What Can I Do as a Senior Living Volunteer?

At Solterra, we’re especially proud of the full- and part-time staffers who work at our various communities throughout Arizona. Our staff are highly trained and do great work, and we’re proud to say our residents love them as much as (if not even more than) we do. But senior living residents often benefit from seeing fresh faces and getting help with things that even top-notch communities like ours can’t always provide. That’s why there’s always a need for enthusiastic, kind people to work as a senior living volunteer, whether it’s at a Solterra Assisted Living community or somewhere else.

What Does It Mean to Be a Senior Living Volunteer?

In truth, volunteering can mean quite a few different things. Different management companies have different needs and different offerings, and so the duties of a senior living volunteer can vary significantly from company to company, or community to community under a specific company’s umbrella.

For this reason, you should always contact the management of the senior living community where you’re interested in volunteering to see what they need and what responsibilities you might be asked to take on.

Here are some of the tasks you might be asked to do as a senior living volunteer:

Playing Games

Are you a chess lover? Backgammon wizard? Monopoly master? Tennis fan? Xbox expert? (Yep, just because our residents are seniors doesn’t mean some of them don’t like video games.) Having fun with residents in a game room can help keep them entertained and their minds active.

Teaching New Skills

We don’t believe that you can’t teach a senior new skills. If you’re a hobbyist knitter or model builder or painter, many senior living communities would love to have you come by and instruct their residents on how they can pick up a new hobby. (It doesn’t have to be a hobby, either. Many seniors would love to have someone teach them how to use their phone to video call the grandkids.) Who knows—our residents might teach you something too!

Helping Organize

Many senior residents have a lifetime of memories—and memorabilia—that they’ve never had the time to properly go through or sort before. Whether it’s polishing old trophies or helping put pictures in an album, this chance to help our residents preserve their fond memories forever is greatly appreciated.

Keeping Company

Sometimes, being able to talk with our residents and make a new friend is a skill all on its own—and a benefit worth much more than words can say. Many of our senior living volunteers become fast friends with our residents.

These are just some of the tasks and responsibilities you might have as a senior living volunteer. Again, while this can vary significantly from community to community, you’ll generally find opportunities to do things along these lines.

You’ll also almost certainly never be asked to handle anything related to medical or sanitation needs, so don’t worry if you’re not trained in healthcare.

Are you interested in becoming a senior living volunteer with Solterra? Fill out this form to contact us, and we’ll be in touch.