Georgia Southern’s Senior Companion Program creates a meaningful community for older adults
Since 1988, Georgia Southern University’s Senior Companion Program (SCP) has quietly transformed lives across southeast Georgia. Housed in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences’ Center for Social Gerontology, the program pairs low-income volunteers age 55 and older with homebound older adults who need assistance to live independently. Funded by AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteerism, the SCP recently received another one-year extension.
Volunteers provide a variety of non-medical support, ensuring safety, offering light household help and sharing meals together. The program is free for clients and covers 15 counties in the region, including Bulloch, Effingham and Emmanuel counties.
Although the program is centered around helping seniors maintain their independence, combating loneliness and providing friendship for an often isolated population is another critical aspect.
“It’s not just about running errands or providing a few hours of relief,” said program director Deb Blackburn. “It’s about connection. It’s about making sure that someone who might otherwise be alone knows that they matter.”
Vickie Berghoff, a volunteer who splits her time between assisting a client and working in the SCP office, noted that the companionship is mutually beneficial.
“If I didn’t go into her home, she’d have nobody,” Berghoff said. “She waits for me, she tells me she’s counting the days until Monday. That’s how much it means. And honestly, it means the world to me, too. I get more out of it than I give.”
Research shows the positives for both volunteers and care recipients aren’t just anecdotal. According to the National Institute on Aging, social isolation and loneliness are linked to both cognitive and physical decline for the estimated 16 million older adults who live at home in the U.S.
In addition to the obvious need for a program like this one, the SCP also creates a sense of family, and volunteers develop long-term relationships with their clients, a fact emphasized by SCP program leader LaRose Cunigan.
“We are seniors helping seniors,” Cunigan said. “You can’t spend that much time with someone and not love them. Losing a client is like losing a grandparent or a close friend.”
Berghoff concurs.
“This isn’t just a program,” she said. “It’s a lifeline for them, and for us.”
To learn more about Georgia Southern’s Senior Companion Program or how to get involved, visit the website or call 912-478-0712.
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