Senior Companion Program SPONSORS
The Senior Companion Digest
11900 Fairhill Road
FROM THE DIRECTOR’S DESK
Suite 300
Phone: 216.373.1751
Fax: 216.373.1814
E-mail: [email protected]
A Leader in Service, Research & Advocacy
for Older Adults
Visit us online at
www.benrose.org
SENIOR COMPANION BIRTHDAYS
JANUARY (Con’t)
NOVEMBER
Mary Bland, 11/05
Happy Birthday to all
Rose Mack, 01/04
Ehren Dickerson, 11/09
Senior Companions from
Maxine Davis, 01/05
Corine Powers, 11/11
the SCP Staff and
Carrie Jones, 01/09
Shirley Cockrell, 11/21
Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging.
Rebecca Walker, 01/10
Johnnie Mae Hall, 11/24
Margaret Gordon, 01/13
DECEMBER
Shirley Parker, 01/14
Louise Cartwright, 12/01
Irene Moore, 01/18
Joan Hodge-Yisreal, 12/03
Joe Rowe, 01/21
Irene McGlothan, 12/06
Marian Key, 01/24
Lillian Williams, 12/17
Marva Miller, 12/25
Patricia Green, 12/29
JANUARY
Mildred Henderson, 01/01
Samilia Pittman, 01/02
SCP FOOD DRIVE UPDATE:
1,246 pounds of food
collected since January 2010.
Thank you SCP Volunteers!
We have made our goal of
1,000 or better.
GO TEAM SCP!
WINTER 2010-2011
Cleveland, Ohio 44120
The end of the year is often a time used to reflect on
things that have taken place during that year and
setting goals for the New Year.
the example for our community and other volunteer
programs. We can show them that Senior
Companions make Independence a Reality.

My next goal is to begin a Well Wishing project.
The Well Wishing project will do just that, volunteers
will send get well cards and make phone calls to
volunteers who fall ill during the program year. This
will help volunteers who are on L.O.A., sick or
otherwise unable to participate to feel better and stay
connected to the Senior Companion Program. If
anyone is interested in this project, please see Mrs.
Green, SCP Advisory Council Chairperson, or call me
216.373.1751 for more details.

