Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 6, 1990 TAG: 9004060261
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TRACY VAN MOORLEHEM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
As a court-appointed volunteer guardian in Smyth and Washington counties, Widener looks after the personal and financial affairs of 10 elderly nursing home patients who are unable to care for themselves and do not have family to assume guardianship.
Widener is a senior citizen himself, a retired businessman raised in a family of volunteers. His years of experience in tax preparation and his compassion make Widener an ideal guardian.
In the past two years, Widener put more than 9,000 miles on his car visiting each of his wards every week. When one is ill, he requests that the hospital call him any time of the day or night to keep him abreast of changes.
Once, a ward's Medicare and Medicaid benefits would not cover the cost of bandages needed for ruptured veins in the ward's legs. Widener quietly handed over the funds from his own pocket.
The question of volunteers as guardians was addressed Thursday in a workshop at the 15th annual conference of the Virginia Department of Volunteerism in Roanoke. The theme of the conference, Exploring New Frontiers in Volunteerism, pointed to the need to find new solutions to old problems.
Guardianship is one such problem. Susan Herbert, coordinator of volunteer services at the Fairfax Area Agency on Aging, said she thinks volunteer guardians could be a solution.
Most states, including Virginia, use public guardianship as a last resort when a family guardian is not available. But the huge workloads of public employees and the bureaucratization of government aid in general does not always allow for the quality of personal attention that voluntary guardianship does.
A legal guardian has the power to make all of a ward's personal and financial decisions, and court appointment of a guardian signifies a dramatic reduction in the basic civil rights of the ward. But in some cases, strict management is necessary to protect the ward. Especially for the elderly, loss of personal freedom can be very painful and requires the kind of loving, tactful reasoning that Widener practices. Social Services and Agency on Aging employees simply do not have the time to take on this added responsibility.
Herbert acknowledges that volunteer guardians are only part of the solution. `It takes a huge commitment on the part of the volunteer," she said. "It's the only volunteer job I know of that takes a court order to get you in and a court order to get you out."
She said perhaps a more appropriate way to use volunteers would be to close the gaps between programs like Meals on Wheels and guardianship. For example, volunteers could come into an elderly person's home once a week to pay bills and to give advice, she said.
There are only a handful of volunteer guardianship programs in the state at this time, Herbert said. There is no such program in the Roanoke Valley.
The statewide conference has attracted 450 participants from the not-for-profit, governmental and corporate sectors. The opening session Thursday morning featured Lt. Gov. Don Beyer and representatives from Sen. Charles Robb's office and the White House. The conference runs through today at the Roanoke Marriott.
by CNB