[humanser] READERS

[JD Townsend]

Hi:

Most hospitals have very active volunteer programs.  Volunteers run the gift store, answer the telephones, meet and greet, help with filing and ETC.  I have used hospital volunteers and like that they have already screened applicants and oriented them to issues of confidentiality.  I usually schedule a few hours a week on a regular schedule and most volunteers have done at least a fair job of reading.  My most frequent problem has been having my supervisor, seeing a volunteer, stealing them to "just help for a few minutes" on a regular basis.  Luckily that supervisor is no longer employed here.

The trick is to contact the hospital's volunteer coordinator and explained your specific needs and the immediacy of your need.

Some United Ways have volunteer programs as well, they serve as a clearing house, directing volunteers to various agencies.  Your blindness agency often has people they know who have worked as volunteers in the past, some of them funded by them.  I have known folks who placed notice in church bulletins or in the weekly bargain paper.  I have found readers using a note on a college bulletin board.


Best of luck.
JD Townsend, LCSW
Daytona Beach, Florida, Earth, Sol System
Helping the light dependent to see.