Fund Development Director and Marketing Director of Milestone Senior Services, Cassandra Stewart joins host Lynne Jarman-Johnson to share stories about partnerships in our communities and discuss volunteer opportunities that are available with Milestone.

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0:00:07.0 Lynne Jarman-Johnson: Money, I’m Home. Hi there, welcome in, I’m Lynne Jarman-Johnson with Consumers Credit Union. From finance to fitness, we have it all and we love to share the stories of our partnerships here in our communities, but more importantly, how to help you get involved. Joining us today is Cassandra Stewart. She is the fund development director, the marketing director at Milestone Senior Services. Thanks so much for being with us today.

0:00:31.2 Cassandra Stewart: Thank you for having me. I appreciate that.

0:00:32.7 LJJ: We love our partnership, and one of the things that we do here at Consumers Credit Union is every single week, our employees volunteer with Meals on Wheels.

0:00:41.9 CS: Yes.

0:00:42.9 LJJ: Now, that’s just one ounce of volunteering opportunities at Milestones. I want to hear all about what we can do.

0:00:50.3 CS: Oh, well, yes, of course. Delivering Meals on Wheels, that is a great volunteer opportunity for anyone in the community who has about two hours or so, Monday through Friday, you can come out and volunteer with us. That is a crucial part to our program, with getting the meals out to the seniors that are in need in our community. We also do ramp builds through our home repair department, and so we do ramps for seniors as well as for folks with disabilities, to allow safe access in and out of their homes. And then we also have what we call Senior Companion and that is kind of near and dear to my heart. We look for seniors in the community, 55 and over, that are willing to spend a little time with another senior that’s a little bit older than them. Whether it be a phone call, a home visit or just take them to the grocery store. So, it’s just a wonderful opportunity to help those seniors that may not have family members around them, that may be isolated otherwise. But it’s nice for everyone to just to receive a phone call from someone just to check on you to see how you’re doing. And so that’s what our Senior Companion program does.

0:02:05.2 LJJ: One of the aspects of Milestone Senior Services is really helping a older adults stay in their home, which is absolutely critical, especially if that’s where they feel the most comfortable and safe.

0:02:18.2 CS: Yes.

0:02:19.5 LJJ: And one of the things I find that is so compelling with the volunteer program is that you’re actually doing that with every little volunteers’ component you talked about.

0:02:30.7 CS: Yes.

0:02:31.7 LJJ: Here at Consumers, when we volunteer, I have heard the stories. I’ve seen them myself when I volunteered, where you knock on a door and you realize, you know what, someone might need a little extra care.

0:02:41.6 CS: That’s right.

0:02:42.0 LJJ: It must be amazing to you to see that in action.

0:02:45.4 CS: It is. It’s absolutely wonderful. All of our employees that start, one of the, it’s mandatory that they do a Meals on Wheels route, because we want them to really understand why we’re doing what we do every day. And our volunteers are crucial to that as well to help our programs do what they do. When you know you could be the only person that that senior may see in a day, the only person they actually get to say hi, talk to and just … That makes a big difference. And you’re able to check on them if you’re a volunteer. Especially if you do it often, you get to know them. They look forward to you coming each day, but if something is off, you’re probably going to pick up on that and then the volunteers let us know at the office and then we start. We go into action mode to give them a call or call a family member that’s listed for them to say, “Hey, we noticed this today. You need to check on them.” And unfortunately, there has been time where we had to call the police because we go to deliver one day, and they don’t answer. And we leave a note, and they make note at the office. And then you go back and the one volunteer that went back was like, okay, this is regular for him.

0:04:10.1 LJJ: It just don’t feel right.

0:04:11.8 CS: This doesn’t feel right. And he just checked the door, and it was open. And sure enough, the senior passed on in his sleep. He was in his room, in his bed so he was able to pass peacefully, but who knows how long he would’ve been there if it had not been for that Meals on Wheels volunteer, knowing this is not like this.

0:04:35.2 LJJ: This just doesn’t feel right.

0:04:36.0 CS: It just doesn’t feel right.

0:04:36.9 LJJ: Well, when you talk about that mentorship program, how do you create the volunteer opportunities and then match individuals to what you think will be their greatest passion and an experience?

