Nursing Home Companions
Love, Love, Love Ministries provide caring social visits to as many nursing home and memory care residents as possible. Our visiting companions build friendships by regularly spending time with residents. During these resident-led visits, companions spend time painting nails, painting pictures, coloring, building, reading, singing, dancing, and perhaps most importantly, talking with residents. We look for compassionate companions who value equality.
Love Love Love Ministries has been a huge blessing to the residents at Altercare Post-Acute. When volunteers visit to chat, bring the rolling library, paint nails, or even for a pet visit, it brightens the day for residents. They very much look forward to the visits, and we appreciate them so much. The smiles on the residents’ faces brightens the day for our staff too. It is just a win win for us! Thanks so much!
Christine Gibbons, ADC, Activities Coordinator, Altercare Post-Acute Rehab
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Why We Focus on Nursing Home Residents:
When I was young, nursing homes frightened me. I was afraid of the people living in them. The times that I did need to go to a nursing home to visit someone, I always left as quickly as possible.
When my mother got Alzheimer’s, my father cared for her at home as long as he possibly could. It was painful for my dad to make the decision to move my mom to a nursing home. My family was with her daily, especially my dad and sister, so my mom wouldn’t be alone. The residents all seemed to crave attention, but many of them received few or no visitors. Spending hours there a day, we got to know the other residents well. Other residents would frequently come join us. Her nursing home had “oldies” music playing, and we would have fun just hanging out together. Our conversations wouldn’t make much sense to anyone else, but we truly connected as any group of people “hanging out” would. When I allowed myself to become absorbed in their world, the conversations had the cadence of a typical conversation. I forgot my cares and enjoyed their company. The nursing home wasn’t the scary place I had thought.
To further limit the time my mother was alone, my father hired companions to go on walks, eat, and talk with her. It made her days happier and more meaningful. The people who volunteer and work for this ministry pass that blessing forward to the residents they spend time with, giving them more opportunities to socialize and enjoy companionship.