A Letter from Emerson Community Service Club
Silver Club
Volunteering at University of Michigan's Program for Seniors
Dear Emerson Parents,
The Emerson Community Service Committee (“Emerson from the Heart”) would like to invite students from all grades (K-8), their families, and any interested staff members, to volunteer at the Silver Club Program. Silver Club is part of the University of Michigan's Health System, serving as an enrichment program for seniors with memory loss (due to Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, etc). It is located in the North Campus area on Plymouth Road, in the Turner Senior Resource Center building.
The Silver Club staff consists of social workers, recreational therapists and volunteers who work with the seniors in a wide variety of activities, including music, arts and crafts, photography, cooking, gardening, exercising, companionship, etc.
Volunteers can contribute in several ways depending on their skills, interests or inclination. For example, here is a list of what Emerson volunteers could do at Silver Club:
- Singing a song or playing an instrument, either solo or in a small group (e.g. the Emerson Middle School Band's Jazz Ensemble will be playing at Silver Club in the near future)
- Chatting with the seniors
- Taking part in activities with seniors such as arts+crafts, baking, exercise routines and games
- Helping out with minor chores e.g. distributing supplies needed for an activity or clearing the table after an activity
- Taking part in special events e.g. for Tropical Day, everyone dresses up in tropical clothes; for birthday celebrations, seniors and volunteers make party hats and decorate the center; for Halloween, staff and volunteers dress in costumes and have a parade
Hours of Operation: Silver Club is open on Tuesdays, Thursdays,and Saturdays from 10am-3pm, and on Fridays from 12:30-4pm. The setting is relaxed and informal.
Note for Emerson students: visiting on Saturday mornings from 11 am - 12:30 pm is generally preferred.
Visits: Out of consideration for the seniors, volunteering visits with children should be limited to no more than 5 children with accompanying parents or teacher, during a given visit, and for no more than 30-45 minutes at a time. Visits can be one-time only, or on an as needed or regular basis depending on the volunteers' schedule and preferences.
Health Consideration: We would like to avoid transmission of illnesses in both directions. At Silver Club, it is not mandated that all seniors get flu shots, but many of them do. Sick volunteers should not visit, and parents and children are requested to use their discretion if they think they are ill.
Orientation for Volunteers: CarolynRose Stone, the Silver Club Program Coordinator, gave an orientation to interested volunteers on December 4th, 2008 at the Emerson Library, and also showed a short film of Silver Club in action. The orientation is a prerequisite to volunteering, so volunteers will have a better understanding of Silver Club and know how best to approach and interact with seniors with memory loss. The presentation was recorded and is now available on the web at http://silverclub.blip.tv . This video will henceforth serve as the orientation for interested volunteers.
If you and your child(ren) would be interested in volunteering at Silver Club, please let Surekha Dangoor (sdangoor@umich.edu or 994-3934) or Judi Hoffman (northernlighttranslations@gmail.com or 769-4853) know. You could, if you wish, opt to visit Silver Club once before deciding how often you would like to volunteer - please e-mail Surekha Dangoor at sdangoor@umich.edu to schedule a visit, even if it is just to check it out.
More Information About Silver Club: Silver Club is an activity-based program that is part of the University of Michigan Health System Geriatrics Center. Begun in 1998, Silver Club was opened to provide people with memory loss with a place to have fun, to find a community of peers, and to offer families some time off from caregiving. Silver Club seniors have mild/moderate stage memory loss, but their actions and appearances are completely normal. The only sign one might notice would be repetition of stories or sentences and perhaps some confusion when moving from one location to another. The seniors laugh, enjoy each other's company and enjoy having children visit. Up to 18 individuals attend daily with a total of 43 during the week. As one of the community programs of the UMHS, the hospital provides Silver Club with the building and utilities, but does not cover the operating costs. It is funded by fees, donations, contracts with the Area Agency on Aging, Medicaid Waiver Program, grants from the Ann Arbor Community Foundation etc. The program offers a sliding scale payment system; no one is turned away because of lack of funds.
You can get more information about Silver Club from the University of Michigan's web page, at:
http://www.med.umich.edu/geriatrics/communityprograms/silver-club.htm
For directions on how to get there, you can check the map on the following web page:
http://www.med.umich.edu/geriatrics/tsrc/index.htm
Thank you!
Regards,
Emerson Community Service Committee