MaryBeth Piland, volunteer for Johnson and Shelby County VASIA, smiles as she hands flowers to a VASIA client at Greenwood Healthcare Center in November.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
The vased carnations and greenery gave a splash of color to the rooms inside Greenwood Healthcare Center.
But nothing brightened the spaces more than the smiles of gratitude.
Representatives from Volunteer Advocates for Seniors and Incapacitated Adults — better known as VASIA — had come to the senior living community to offer a small gesture of joy to its clients. They brought flowers and music into each room, sitting to talk with residents for a few minutes.
The impact was felt immediately.
“It’s color that’s added to their room. It’s a bright light, and it brings them joy,” said MaryBeth Piland, a VASIA volunteer who has helped deliver the flowers. “When you have nothing, something as simple as a vase of flowers and someone coming and caring to bring it to you is big.”
Throughout 2023 and into this year, Johnson County and Shelby County VASIA has been providing music, flowers and birthday celebrations to its clients every month. The Support a Senior program was made possible through a $3,000 grant from the Blue River Community Foundation, with support from Bud & Bloom Florist to provide flowers and music performed by the Marshall Band.
For adults who otherwise have no family to care for them or look after them, its a small token to improve their lives.
“This additional activity adds to our efforts to dignify and add quality of life to our clients,” said Lauren Rynerson, director of Johnson and Shelby County VASIA. “We want our clients to know they always mattered to VASIA and their volunteer advocate.”
Appointed by the local courts, VASIA advocates are paired with clients deemed unable to care for themselves, spending considerable time with them helping make decisions on everything from finances to medical needs to what they want to happen when they die.
Oversight of the VASIA program is done locally by the courts, and the guardianship process entails thorough research. The people in need of a guardian may include, people with dementia, Alzheimer’s, mental illness, substance abuse issues, traumatic brain injury, developmental disabilities, autism, and any other incapacity that limits their ability to make decisions about their financial and medical care.
To support them, advocates meet regularly with their clients to help with those decisions. VASIA currently has 37 clients living in 11 nursing homes, Rynerson said.
The idea behind Support a Senior came from a desire to bring some happiness to its clients.
“This project will add to our efforts to dignify and add quality of life to our protected persons. This could be the last birthday we get to celebrate with our protected person. We want our protected people to know they always mattered to VASIA and their volunteer advocate,” Rynerson said in her grant application to the Blue River Community Foundation.
After receiving the grant from the community foundation, Rynerson and volunteers went to work. They arranged to deliver flowers from Bud & Bloom Florist to clients in area senior living communities every quarter.
The Marshall Band, a local group playing popular songs, comes to the nursing homes with the volunteers to provide music for all residents. Any client who has a birthday that quarter gets a round of “Happy Birthday” as well.
“We’ve had a huge response. They love it — even the residents who are not our clients are really enjoying it,” Rynerson said.
While organizers knew that women would appreciate the flowers, they were pleasantly surprised how much all of the clients were excited to receive bouquets.
“The first time I carried flowers in to men, I thought, ‘Why am I taking these to guys? They could care less,’” Piland said. “Let me tell you, the men have been more impacted by the flowers than the women.”
After delivering bouquets in November, VASIA volunteers worked with Bud & Bloom to give succulents to clients during its most recent visit, also in November. They found that people were so excited to get the flowers initially, but when they blooms wilted, it made them sad, Rynerson said.
The succulents will provide greenery for months.
The Blue River Community Foundation grant has allowed VASIA to provide music and flowers every month to clients around the area. When funding runs out, Rynerson plans to continue it quarterly until additional funding can be found.
“We do have some funds saved up from our guardianship fees that we get to take,” she said. “But we’re going to try to do it monthly because the clients really like it. We’ll just find a way to make that work.”
