This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Local Voices

Five Montgomery County Senior Residents Complete Volunteer Orientation to Become the Newest Senior Companions

Five Montgomery County seniors completed 29 hours of pre-service orientation and training recently to become the newest volunteers with Family Services’ Senior Companion Program. 

The Senior Companion Program is the pairing of limited-income seniors with frail elderly individuals who may have difficulty completing everyday tasks. Senior Companions offer one-on-one support by helping with mail, writing letters, playing cards, offering respite care, talking and listening, all at no cost to the client. Senior Companions are assigned to clients at community agencies and organizations, such as hospices and adult day services, as well as individual client homes.

Currently the Senior Companion Program has 43 trained, active Companions serving more than 500 clients throughout Montgomery County. Collectively, these Companions have contributed over 356,600 hours of volunteer service since the program’s launch in December 2003.   

Find out what's happening in Montgomeryville-Lansdalewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Those interested in becoming a Senior Companion must be a Montgomery County resident, age 55 years or older, meet minimum income requirements, and enjoy working with other older adults. All volunteer Senior Companions receive a modest tax-free stipend for a minimum of 15 hours of service each week, as well as paid holiday, sick and vacation leave, ongoing training, and transportation reimbursement.

For more information on the Senior Companion Program, please contact Deb Keller, program director, at 215-368-0985 ext. 415 or dkeller@fsmontco.org.

Find out what's happening in Montgomeryville-Lansdalewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Photo Caption: Five Montgomery County seniors completed 29 hours of pre-service orientation and training recently to become the newest volunteers with Family Services’ Senior Companion Program.  Pictured at the program’s graduation ceremony are (left to right) Anita Coffey, volunteer coordinator, Senior Companion Program; Rose De Silva of Lansdale; Rosalynn Milovich of North Wales; MaryAnn Procopio of Lansdale; Eusebia Parker of Harleysville; Bernice Johnson of Norristown; and Deb Keller, program director, Senior Companion Program.






We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?