New Jersey: Volunteers Needed for Guardianship Monitoring Program in Hunterdon

Surrogate Susan J. Hoffman, announces that Hunterdon County is the first county to participate in the New Jersey Judiciary Statewide Guardianship Monitoring Program. The Guardianship Monitoring Program utilizes volunteers to review annual guardianship reports filed by guardians on behalf of their wards.

There is currently a need for volunteer researchers in Hunterdon. Researchers examine documents contained in guardianship files and enter information about the guardianships into a statewide database.

Volunteers will receive detailed training from the judiciary on how to read and analyze the guardians’ annual reports and how to gather data for the statewide database. Volunteer monitors will flag inconsistent or incomplete financial information, which will be reported to volunteer coordinators for further action.

The submission and review of the annual reports is essential to ensure that the susceptible adult population — the elderly and disabled — are being treated with dignity and are free from exploitation. Guardians may benefit by referral to sources of help and information that they may not be aware of.
Hunterdon County has had a similar program in place since 1996.

Information about the program and how to volunteer can be obtained on the judiciary’s website, njcourts.com, by calling toll-free 855-406-1262, or by emailing njguardianship.mailbox@judiciary.state.nj.us.

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Volunteers Needed for Guardianship Monitoring Program in Hunterdon

The Forgotten Ones: Compassion for the Elderly

Walk into any nursing home today, and you’ll see them: The aging lonely. They are easily recognizable. Look for the sadness on their faces, the pain in their eyes. With a television on for company, these men and women sit alone in their rooms. Their shelves are bare, their bulletin boards void of pictures, cards, or any memento denoting love from the outside. Those sad eyes may even hold a twinge of bitterness, asking, “Why am I still here with no one to love me?”
~ by Karrie Osborn

What are we waiting for? The time to help is now. ♥

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The Forgotten Ones: Compassion for the Elderly

A pessimist, they say, sees a glass of water as being half empty; an optimist sees the same glass as half full. But a giving person sees a glass of water and starts looking for someone who might be thirsty. ~ G. Donald Gale

*Please volunteer to visit the lonely and forgotten elderly in your community. ♥

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The Forgotten Ones: Compassion for the Elderly

Today I was thinking that I am 89 and have alzheimers, but I am still alive and useful. I have written on here before about a group I belonged to that sat with dying patients…our belief was no one should die alone. Doctors who knew about our group, or nurses, some ministers and priests sometimes a hosptial aide would contact us and we would go sit with the patient in their last hours. Sometimes it would be for a few hours, sometimes a couple of days. Most of these people had no family, or their friends had all died or were too old, or some were AIDS patients that their families had disowned them…for some reason they were alone and our group wanted someone to be with them at the end of their journey. Sometimes the patient didn’t know we were there, sometimes we would talk, play music, hold hands, talk about their life, call people to say goodbye, I would write letters for them, some so sad and heartbreaking, some thought I was their mother, others their wife…some just would look at me and smile. I have crawled in bed with some and held them, some fought death, others were ready to go, some were never awake when I was with them.

I found much peace with this group. I learned alot from these strong people, I made many new friends. People would ask me, isn’t it depressing and I would say, oh no, it is an honor to spend the last hours with these people. No one should die alone. I know some people say they would prefer to die alone, but, in the end I have seen that change and people tell me before the end they were glad I was there.

I wish I could still do this act of volunteering…but I can no longer do it…….I wish I could still volunteer….it was an honor.

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The Forgotten Ones: Compassion for the Elderly

WA: Volunteers Keep Watch Over Court-Appointed Guardians

Robert Bibb retired from the Snohomish Superior Court bench two decades ago, but he keeps coming back to the courthouse.

Since 2000, Bibb, 89, has volunteered to monitor guardians appointed to oversee legal and financial matters for people who are too sick, frail or confused to handle their affairs alone.

Bibb and about 12 other volunteers review reports, including determining whether guardians are providing an accounting of how money is being spent to support their wards.

The volunteers also field a lot of questions by guardians, often family members, who have taken on the responsibility of caring for a loved one’s financial and legal matters.

“We basically police guardianships,” Bibb said. “We make sure reports required by law are filed when they’re supposed to and the proper forms are filled out. We also look over the reports for any suspicious things that might be detected by reviewing them.”

The county’s Guardianship Monitoring Program grew out of a long-standing national effort by the AARP to provide oversight to guardianships, often involving the elderly.

The organization provided a $5,000 grant in 2000 to kick start the program in Snohomish County.

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Volunteers Keep Watch Over Court-Appointed Guardians

The Forgotten Ones – Compassion for the Elderly

So many elders face their final years alone, in a nursing home, with few of the daily comforts they once knew so well. With friends gone or fighting their own battles against the ravages of time, and with families consumed with daily strifes, the last stages of life can often be spent in isolation — both physically and emotionally. Even the best nursing facilities and the best staffs can be too overwhelmed with standard care needs to offer much time to their residents for conversation, laughter, or especially touch. ~ Karrie Osborn

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Nursing Home Volunteers ~ The Elderly are from Heaven

“When a person is admitted into a nursing home, they experience many losses.

Not only is their independence, freedom, and family gone, they also feel a loss of control of their lives, dignity, and the interruption in daily routines can be emotionally tormenting. They also feel extreme boredom. Family, for a lot of them, never come to visit.

Most of them would be very accepting of you and would be glad and appreciative of the time you spend with them. So to get started you can find a nursing home near you and talk to the Activities Director and ask them if there is anyone in particular that could use the companionship. Also ask for ways that you can volunteer. It is so worth it, because doing this is very rewarding, relaxing and fun.” ~ Unknown

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