not known where your next meal was coming from? One in every seven people in Nashville experiences food insecurity every day. Nearly 1,000 volunteers every month have looked back on their own experiences of hunger—however brief or long—and decided that they don’t want their neighbors to go without. They put their love of food and their love of people to work at The Nashville Food Project (NFP).
The Food Project serves 200,000 fresh-cooked, nutritious meals each year! With only 22 staff members, they can do what they do only because of the volunteers who grow, cook, and share the food.
Grow. Scattered around Nashville are five small—but very productive—organic gardens. Volunteers help with preparing the beds, planting, weeding, harvesting the food, and even composting. Although the largest garden is only 1.5 acres, these gardens produce all year long. In addition to the summer growing season, they work in the winter too—because volunteers tend them.
Cook. Preparing 200,000 meals annually means lots and lots of cooking! Yet NFP faithfully turns them out daily except Sunday and Monday, using only two kitchens—and lots of volunteers who wash, chop, dice, and cook lots of fresh vegetables and fruits and other ingredients for lots of entrees, salads, side dishes, and sometimes desserts. Volunteers also contribute through the Project’s food recovery program, gleaning from a grocery store items that are about to expire, which they then turn into meals.
Share. With only two trucks, NFP nevertheless manages with the help of volunteers to deliver all the meals to partner organizations serving persons in need. Those include among others low-income senior citizens at a center, a church with a community meal, an apartment building that houses refugee families from the Congo, and school children in need of a snack.
Mariah Ragland, a former volunteer and now the volunteer coordinator, invites individuals, families, and groups to participate. Neither experience nor expertise is required. Everyone who comes will be supported by others helping them know what to do and how. Service can be one-time or regular. Sign up is online and easy.
Volunteers, who are themselves nourished by food, also are fed by being part of the mission of The Nashville Food Project: Bringing people together to grow, cook, and share nourishing food, with the goals of cultivating community and alleviating hunger in our city.
To learn more or to volunteer, visit thenashvillefoodproject.org and look for the Give Back tab. If you are not in the area, you may find similar opportunities by searching for “hunger” or “food justice” in your browser. You may also check to see if your locality is in a Hands On...network.
097 Dr. Rhonda Switzer-Nadasdi—Interfaith Dental Clinic
Restoring Smiles—Interfaith Dental Clinic
Two dentists, members of West End United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tennessee, had a calling to use their professional skills to help the poor. They traveled to impoverished countries on mission trips to serve, but when they came home, they also saw the effects of poverty right around them. They came up with a proposal, took it to their church where they found a supportive community, and shortly, the Interfaith Dental Clinic opened.
What began twenty-five years ago with two dental chairs and some volunteers working part-time in the church’s basement has grown to two fully equipped, 18-chair offices—one in Nashville, another 45 minutes away in Murfreesboro—and many more volunteers plus a few full-time staff, serving annually 2,800 people who have no other options. Dr. Rhonda Switzer-Nadasdi, a dentist herself and also the chief executive of the Interfaith Dental Clinic, points out that neither Medicaid nor Medicare provides dental care. For people struggling with meeting needs for food, housing, and other basics, going to the dentist feels like a luxury they simply can’t afford.
Too often people don’t realize the essential nature of good oral care, which affects overall health, social contact, and economic opportunity. Research has confirmed a strong link between poor oral health and stroke, diabetes, heart issues, and cancer. Research has also shown how vital having good friends and other social contacts are to well-being, but persons with bad teeth don’t feel comfortable speaking or eating in front of others. They withdraw and become isolated and locked in depression. In a job interview, most potential employers within seconds screen out persons whose teeth are rotted, missing, or stained. Without a healthy smile, people suffer in surprising ways.
Dr. Switzer-Nadasdi matches volunteers with patients. Nearly 200 dentists with many different specialties and other dental professionals such as hygienists and dental assistants give their time and expertise regularly, some once a week, some once a month, others as they can. Dental students and younger students exploring dentistry also volunteer. Retired dentists often serve as mentors as well as providers. Additional volunteers help welcome and comfort patients and give them the dental hygiene bags they’ve assembled. Still other volunteers bring their skills for accounting, data crunching, advocating for better policy, grant writing, and fundraising. Patients are charged on a sliding scale, based on income and family numbers, but the rest of the cost is covered by donations and grants.
Committed to providing long-term, comprehensive oral health care, done with dignity for the recipients, Interfaith Dental Clinic does not simply deal with emergencies such as extractions and alleviating acute pain, rather they seek to change lives. Restoring smiles is a great start!
To find out more or to volunteer, visit interfaithdentalclinic.com. Many major cities, in addition to Nashville, have similar programs. Check in your local area, perhaps with your own dentist, to find one near you.