Volunteer Corner
Volunteers with PCOA’s Personal Budgeting program assist low-income older adults in creating and sticking with a budget, or preparing checks and bills for someone with Parkinson’s disease. Barb Sterling has been volunteering with the program for three years and loves it. “As soon as I read about the program, I knew I wanted to be part of it and it’s just been marvelous,” states Barb. When Barb begins working with someone, she meets with them in their home and typically finds a box of unopened bills. “Fear and uncertainty about how to deal with it all keeps people trapped in a cycle of ignoring the phone calls and piling up the unopened mail.” Barb helps them to organize the mail, and make a plan and a monthly budget. “The goal is always a budget that fits within their means and makes as much room as possible for the client’s personal priorities - it’s their budget, I’m just helping them organize it all and create a plan” shares Barb. “PCOA’s staff are a wonderful resource and we have regular volunteer meetings where we learn about various resources available to help our clients.” Though some people need longer-term help with physically writing checks or staying on track, one of Barb’s recent clients, Lucy, “graduated” from the program after just six months. Lucy had been in a car accident and afterwards began renting a car. She didn’t realize how expensive it would be to rent a car for months at a time and the bills just kept accumulating. Barb gave her the courage and help she needed to open them all up, tackle them one at a time, and create a plan, and stabilize her finances. To learn if you qualify for assistance with budgeting, call PCOA’s Helpline at 790-7262. Volunteer Opportunities Personal Budgeting Assistant – Is finance your area of interest? Trained volunteers assist low income individuals to balance their bank accounts, prepare a budget and organize bills. Long Term Care Ombudsman Program – Do residents of nursing homes touch your heart? Volunteers are trained and assigned to elder care facilities to advocate for resi- dents of those facilities. Finding Meaning in Volunteering
PCOA’s Personal Budgeting program can help low-income older adults deal with bills and budgeting.
To learn more about volunteering for the Personal Budgeting Program or the Long Term Care Program, call Shane at (520) 305-3418 or email slynch@pcoa.org
Volunteer Opportunities in Green Valley-Sahuarita
520.625.1150 x 108 gvsvolunteering.org
July/August 2019, Never Too Late | Page 25
Pima Council on Aging
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