Interim Healthcare values their veteran volunteers who are able to assist veteran patients providing them with a lasting peace for them and their families.
“It hits you right in the heart to see the impact you have on the patients,” said volunteer program manager for Interim Healthcare, Mandy Myers.
She said it’s touching seeing a patient and veteran volunteer creating that one-of-a-kind bond.
“There’s a lot of times that some of our volunteers that are new are placed with a patient for the first time, they get a little teary eyed when they have that moment,” saying there are times when patients don’t interact with anyone, that is until a fellow veteran is paired with them.
“It could be that the patient is nonverbal and they’re not really interacting with anybody, but then you come in and they just start talking.”
Chaplain and bereavement coordinator, Josh Reglin says its because those veterans know they’re talking to someone who understands.
“They know that they can talk to somebody that has been where they’ve been situationally,” he said, “Somebody that has experience difficulties in a theater of war or battle.”
Reglin and Myers work hand in hand to provide their veteran patients with the resources they need.
“We’ve listened to lots of stories before of what these men and women have gone through,” he said. with many of those stories coming as the patients open up.
“They feel more comfortable about talking about it because they are talking veteran to veteran and sometimes the family members are there to listen to the stories that they’ve never heard before,” said Myers, “They can see that it’s ok for that family member to share those stories and that they feel ok with it, when before they have not felt ok or felt ready to share that.”
A testament of the trust created going beyond the initial bond.
“I think theres even a connection between the family and the volunteer because they see how much the relationship can form between the patient and volunteer,” said Reglin, “I think it helps them as well because they know that thats an avenue of peace of sorts for their loved one.”
Click here if you are a veteran who wants to become a volunteer with Interim Healthcare.
