UCARE Summer Highlights: Providing Care with Lori’s Hands
Hello!
My name is Jake Menzer and I am a rising Junior at Ursinus College. During this summer I have volunteered at Lori’s Hands, a non-profit organization run through University of Delaware that helps with the chronically ill. Lori’s Hands serves citizens around the Newark, DE area who are limited by their illness. The main purpose of this program is to provided help for those who need it in as well as give volunteers clinical experience in the healthcare field. In Lori’s Hands, volunteers are paired up and meet with their assigned clients to help with everyday tasks such as housekeeping, running errands, preparing meals, and much more. A schedule is set during which volunteers can meet with clients to convenient hours for everyone.
During this summer I would meet up with my client every Tuesday and Thursday for about three hours. During that time my partner and I would help clean around the house, prepare dinner, and help with our client’s PT exercises. Helping with PT exercises was especially rewarding because I able to see my clients increase in strength over the summer through the exercise my partner and I helped them with. One of the highlights of my time volunteering at Lori’s Hands was when we when to the Italian Festival in Wilmington. Through doing this, my partner and I were able to help our client experience something they enjoyed as a kid and seeing the joy in their face while reliving their childhood memories was priceless. Just through meeting with other volunteers and helping my client I have noticed that those being assisted by Lori’s Hands look forward to the time that the volunteers spend with them. Volunteering through Lori’s Hands has provided me great insight into healthcare and I have begun to see where there are gaps in healthcare and the subsequent consequences of those gaps. This insight is important for me, as I am an aspiring physician. Arguably more important, I have learned valuable life lessons from the client, such as the importance of family and significance of hard work. What I have gained this summer through Lori’s Hands has bettered me as a person but also allowed me to better the lives of others.