Among long talks while flipping through old high school yearbooks, accompanied by small household chores, lies a mutually beneficial companionship between seniors and students.
Lori’s Hands, a nonprofit organization, is a direct liaison to the university’s registered student organization (RSO) that connects university student volunteers with elders who are living in the local community with chronic illnesses. In pairs, students meet weekly with their clients to help with day-to-day tasks or participate in one-time events, such as bingo nights, to gain volunteer hours.
“What it’s offered me is not only personal growth but how to recognize that well-being is beyond physical, it’s emotional and social needs,” Zoe Lehtonen, a student at the university and co-president of Lori’s Hands, said.
Lehtonen explained that when she began volunteering with her client, Regina, she never could have imagined the profound impact that Regina would have on her life.
“She actually ended up being not just a client,” Lehtonen said. “Regina is genuinely one of my friends. She offers a safe space for me and my partner to go to just help us unwind.”
Emphasizing her passion for Lori’s Hands, Lehtonen referenced her scholarship-winning essay about her relationship with Regina. Experiences such as introducing Regina to Chipotle for the first time and the excitement that Regina then shared with her friends in the Marydale Retirement Village serve Lehtonen a greater purpose than simply being a volunteer.
Although seemingly small, these interactions have been pivotal for Lehtonen in her college experience and correspondingly, for Regina as she gets support in navigating the challenges that come with aging.
Sachi Menard, the chapter manager for Lori’s Hands in Newark, shed light on its inception in 2009 and its expansion to other locations.
“Sarah Lafave is one of our founding members,” Menard said. “She grew up seeing her mom, Lori, have a fight with breast cancer and being able to work through having that illness for a number of years.”
Despite having substantial medical care, Lafave noticed there were other areas of their household that became more difficult for her mom to keep up with on her own, such as vacuuming or grocery shopping.
Lafave, a 2011 graduate of the university’s School of Nursing, wanted to help the local community while also leaving a positive, lasting legacy with her mom’s name. Lafave then created Lori’s Hands, so that people in the community could get assistance in the ways that she knew her mom could have used.
The nonprofit has since spread to Baltimore in 2020 and Metro Detroit in 2022.
“We’re really looking to dig our roots deeper into the three locations that we have,” Menard said. “We’re saturating the spaces that we’re in and trying to be able to help as many people as possible in those areas, but it’s great to know that there are a lot of people who want to see our program pop up in their area.”
Alongside Lehtonen is Ella Sutliff, a student at the university and the other co-president.
Sutliff recalled a visit with her current client, Sarah, who had a photo of her grandson framed in her home.
“That’s when I thought to myself, ‘What’s the difference between him visiting her and me visiting her?’” Sutliff said. “But I think the big thing is that he’s supposed to visit her, and she wants to take care of him. In contrast, we are people there to help them and give them a different perspective on what our lives are like separate from family.”
Despite the moments of joy that volunteers and clients provide each other with, there is also vulnerability that comes with both roles.
Lehtonen, similarly, discussed a time when Regina needed support that her family couldn’t quite provide.
“Regina had lost a family member, someone extremely close to her, and she called my partner and me on the phone,” Lehtonen said. “We visited the following week and she pulled me aside and said, ‘It’s the little things that you do that go further than you know,’ So I think it’s the tough times too, when she feels the need to be taking care of everyone around her, where she enjoys us helping out.”
Lehtonen explained that there is comfort in knowing that she has formed a bond with someone who can confide in her, as she mutually can with Regina.
Aside from Lori’s Hands, Lehtonen and Sutfliff have engaged in their community in numerous ways. Whether that be volunteering at a hospice center or food banks, they both emphasized that their experience with Lori’s Hands has been directly applicable to every aspect of their lives.
“There are tons of ways to volunteer where you can help people,” Sutliff said. “But I think the difference here is the level of companionship that I’ve seen with every single volunteer in Lori’s Hands, which is something that I haven’t seen in any other organization, which is awesome.”