Young visitors cheer nursing home residents

By PAT PASTERNAK- | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment

Community service is one part of the preparation for Confirmation. In Dolgeville, religious education students at St. Joseph's Church take their project seriously.

"I have 12 students in the program this year," said Kathryn Klein, Confirmation teacher, "and what we have chosen to do is to visit the Van Allen Nursing Home in Little Falls."

The group meets about twice a month to travel into Little Falls on Sunday afternoons. Usually staying at the facility for about two hours, the students visit with the elderly and infirm, bringing sunshine and youthful smiles to those who might otherwise have an uneventful day.

Age and youth

"It's good to help somebody," said Melissa Stevens, one of the students, as the group gathered recently with their teacher in the front foyer of the building at 1 p.m. They then dispersed in clusters of two or three to visit the residents.

The brick-sided, one-floor nursing facility sprawls atop one of the highest hills in Little Falls, overlooking the scenic Mohawk Valley. On a recent Sunday, sunshine was streaming in through the windows, brightening the facility's interior. Television sets with the sound turned up for the hard-of-hearing and the laughter of family visitors echoed throughout the building, while the "everyday" clatter of medicine carts and lunch wagons added to the bustling atmosphere.

Residents were seated on benches and in feeding chairs in the hall. As the students arrived, nodding heads began to rise from after-lunch naps and tired eyes followed the progress of the young people down the hall.

Small talk

Students Megan Balder, Melissa Stephens, Theresa Vogel and Stephanie Johns stopped to chat with a frail woman named Isabel, who had been watching them. They gave her a smile. She smiled back.

"Hello, how are you today," asked Megan.

"I'm pretty good," replied the woman. "How are you, dear?"

"I'm good," answered the teen. There is a pause, then Megan comments on the woman's bright nail polish. "Did someone paint them for you?"

"Oh, no, I painted them myself," the woman replied, her smile brightening. The girls and Isabel began a serious conversation about nail polish.

Hazel's eyes

Down the hall, Jerad Stewart and Michael Lanphere headed toward the room of an elderly woman named Hazel, who sat in a wheelchair just inside the door. Her cheerful smile greeted them as they entered. Each time the boys visit the home, they make a special trip to see Hazel. They both think she is a remarkable woman.

"She's hard of hearing," Jerad later said, "but she's a great lady. She's a baseball historian, knows just about every fact of baseball I can think of to ask her about. She's very interesting."

Since he began coming to the home in late September when he first met her, Jerad looks forward to their visits. He added that even when he finishes the required eight hours of service at the home, he will most likely return to visit the people there, especially Hazel. "I really like her," he said.

Staying power

The remaining teens -- Seth Maxwell, Steven Petras and Kim Spoor -- went back and forth together between the two wings, talking mostly with residents who were up and moving about.

They all agree that they will probably continue to visit once the required time is over because, "the people are really nice. They talk to us about what they did when they were kids."

"Sometimes, like today when it's right after lunch, they kind of fall asleep when we're talking," said Seth. "But we understand that."

More to do

According to Mrs. Klein, once the teens finish the required eight hours of community service at the nursing home, they will complete another eight hours in the service of their choice. Some students will do volunteer work for elderly neighbors, help out at community fund-raisers or even volunteer to work on a local farm.

"The remaining eight hours of service are left up to the student," explained Mrs. Klein.

In addition, the students must complete ten hours of family service (other than normal, everyday chores) and four hours of Church service. From there, they will continue with their preparation for the sacrament into the spring when they will be confirmed.

Lasting effect

The hope is that the students will carry what they have learned about community service into their adult years and continue with other ministries of service as they mature and become active adult Church members.

"It's part of the preparation for Confirmation and, really, for life," Mrs. Klein said, adding that this particular group of students seems to be interested in what they are doing and willing to "embrace "their experience. She said that the visits the teens make benefit not only the elderly and the students, but also the community.

"It's what the sacrament is all about," she said.

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