Avid Scrabble player Jane Patterson has found a way to use her skills to benefit her community and help those in need. The 66-year-old has been volunteering her time at the F.J. Davey Home's Adult Day Program for many years – so many years that she can’t even place the exact date she started.
“It’s been years, and the years just run into each other. I took an early retirement and started volunteer work at an early age,” Patterson said. “I was first introduced to the work that the Adult Day Program does by bringing miniature horses in to visit the clients there. When that program folded I was seeking more volunteer work and I saw how much good the Adult Day Program was doing. I just really enjoy interacting with the clients and see the benefits of the program. It’s a lovely program to be involved with.”
Patterson saw an opportunity to be one client’s usual Scrabble buddy, or opponent, when noticing that the client needed some one-on-one time away from the larger group of people.
“She’s a wonderful Scrabble player and I was able to enjoy her company and give her the attention she needed for one-on-one time. That part of her thought process was still extremely alert and it was a good stimulation for her to have someone who can play with her. It’s a game that she thoroughly enjoyed and she looked for any opportunity to play it. To have her focus so clearly for about an hour at a time was a wonderful exercise for her and it was complete enjoyment for me,” she said.
Before the program had to close due to COVID-19, Patterson would volunteer at the Davey Home two days a week, and be there as an extra set of eyes, ears and hands for whatever was needed.
“I would help out with the bingo games, lunch preparation, play Scrabble, just to be there as an extra person wherever assistance was required,” she said.
It brings Patterson joy to see the smiles on people’s faces and their enjoyment of being able to interact with the staff and the other clients.
“I look forward to seeing the relief on the caregivers’ faces when they drop their loved ones off knowing that they’ve got a little time that they can devote to themselves, while knowing that their loved one is in a safe environment and that they’re going to be nurtured and cared for. It’s just wonderful to see that,” she said.
As far as volunteer work after the pandemic goes, she doesn’t seem to want to give it up any time soon.
“I’ll continue to help out as long as they need me and as long as I can do it. For a selfish reason, because of COVID-19, I have missed that sense of purpose that I had two days a week. As a volunteer we know that we're providing something to the clients that we’re working with, but on a personal level it gives your life purpose too, so it’s a win-win situation. I hope this pandemic evolves and we can get back to providing a service that has been very much missed and enriches the lives of a lot of people,” Patterson said.