CVS volunteer visits keep Dawn active and learning

Staying engaged and mobile are two pivotal keys to growing older happily.

Thanks to IMPACT Community Services’ Community Visitors Scheme, Dawn Fleming gets to do both.

Dawn has been reaping the rewards of IMPACT’s CVS program for about three months now and is very happy with the companionship.

“I enjoy the visits very much,” Dawn said.

Walking is an enjoyable pastime for Dawn, however it presents its own challenges.

“If someone comes along on a skateboard, I don’t know they’re coming, and they’re on top of you before you know it,” she said.

Dawn’s volunteer Tahlia Facer visits her weekly and joins her on walks to the corner shop, watering and pruning the plants in her greenhouse, sitting and talking together or playing Rummikub.

Creating companionship for both visitor and visited

Rummikub is a game where each player draws 14 lettered tiles to form words.

The first word made by each player must have at least 7 characters, then smaller words can be made after that.

“I’m learning new words from Tahlia which is a help,” she said.

And Dawn is not the only one learning a thing or two.

“I had never played the game before, so I get to learn new things from Dawn as well,” Tahlia said.

“I think the game is supposed to be played competitively, with each word accumulating points, but we don’t keep a tally and often help each other make words with the letters we have leftover.

“It really is a nice way to spend an afternoon.”

Find out more about becoming a CVS visitor

Volunteering with CVS creates a moment of pause

Tahlia said the opportunity presented a window of solitude in an often-busy life.

“Visiting Dawn, I get to take an hour for myself while simultaneously giving someone my time; it’s a win-win,” Tahlia said.

Tahlia is fortunate that her employer pays two hours a month towards volunteering.

“All I need to volunteer is two hours of my own time and I get to see Dawn for an hour each week,” she said.

“And it is true what Community Visitors Scheme Program Facilitator Heather says, ‘it’s not a job, it’s a joy’.”

Uncover your superhero within by visiting an elderly person.

Phone IMPACT’s Community Visitors Scheme facilitator Heather Hinsbey today on 4153 4233 or 0448 035 891.