From zero to three hundred
Sandy Morse
Little did Stephanie Thomas imagine, when Gary Hammond (president of Senior Village at SaddleBrooke) stopped by her house for a friendly, social chat in February 2016 that she would be brought into the folds of the newly founded Senior Village as its membership coordinator. At first it seemed a daunting task to start from ground zero and build membership, one person at a time, for an organization that was just getting off the ground.
With determination, Gary and Stephanie began a round of speaking engagements at SaddleBrooke clubs and gatherings of neighbors in private homes. When asked why she devotes so many hours to the organization, Stephanie responds: “The Village is able to change people’s lives for the better. It’s very gratifying to help our members, whether they need a ride to medical appointments, have something around the house that needs fixing or they participate in our social events. We want to improve their quality of life.”
As word of the Village spread in our community, Stephanie recruited enthusiastic, committed volunteers. Her job was to field each phone call from prospective members and then assign a volunteer to visit and enroll the new member and log that information into the computer. The membership team now includes Mardie Toney, Co-Coordinator of the team, Judith Ambrosini, Renee Beste, Pat Broers, Larry Byrd, Laurie Foster, Esta Goldstein, Karen Jahn, Mary Owen, Ann Patterson-Barton, Edna Vajda and Judy Williams.
As the saying goes, “The rest is history.” Twelve months later, Senior Village has over 300 members, thanks to the dedicated efforts of the membership team. These volunteers take a personal interest in each new member, visiting in their homes and explaining the services of Senior Village. They listen, they offer understanding and they sincerely care about the personal circumstances of each new member.
“Being a member of Senior Village is like being part of a family that you can trust to take care of you,” says Stephanie, “and it all starts with the membership team. Whether you just came home from the hospital or maybe you are recently widowed or are slowing down due to age, the membership team will show you how the Village can help you continue to live independently.”
In the words of one of our Village members: “You’ll be my best buddy as long as I’m in SaddleBrooke.” If you want to become part of the Senior Village family, call 314-1042 and soon you will have a membership team volunteer calling you to set up an interview.