Unspoken

Being an Ombudsman volunteer is not just about "digging up the dirt" it's also about validating the resident. The majority of residents are lonely and do not have much interaction with the outside world. Our volunteers have opportunity to give the residents time to express themselves.

This is the experience of one of our volunteers during a Long Term Care (LTC) facility visit, he says, "I spent a few minutes in the "social room" with a resident who could not speak, so I don't know her name. She waved me in as I walked by. When I sat down she handed me a deck of cards. I shuffled them and handed them back. She dealt one down and one up to both of us. I realized we were playing blackjack; so I played until the deck was dealt through. I never could get the resident to speak to me, but she seemed genuinely pleased that I sat down and played."

Our volunteers are a listening ear even if no words are spoken. This resident was able to have a piece of time where she was not being talked over, ignored or rushed. She had a moment were she felt like a person again.