Well…since you asked…I’ve been a Volunteer Director with that population for many years. It’s really easy. There are tons of things you can do.
First, nursing homes are always desperate for community volunteers. Nursing homes aren’t popular places in the first place and the residents least likely to receive visits of any kind, even family,
are the residents who are very confused or only minimally responsive. If you can handle it and don’t need a lot of feedback to feel good about what you’re doing, ask to visit dementia or end-stage debility patients. They may or may not even seem to know you’re there or they may babble incoherently, but you’re a presence they wouldn’t have otherwise. A wonderful thing to do with these people is just sit and hold their hands for awhile, read psalms from the Bible (they’re rhythmic) or sing quietly to them. You don’t have to have a good voice. They probably haven’t been sung to since childhood. If you’re not comfortable with that - and most people aren’t, so don’t feel bad about it - there are usually more alert, responsive patients sitting around in common areas in the evening. Any nursing home in your area would be absolutely delighted to have you visit as often as you want to.
Be aware that bedtime is pretty early in a nursing home; don’t plan to go at 8pm. You’ll need to talk to their Volunteer Coordinator or Activity Director to find out what the requirements are for volunteering; they vary by company and by state. For nursing homes close to you, just check the phone book or ask at your parish to see what nursing homes their Eucharistic Ministers go to.
If there aren’t nursing homes in your area, there might be an assisted living center or Alzheimer’s unit. If there’s none of those conveniently located, try a hospice, although with hospices, the volunteer requirements and training are usually more stringent than nursing home volunteerism. (And there are plenty of hospice patients in nursing homes so you get the best of both worlds, so to speak, in one location.)
Another thought is to call the United Way location that serves your area. United Way is an umbrella over many kinds of service organizations and they have lots of information about the organizations. They can tell you what senior service organizations rely on volunteers in your area. There may be an organization that provides friendly visits, volunteer transportation, housecleaning or yard care to seniors to help them stay independent as long as possible.
Also, your parish may get calls from elderly members who have no way to get to Mass and would like transportation. If your parish doesn’t have a ministry like that, they might let you start one.
Re evening EM visits, I’ve been a Eucharistic Minister and did make visits in the evening, so that may not be a problem in your parish.
Of all of these suggestions, the most need is in nursing homes.
Good luck and God bless you for wanting to help.
