With time comes change and The Shepherd’s Center of Richmond has a change to announce. Paula Grimes, office manager for TSCOR, has announced her decision to retire.
“It’s time,” Paula says. “I feel I’ve achieved what I set out to contribute to the organization and I’m ready to try my hand at retirement.”
TSCOR has benefitted greatly from Paula’s many contributions and we thank her for the dedication and diligence she has shown in her work.
Paula would like all of you to know that she truly enjoyed working with everyone at TSCOR and wishes the organization continued success in the future.
Congratulations, Paula! We wish you nothing but the best.
Calling all foodies, history buffs and ready-to-see-the-world enthusiasts! TSCOR’s travel committee has once again put together a great reason to head out and discover something new and lovely about RVA. Add Thursday, August 5 at 2:30 to your calendar with TSCOR’s Carytown Food Tour. On this guided tour we’ll learn the beginnings of Carytown and how many of the restaurants got their start; visit a collection of well-known and under-the radar restaurants; sample foods and snacks from unique establishments; discover why Richmond’s oldest theater has a pool of crystal-clear water inside and check out the east coast’s oldest, most important shopping center. You’re already looking around for your fancy sun hat and best walking shoes, aren’t you? Don’t wait to sign up – we’re limited to 15 participants! Register by Tuesday, August 3.
I hope everyone is doing well after the last 15 months. Thanks to your support, The Shepherd’s Center of Richmond (TSCOR) survived a difficult year and stayed the course. We regrouped and offered virtual lifelong learning programs, which many of you attended via Zoom. Client services adapted and continued to provide our senior clients with lifestyle assistance. Maintaining these programs and services is our top priority, and we did it together!
TSCOR membership runs from July 1,2021, through June 30, 2022, and is only $25. Becoming a member means you help continue the efforts of this outstanding organization to support the well-being of older adults.
There are several benefits of membership, but the best one is knowing you sustain TSCOR’s mission: keeping older adults active and engaged through volunteer service and lifelong learning. Your support is critical as we emerge into this “brave new normal,” so please renew or begin your membership today.
Annual Membership Is Only $25
Membership benefits:
free admission to lunch speakers
reduced Open University tuition
reduced TSCOR travel rates
invitation to the Annual Volunteer Celebration
$25 will:
support TSCOR’s lifelong learning programs: Open University and Lunch & Life.
support TSCOR’s client services. We provide free rides to medical appointments and grocery stores for seniors in our community.
We’ve reached the end of National Volunteer Week, the end of the posts and the end of the repurposed nursery rhyme. We hope, TSCOR volunteers, that you now know exactly how much you mean to and are valued by not only The Shepherd’s Center of Richmond, but the individual lives you touch and the community at large. Now let’s finish that nursery rhyme, shall we?
Monday’s volunteer is fair of face. Tuesday’s volunteer is full of grace. Wednesday’s volunteer is well-disposed. Thursday’s volunteers have cars that go. Friday’s volunteer is learning and giving. Saturday’s volunteer worked hard for their living. And the volunteer on Sunday is bonny and blithe, happy and nice!
Happy National Volunteer Week, TSCOR volunteers! You make a difference. Thank you.
Dr. Elbert Cole, founder of the first Shepherd’s Center, saw that as individuals retired from careers and moved into the next stage of life, they maintained an intense desire to continue growing and contributing to society. He recognized that with a deep sense of compassion to help others, a need to engage in lifelong learning, and a desire to improve the quality of life in their communities, older adults are a force for good.
Being “a force for good” requires not only altruism and passion – it takes time. Everyone who’s worked hard for a living can tell you, working doesn’t leave a lot of time to spare. For that reason, many of our volunteers come to TSCOR when time allows – generally after retiring and long before they’re ready to take it easy! They don’t get a paycheck. They get a tenfold return on the investment of their time. Just take their word for it:
Beth: “I volunteer because I do like giving back and I’m finally able and in a position to give back after all the years of working.” Susie: “I look for ways to bring joy into my life – at my “advanced” age – and teaching brings me joy.” Hal: “Exploring new avenues of thought, new avenues of experience – that’s helpful for anybody, but seniors, that’s a real fun thing for them to do in their retired years.” Gene: “Well, my wife and I, after we retired three years ago, we stared coming to [Open University] classes…and we thought it might be fun to start teaching some of the classes ourselves. I thought this might be a way that I could get engaged in teaching again without having to grade papers. It’s been a very enjoyable experience.” Susie: “We have a growing population of older citizens, and, once they retire, what are they gonna do? We offer them some opportunities with courses, travel and, with my own class that I teach, we get together outside of class, to just build friendships and camaraderie and make connections.”
Working hard for a living is its own reward. But TSCOR volunteers allow everyone to reap the benefits.
Happy National Volunteer Week, TSCOR volunteers! You make a difference. Thank you.
