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VON Grey Bruce urges Hanover to help meet volunteer needs as services expand
Summary
Volunteers deliver the bulk of VON Grey Bruce's community supports, speakers said, and the organization asked council to note expansion plans into Hanover and to help with volunteer recruitment ahead of new local hubs and services.
Beverly Moulder, volunteer program coordinator for VON Grey Bruce, and Amanda Tetslov, a SMART program coordinator, told Hanover council on April 22 that volunteers are central to the charity's home- and community-care programs and that the group is preparing to expand some services into Hanover.
Moulder said VON (the Victoria Order of Nurses) has a 126-year history of serving rural communities and relies on volunteers to run assisted-living outreach, seniors' exercise classes, hospice visiting, bereavement supports and telephone reassurance. "Our volunteers are a critical part of the V story," she said, and reported the organization currently has 223 volunteers in Grey-Bruce.
Tetslov outlined specific programs: SMART (Seniors Maintaining Active Roles Together) exercise classes led by volunteers and instructors, hospice and palliative visiting supported by 30-hour-plus volunteer training, an 8-week bereavement program for children, telephone reassurance calls for isolated adults, a "Kool-Aid" health-information fridge card for first responders, interRAI standardized community assessments, and a Home at Last transport service that can arrange same-day rides if attendants are available.
Council members asked practical questions about service access. Councillor Carol Hudson asked how far in advance a Home at Last trip must be booked; presenters said same-day pickup is possible when an attendant is available but advised 24 hours as a reasonable rule of thumb. Councillor Harold Fleet asked whether Hanover might host a local hub for assisted-living services; staff said site work is at an early stage but that supportive-housing models used elsewhere would be the likely structure.
The delegation emphasized that many VON services are offered without a fee and that local volunteer recruitment would determine how quickly program wait lists and class availability could be reduced. Council members invited VON to participate in an upcoming volunteer fair and indicated they would share program information with residents.
The presentation was made during the delegation portion of the council meeting; council took the information as received and moved on to other agenda business.
