Visiting the Lonely Ones Wants to Bring Companionship

The Visiting the Lonely Ones program has been dedicating their time to residents of nursing and convalescent homes since 2009 and currently has 55 volunteers. Many of the residents of these homes do not receive regular visits or phone calls from family members, or may not have a family to expect visits from. Visiting the Lonely Ones (VLO) aims to remedy this situation by becoming active within these types of homes through frequent visitations in facilities that have partnered with the program. They make a visit to each facility once per month, usually from around 2 to 4 p.m., and they visit as many residents as possible in the time they are present The VLO program emphasizes the importance of maintaining a quality relationship with the elders who built the country we now lead our lives in and owe respect to. VLO also gathers to create handmade cards for the residents. They meet in a number of libraries and community centers and use everything from magazine clippings to old greeting cards to make one-of-a-kind cards for the residents, to remind them that someone does care about them. The VLO program currently visits nine different convalescent and nursing homes throughout the Inland Empire. Their goal is to eventually gather 600 volunteers for the program in order to be able to cover up to 28 convalescent and nursing homes throughout the area. Every Tuesday the VLO program meets in the Loma Linda Springs Main Lobby for orientation for new volunteers from 1 to 3 p.m. Visiting the Lonely Ones is always looking for new members.