Reflecting on this year, I am thinking about the
volunteers that we have lost. They were so full of
life and willing and to give back till illness and
death swept them away.
I think about our new volunteers who are willing
to learn and so very eager to get started that they
call Mrs. Byrd to find out what they should do
next.
With that in mind, I have a few goals that I would like
to share with you for next year.
We now have 92 volunteers in our program with the
capacity to add at least 10 to 15 more. My goal for
our program is to get everyone volunteering 15 to
20 hours a week. This was a challenge last year, but
this year we have a solid plan. With more stations
willing to sign on and support our mission, we can set
Volunteers are an essential piece of the puzzle.
Helping other seniors and fellow Senior Companions
is what you all are all about.
Thank you for keeping me on my toes this year
and I look forward to another adventurous new
year with you all!
MARLENE’S CORNER
I would like to discuss the difference between bad weather days and safety days. Everyone who volunteers 8
hours a week or more is entitled to a certain number of bad weather days/hours according to their
schedules. With winter upon us, you might decide to use them. For example, if it is too cold, icy, snowy, etc.,
you may use them. Also if your client does not have his or her driveway or walk shoveled or plowed, you might
want to take a bad weather day. Of course, you would call your client, our office and case manager. If that time
is used up, you can use a benefit day. If THAT is used up, it will be unpaid time. However, you still need to
make your calls and let everyone know you won’t be there !
A safety day is when Lynda closes the program. It might be because the schools are closed or a bad storm is
coming. We will try and call you the NIGHT BEFORE. Please make sure your phones are not off the hook and
answering machines are turned on. If you have a cell phone, please share that number with us. We will do our
best to try to reach everyone! Please remember there are only three of us and almost 100 of you. Safety days will
not count against your other benefit days.
The next thing I want to bring up was your timesheet for the end of the year. A lot of you are new and
haven’t gone through this before. The timesheet we passed out in November will cover November 17 –
DECEMBER 31st! That means you will NOT turn in your timesheet in December. (You can turn in any blue
sheets you have used up to that date.) On December 31st you will mail in your timesheets. You will be given an
envelope to mail it in and a memo explaining this. The timesheet will be about three pages long. Please DO
NOT separate it, even if you only go to the December in-service. Please don’t mail in any blue sheets with it,
you can bring them to the January in-service. That check WILL NOT be ready at the January in-service. It will
be mailed to you. It will be worth the wait because it will be a much larger check for everyone. It will cover over
6 weeks. The check you receive in February will run from January 1 – January 18th. That will be only about two
weeks. After that we will be back on our normal schedule.
PAGE
2
VOLUME
OhioHOPES: Helping Ohio Protect and
2. When you receive
a notice from the
Senior Companion
Program Coordinator,
please read it right
away. This notice
contains important
information that is
relevant to your
volunteering!
ISSUE
4
UPCOMING EVENTS
Empower Seniors
IMPORTANT
REMINDERS
1. Please be mindful
regarding your
documents that are
due to the program
on an annual basis.
Keeping your
documents current
allows us to receive
federal and state
funding. These funds
are what pay your
stipend! If YOU don’t
turn in YOUR
documentation, YOU
can be terminated
from the program.
2,
If you are being abused, REMEMBER
1. You are not alone
2. It is not your fault
3. Help is available
OhioHOPES: Helping Ohio Protect and
Empower Seniors
A Resource and Information Directory for Older Victims of Crime and
Abuse
OhioHOPES is a gateway to information intended to help Ohio’s seniors stay alert and protected against abuse, neglect, fraud, or exploitation. You will find resources for crime victims, help for caregivers, and
local and state services for seniors.
NOVEMBER EVENTS
 November 2—Election Day
 November 7—Daylight Savings Time ends
 November 10—Marine Corps Birthday/
SCP Advisory Council Meeting
 November 11—Veteran’s Day
 November 16—SCP Monthly In-Service
 November 25—Thanksgiving Day-OFF
 November 26—Day After Thanksgiving-OFF
JANUARY EVENTS
 January 1—New Year Day
 January 12—SCP Advisory Council Meeting
 January 17—Martin Luther King Jr. Day-OFF
 January 18—SCP Monthly-In-Service
DECEMBER EVENTS
 December 2—Hanukkah
 December 8—SCP Advisory Council Meeting
 December 21—SCP Monthly In-Service-Year
End Recognition
 December 24—Christmas Eve
 December 25—Christmas Day-OFF
 December 26—Kwanzaa
 December 31—New Years Eve
SCP IMPORTANT NUMBERS
For more information, visit OhioHOPES.org
Call or write Adult Protective Services
Cuyahoga County Department of Senior and Adult Services
1701 East 12th Street, Lower Level Cleveland, Ohio 44114-3237
216.420.6700
Domestic Violence Shelters



The Domestic Violence Center 216-391-4357
West Side Catholic Shelter 216-631-4141
Jewish Family Services Association -Project Chai 216-691-7233
SENIOR
COMPANION
DIGEST
Marlene McClain
SCP Director, 216.373.1751
SCP Coordinator,
216.373.1789
SCP Administrative Assistant,
216.373.1762
Scheduling depends upon the request (client’s needs)
and your availability.
Each Senior Companion must volunteer a minimum
of fifteen (15) hours per week (Senior Companion
Handbook, Volunteer Status: Service Hour
Requirements, Page 16). You can choose to volunteer
in the client’s home, at an adult day program, or in
both environments at the same time!
When you become a SCP, you fill out the Interest and
Location Preference Form. It is important to be very
specific about the type of assignment that you are
willing to accept. Therefore, I will know who to call
when I receive certain requests for service—private
home or center or both; morning and/or afternoon;
east and/or west side of town. Keep me informed if
your availability and/or interest changes.
The more flexible you are, the more assignments you
will have to choose from particularly if you drive.
THE
Lynda Owens
Gwendolyn Byrd
HOW CAN I CHOOSE MY ASSIGNMENTS?
Are you being abused or do you think you know someone who is being abused or exploited? Act now! Don’t delay in taking action to protect yourself or someone else from further abuse, neglect, or exploitation. If you need emergency help - Call 9-1-1.
It is O.K. to call your local Adult Protective Services (APS) office to find
out if they can help in this situation – or if there is a better place to
start. The local APS staff will gladly help. Just make the call.
_____________________________
Currently, the average number of volunteer hours for
the adult day programs is 23 hours. Private home
volunteer hours range as high as 32 hours for two (2)
clients and 25 hours for a single client. Senior
Companions who volunteer in the adult day programs
tend to want to volunteer more than the minimum.
Remember although the minimum number of hours is
15 hours, you can volunteer up to forty (40) hours per
week.