Seniors help seniors through companion volunteer program

When 99-year-old Georgella Green describes her relationship with 68-year-old Towanna Green, she says, “It’s friendship. It’s just like family.” Yet, despite sharing the same last name, the two Goldsboro residents are not literally related to one another; they have become like family through their involvement in the WAGES Senior Companion Volunteer Program.

WAGES is the Wayne Action Group for Economic Solvency, and, according to the organization’s website, it “is committed to connecting citizens to educational, social, and economic programs that foster self-sufficiency and transform lives.”

The focus of its Senior Companion Program is to help elderly people continue to live independently in their homes by pairing them with volunteer seniors (at least 55 years old), who will come to their homes at least 20 hours a week to assist with tasks like light housekeeping and light meal preparation, and who can accompany them to places like grocery stores and doctors’ offices. This service is provided free to the elderly; volunteers receive a tax-free, hourly stipend.

Towanna Green spends every Monday through Thursday, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Georgella’s; while there, she makes Georgella’s bed every morning, prepares her a light breakfast, and tidies up the bathrooms. One of her most important tasks is keeping a close eye on Georgella to help prevent falls. The 99-year-old is “a little independent in certain areas,” Towanna notes, adding, “She does a lot of little things by herself.” And when Georgella, using her walker, goes from one room to another, Towanna is by her every step of the way. “I’m always right there by her side,” she notes.

One area in which Towanna is very particular is in letting Georgella make her own decisions. “I let her pick out her clothes [for the day],” she says, and, in that same vein, “I ask her what she wants for breakfast, instead of just coming up with a plan.” She lets Georgella decide when to tune into TV (to watch the news, game shows, and — sometimes — “The Young and the Restless”) and when to settle down with a word search puzzle book.

“I like to have her here,” Georgella says, crediting Towanna with helping her stay connected to the outside world, since she doesn’t go as many places as she once did (although she still attends church most Sundays and she enjoys going to the salon for manicures). “I’m not out there, so I don’t know what’s going on,” she explains. “But if there’s something that I don’t know and I want to know, I’ll ask her and she’ll tell me, and we’ll talk. ‘Cause I don’t mind talking.”

“We sit and talk and laugh,” Towanna confirms. “I love to make her laugh.”

The women especially enjoy sitting on the front porch when it’s nice outside. It’s during these visits that Georgella reminisces about how the Little Washington area of Goldsboro — where Georgella has lived for many years and where Towanna grew up — has changed over the years.

Georgella’s outlook on life is one of positivity, for which she credits her faith. “When you say, ‘the Lord is my Shepherd,’ I mean just that,” she says. “The Lord is my Shepherd, and I shall not want. I don’t want for anything. I’m just as happy as a pig in the sunshine.”

While Georgella sums up their relationship as being like family, Towanna is equally effervescent. “I love this lady, and I always say, ‘To know Miss Georgella is to love her,’ ‘cause she is so, so sweet.”

It is no coincidence that Georgella and Towanna have become so close during the six months they’ve been together, as one of the factors taken into consideration by Program Director Tiffany Lucky when pairing volunteers and clients is personality; Lucky is diligent about bringing together people who are a good fit, as it’s important not only that the clients benefit from the arrangement, but also that the volunteers have “meaningful and rewarding” experiences, as well.

George Summerlin and Allen Carmichael are another example of a client and volunteer whose interests and personalities mesh particularly well.

Summerlin, 89, lives in Dudley with his five-year-old dachshund, Coley (who belonged to his late wife), and he is assisted 20 hours a week by 71-year-old volunteer Allen Carmichael, who lives close-by in Goldsboro (when making placements, Lucky also makes it a point to take distance into consideration).

“That’s my buddy,” Carmichael says of Summerlin, adding, “I learn a lot of things from him…He’s a whole lot older than I am, and he knows a little more than I do. I like that.”

When asked what sorts of things he learns from Summerlin, Carmichael laughs and replies, “Mostly about women.”

To which Summerlin also laughs, before insisting, “That’s not my category. I only had one wife and that’s all I’m ever gonna have.”

A light-hearted, easy rapport has developed between the two men during the two years Carmichael has been volunteering with Summerlin.

Both men enjoy spending time outdoors, and that’s where you’ll often find them, weather permitting. Summerlin’s backyard is filled with plants: flowers, grapevines, a vegetable garden, and even banana trees, but neuropathy in his hands and feet prevent the Air Force veteran from maintaining it all by himself, so he and Carmichael tackle it together.

“I don’t stop him from doing what he wants to do,” Carmichael insists.

“I get out there in the yard and help him,” Summerlin says, noting that he has no intention of just sitting on the couch while Carmichael does everything for him. “I like to work.”

Summerlin also has a pool in his backyard, and although he’s no longer able to enjoy it himself, he likes to keep it maintained for his granddaughter and great-granddaughters, who come to visit him on the weekends, to share a meal and to swim. While Carmichael takes charge of vacuuming the pool, Summerlin is usually somewhere nearby, chopping weeds or picking grapes.

Summerlin wishes more people knew about the Senior Companion Program. “There’s a lot of people in this community that’s retired, and a lot of ‘em are military, that don’t even know about [this]. I didn’t know, so I decided that I had to have some help, and I called WAGES.” That phone call led to his eventual pairing with Carmichael.

Lucky, the program director, says she “is extremely appreciative of the individuals, churches, businesses, etc. who have supported the program.” But, she goes on to issue a challenge of sorts: “The program is in crucial need of volunteers and clients.” Volunteers, according to the program’s directives, must have “a special love for elderly adults.”

Anyone interested in stepping up to meet the challenge — either as a client or as a volunteer — is encouraged to call Lucky at 919-734-1178, ext. 286.