50+ Lifestyles

Aging and You

By Julie Arndt
Marketing Director at Ridgecrest Village

National Volunteer Week is April 20-26, just around the corner. This year’s theme is “Celebrating Service.”  Ridgecrest Village is based on a service model and recognizes the work of over one hundred Service League members each year.

Working in healthcare, the impact volunteers have on people who reside in a care facility didn’t truly resonate with me until our mom spent three years in a health center in northern Iowa. Family members would visit her daily, but it was the other visitors (volunteers from church, hospice, and local groups) that she talked about. They kept her days filled with something to think about other than pain and declining health. Those visits mattered and helped the hours to pass. It was through those loving, heartfelt visits and fellowship of  volunteers that I believe she was able to find true peace before she passed away.

Martha White as Raggedy Ann.

During a recent conversation with retired pastor George White and his wife Martha, the significance of friendly visits was highlighted. In 1996, Martha was approached by the Ridgecrest Volunteer Coordinator looking for a volunteer from their parish to dress up as Raggedy Ann and visit Crest Health Care Center residents. Martha vividly recalls this
discussion and just lights up when she recalls how she responded, “Yes. I know someone who could do it. Me!”  That’s when it all started for Raggedy Ann.

Martha was sent to Santa Barbara for training at Adventures in Caring Foundation, which to this day teaches caregivers the art and practice of communicating with compassion using the Raggedy Ann persona. She recalls the three aces the foundation taught her: Attention, Acceptance, and Affirmation. She learned to be mindful of knocking before entering a room, to know the space is the person’s home, to master the art of gently inquiring about the person, and to start from there. Good things for all of us to remember when visiting a friend or loved one who is in skilled or long-term care.

George White.

Tammy Crafts, Volunteer Service League Coordinator for Ridgecrest said, “A visit by Raggedy Ann cheers a person up and provides just one more opportunity to express what’s important to them and that makes all the difference.”

Martha honed her natural talent for listening and being present to whomever needed her while dressing as Raggedy Ann, making friendly visits to cheer the days of countless
residents for 20 years. She retired from the visits after her husband retired, but when she and George moved to Ridgecrest, she took Raggedy Ann out of retirement and resumed her friendly visits to Crest. She said, “People can get very lonely while in nursing care.  They give up a lot and their world gets a little smaller.” Raggedy Ann meets people where they are and talks about whatever they want to talk about. If they want to pray, she can do that too. For Martha, this is a ministry of love and is what makes Martha’s Raggedy Ann visits so special.

George and Martha have been married 60 years, clearly devoted to each other and collectively serving God, their community, and others for a lifetime. Volunteering has been a way of life for them.

We are so very thankful to see our own Raggedy Ann peeking around the corner now and again here at Ridgecrest Village.   

Julie Arndt, is a licensed social worker and Director of Marketing at Ridgecrest Village with over 35 years’ experience working in the field of geriatrics and senior advocacy. She can be reached at jarndt@ridgecrestvillage.org.