“If every old person had a person like Emily, there wouldn’t be so many depressed people around,” said Bobby Niemi, a current client of the Sanford Center for Aging companionship program.
Commonly referred to as Senior Outreach Services (SOS), the Sanford Center’s companionship program was founded in 2002. The program provides free, volunteer-based companionship to adults in Washoe County over the age of 60 who are socially isolated, lonely, residing in a private home setting, who typically qualify as low-income and are seeking social connection.
“Bobby is someone to talk to and I tell everyone he is my best friend,” said Emily Zedek, business undergraduate at the ҹɫÊÓƵ, who is also a volunteer in the SOS program.
Matched since late August 2024, Zedek took over as the volunteer companion after her boyfriend, Niemi’s previous volunteer, moved away for graduate school. She and Niemi talk often over the phone and run errands together every week.
“It doesn’t feel like we need to fulfill an hour,” said Zedek. “We chat all the time about anything and everything. I have told him that he is a priority in my life and spending time with him is a stress-reliever.” In addition to regular errand runs and doctor visits, the two plan adventures as well. This fall, they took a trip to Auburn and Grass Valley.
“One day we took a trip to Grass Valley because I was mentioning a shop I loved and hadn’t been to in ages, so we planned a fun trip and it was amazing,” said Niemi. “It is always a pleasure being around her and her boyfriend before her. It has all worked out for the positive.”
Volunteers like Zedek are individually matched with a program participant and generally visit weekly, providing emotional support and friendship, sharing a skill or hobby together, helping navigate difficult decisions and assisting with access to essential resources. While it is ideal for volunteers to be able to provide rides to their matched companion, it is not a requirement.
“The older population is often overlooked,” said Zedek. “This work is valuable and helps so many.” Zedek had decided to join the program partly because of her grandmothers, who were diagnosed with late-onset dementia.
“I have so much appreciation for programs like SOS that help people stay connected and age in place,” said Zedek. “I always wonder if having a volunteer like myself around could have helped my grandmothers. I wish we had known about programs like this instead of her being home-bound and restricted outside of our visits.”
Although volunteers do not provide hands-on care, housekeeping, personal care, money management, or administer medicine, they are advocates for their participants. Often the eyes and ears for the health and well-being of older adults, volunteers can alert Sanford Center staff members to issues that might need additional supportive resources or more hands-on care for the participant.
“I was in a funk before my friendship with Emily,” said Niemi. “After a month together, we were already close. It means so much to me to have someone to talk to and to have a friend. Being stuck at home is not fun and she always works me into her schedule and gives it the extra five yards. At my age, you don’t meet too many new people.”
Those interested in volunteering, or an older adult looking for a companion, can . Sanford Center for Aging offers benefits such as volunteer support meetings, volunteer recognition, mileage reimbursements and supplemental insurance.