0:04:49.1 CS: It’s the Senior Companion Program. So, the seniors that volunteer, we find out what some of their likes are, and what their interests are. And then our other clients that we have, we also do the same with them, so we try to match them up that way. And sometimes it’s two very different people, but they hit it off and they become senior companions for years and years. And I actually, personally, had the opportunity, so we had a senior companion that volunteered for us. She had known and had been a senior companion for like a couple of years, but she didn’t have a vehicle to get around. And I happened to be going to her for something else, and I was like, “Oh, would you think your senior companion would mind talking in person,” she was like, “Well, let me call her and see. And she’s like, I’ve never been to her home.”

0:05:47.5 LJJ: Wow.

0:05:48.5 CS: And I thought, what? And I was like, “Would you like to go see her?” And the embrace they had when they … Because it was like when you talk to someone on the phone for years and years, but you never actually meet them, you know? And I just so much wanted to give her that opportunity, give both of them that opportunity to actually meet one another. And they just embrace each other to the point they literally were in tears, just so happy to actually see one another. And that just brought so much joy to me that I was able to do that for them.

0:06:26.3 LJJ: It’s like one of those things where you say, oh my gosh, what’s going to happen today? It’s just a great day.

0:06:32.8 CS: Exactly.

0:06:33.9 LJJ: Tell us a little bit about who can volunteer, the service area and what you’re looking for.

0:06:38.1 CS: Okay. Well, most people can volunteer. Like in the Senior Companion program, we’re looking for folks that are 55 years and older. We’re also starting it where well, Meals on Wheels, you can be any age to volunteer to come. We do basically just do a background check on the folks that want to volunteer. Again, just like Consumers Credit Union, we have businesses and companies, organizations that come and bring employees for a day of volunteering and we’re so thankful that you guys do it consistently. But anyone, so you’ve just retired and you’re like, I still want to give back to my community. And you can come, and you can volunteer. Basically just call our number and ask for the volunteer department and say, “Hey, I’m ready to volunteer.” We have a, what we call RSVP volunteer services where you may not actually volunteer for Milestone, but we set you up based on your interest with the other organizations within the community that are also looking for volunteers. So, we don’t keep them all to ourselves.

0:07:45.1 LJJ: You share.

0:07:46.0 CS: We got quite a few good ones, but yes, we do share.

0:07:49.6 LJJ: And some of your volunteers have been with you for decades.

0:07:54.5 CS: Oh, my goodness, yes. Yes, we have had some for decades. Jake comes to mind. He is a Meals on Wheels deliverer, and he has been with Milestone, volunteering for 30 years.

0:08:06.7 LJJ: Wow.

0:08:08.0 CS: And I just think that is just truly a blessing, truly a blessing to have someone dedicated like that. I’ve had some volunteers. I know one, he went out to have knee surgery, and I couldn’t believe how fast he was back. He was like, “I had to get back,” because he missed delivering Meals on Wheels so much. So, he did everything he could do to get back as quickly as possible.

0:08:31.8 LJJ: That is amazing. And your area is Southwest Michigan, and yet you really are connected across the state and …

0:08:39.3 CS: Yes. Well, we serve Kalamazoo County and Calhoun County.

0:08:43.2 LJJ: But it sounds to me like you can volunteer via phone sometimes too.

0:08:45.7 CS: Well, yes, with that Senior Companion Program, again she didn’t have a vehicle, but she didn’t let that stop her. Oh my gosh. She made the most beautiful cards that she would send to the senior. So, imagine, a senior we’re … I’m dating myself, but when we used to write letters and mail them to one another. My aunt used to love me writing her letters, and she would get them in the mail, and I enjoy doing it. So, for seniors, that means a lot. And so that was her way of communicating with her sometime. But of course, they talked on the phone all the time, so it’s wonderful. So don’t let that be a deterrent. If you are home, if you’re not driving anymore or whatever, you can still make an impact on someone in our community through our Senior Companion Program.

0:09:37.2 LJJ: Cassandra, thank you so much.

0:09:39.1 CS: You are welcome.

0:09:40.4 LJJ: If you have any thoughts on wanting to volunteer, my goodness, it really is such a heartfelt experience. And as Cassandra just mentioned, even if you don’t have a car or you might have transportation issues, you can still be a volunteer and make an impact in someone’s life. Thank you so much for being with us, and we’re going to talk later with Cassandra about donations and how absolutely impactful they are on a one-to-one basis for Milestone Senior Services. I’m Lynne Jarman-Johnson with Consumers Credit Union.

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