… You visited Me…
Here for You… You Matter!
Here for You is a new outreach program which aims to connect willing, trained volunteers with Wayne County residents who are isolated due to age, illness, or disability. Here for You strives to discover those who are isolated and who have needs which are not being met by family, friends, or agencies. Here for You provides training, guidance, and support to volunteers who will go out to the homebound and isolated to offer them support and to enable them to connect with other organizations and agencies as well. Here for You ensures that volunteers have a proper background screening and Safe Training as is appropriate in their work with vulnerable adults. Here for You provides opportunities for the volunteers to gather on a regular basis for support, networking, training, and the sharing of best practices. Here for You reaches out to the elderly, marginalized, homebound, and handicapped of all faiths and to those who have no religious affiliation. Here for You works with all faith communities, civic organizations, and individuals by engaging, training, and equipping volunteers who are willing and ready to serve. Here for You’s volunteers ask nothing in return but the privilege of serving. If you have more questions about Here for You… You Matter, please contact me. Deacon Gregory Kiley, Coordinator of Volunteer Engagement 585-330-8473/gregory.kiley@dor.org

Role Description:
Here for You… You Matter is a program defined by its title. The two parts of the title express the dynamic between the volunteers and the persons they serve. The first part of the title, Here for You, expresses the availability of the volunteer and the reality that, unlike what would be found in a precisely defined job description, the volunteer’s primary role is to BE there for the homebound and isolated person. This is not to be interpreted as a limited, passive presence. Instead, the volunteer is challenged to be a companion, a friend, a listening ear, and an advocate. The volunteer, in fact, accompanies the homebound, isolated, or handicapped person on the path or journey that is their life in the present moment. The second part of the title, You Matter, contains within it a challenge for the volunteer to not fall into the trap of merely seeing the person they serve as a consumer of services, or as a “case” to managed or controlled. In fact, in areas where the isolated person needs specific social services, the volunteer is asked to enable that person to connect with those agencies or organizations that already provide them rather than trying to duplicate those services. Rather You Matter presents a challenge and a charge to the volunteers to unfailingly – and joyfully! — respect the dignity of each person they serve no matter how limited, disabled, or helpless that person is. So, the volunteers for Here for You… You Matter are entering into a commitment to be truly present to the isolated persons they serve and to do so in a way that respects the dignity of each human person. A real challenge indeed but one that can be fulfilled with courage and commitment.