You’ve no doubt heard the expression, “when God closes a door he opens a window,” but here at TSCOR we like to keep the door open – especially the door to learning.
Like many things at TSCOR, our lifelong learning program, Open University, would not exist without volunteers. They’re involved in every aspect. Volunteers plan sessions, recruit instructors, find speakers, teach courses, do administrative housekeeping, get the word out, greet students and run a/v setup. At lunch they even serve the cake! A pandemic didn’t even slow them down. They took to Zoom and kept going (except for serving cake!). It is yet another example of how much our volunteers give back – to the individual and the community.
Hal, a volunteer instructor, says, “One of the things I enjoy most about teaching at Open University is seeing all the wonderful people attend with their sense of enthusiasm for learning a variety of subjects – history, languages, current events and more. They are always appreciative of the work the instructor has committed to presenting her or his subject. And speaking of work, personally, I learn so much more than any of the students by the interesting process of developing a class.”
But the most important thing Open University volunteers do? They keep the door open.
Happy National Volunteer Week, TSCOR volunteers! You make a difference. Thank you.
If the doctor telling you to “use it or lose it” doesn’t quite inspire you, then follow the lead of TSCOR’s volunteer drivers – though you’ll have to get in your car to do it – because they take that theory to a whole new level. Their theory is “move it or lose it!”
Part of TSCOR’s mission involves service to our peers and TSCOR drivers have it down. They had to adapt during the pandemic, but still they serve.
Driver, Daymond, says, “Grocery shopping for our clients has indeed had its challenges during the pandemic. In my case, I have been shopping for one of our clients who happens to be sight impaired. He is very appreciative of this service which gives him a chance to socialize and provide him with a sense of routine. I call him the day before I shop, and he dictates his grocery list. On the day I shop, we meet in the lobby of the building in which he lives. He gives me his shopper’s card and an EBT card, so no cash is exchanged. I shop solo per the Shepherd Center’s current protocols and return with the groceries to the lobby. Upon returning his cards and receipt, I use the hand sanitizer provided. I know he would like to accompany me on a shopping trip, but current protocols prevent that. Grocery shopping for this client has been successful, not just in providing the food he requests, but also in the friendship that it has created between the two of us. He always calls me later in the day to tell me that he has put everything away, thanks me for the shopping, and says how he appreciates the friendship. This leaves me with a good feeling and a sense of accomplishment, two ingredients of volunteerism.”
Now that, folks, is inspiration through motion. How do you like them apples, doctor?
Happy National Volunteer Week, TSCOR volunteers! You make a difference. Thank you.
Well-disposed? Maybe that’s not a trending word, but it definitely applies to TSCOR volunteers in that they have “a positive, sympathetic, or friendly attitude toward someone or something.” And that “someone or something” is TSCOR’s mission and the community it serves.
The Shepherd’s Center of Richmond’s mission – older adults staying active and independent through lifelong learning and service – is brought to life by its volunteers. This past year, volunteers moved our lifelong learning programs online and organized over 100 classes, lectures and speakers (though feeling well-disposed towards Zoom is a horse of a different color), and provided nearly 600 service calls to their peers including rides to medical appointments, friendly calls and no-contact grocery delivery.
Our volunteers often say they get more out of it than what they put into it, but their efforts have a ripple effect. Students and clients benefit, too, as do their neighbors, friends and family. In short, volunteers benefit not only the individual but the community around them. That’s not just well-disposed, that’s exponentially well-disposed.
Happy National Volunteer Week, TSCOR volunteers! You make a difference. Thank you.
When TSCOR temporarily suspended client transportation services due to the pandemic, drives were replaced with friendly calls. These calls kept clients in touch with TSCOR and gave drivers a new way to volunteer. Here’s one of these “grace-full” connections:
Volunteer, Beth, says, “My first friendly call was to Libby, whom I have never met. We talked for half an hour. She was most appreciative of the call. And what an amazing lady! She’s 94 years old, lives independently in her own home and loves to garden. In fact, she had ordered plants from Strange’s, which were to be delivered in the next few days, and she would be planting by herself! I learned she has five children and I wish I could remember how many grandchildren. In fact, I figured out that I went to high school with one of her sons! Our conversation certainly put a smile on my face! And I can’t wait for our drives to resume, so I can actually meet her in person and take her to her next appointment!
Happy National Volunteer Week, TSCOR volunteers! You make a difference. Thank you.
COVID-19 changed the face of everything. Including TSCOR. But thanks to our volunteers, we found a way to go on. The client services and education committee members along with the board and COVID-19 task force met many times to forge the path ahead. Everything had to change: how volunteers drove clients to medical appointments; how clients got groceries; how students attended Open University; how teachers and speakers connected with students. Everything changed and we adapted because TSCOR’s volunteers made it possible. They are the face of TSCOR and it is indeed fair.
Happy National Volunteer Week, TSCOR volunteers! You make a difference. Thank you.
The Shepherd's Center Of Richmond 