Special: 

• The Bubbes to Babies program welcomes parents and their babies and toddlers to HRC. We'll match you to a resident without a family or with many residents for a small group visit.
• Mitzvah projects can be designed as one-time projects or as ongoing service for individuals or synagogue groups.
• The Family Partnership Program offers unique volunteer opportunities for family members who wish to become more involved in the care of their elderly relatives and to feel more connected to their family member's neighbors and unit staff.

Ongoing:

Caring Touch Volunteer
Be a part of The Hand-to-Hand Caring Touch Program.  Enjoy one-on-one interactions as you help elderly residents to relax with mini-hand rubs. You can help  the residents on our long-term care units to obtain the benefits of healing touch, such as deep relaxation, reduced  anxiety and stress, a release of muscle tension and pain, and a greater sense of emotional and spiritual well-being. Training is required and will be provided. Two-hour shifts will be assigned. Contact: Jodie Portman, 617-363-8459.

Elevator operators to assist the elderly
Help to ensure the safety of elderly residents by operating the elevators at HRC. You'll become a valuable resource in a community of frail elders who need assistance when they travel to and from their nursing units, the main dining room, or the auditorium for concerts and special events. Help vision-impaired or physically disabled individuals who use wheelchairs and walkers by organizing small groups of people onto the elevator, selecting the floor destinations, and assisting people on and off the elevators.

Wheelchair Transport Volunteers
Combine exercise with a good deed! Escort wheelchair-bound residents to recreational activities in the hobby shop, concerts in the auditorium, religious services in the synagogue, and to clinical appointments throughout the facility.
Requirements:  Onsite training will be provided for proper wheelchair transportation techniques and safety.

Gift Shop Volunteer
Do you enjoy working with people? Do you have a background or interest in retail? If so, HRC's gift shop is the place for you. We need outgoing volunteers for displaying and selling merchandise in our fund-raising shop. Patrons include visitors, residents and staff. 
Requirements:  Available weekdays, early evenings and weekends.

Beauty Shop Assistant
Assist the staff in a busy beauty shop located at our long-term care site. Call the nursing units to remind staff of resident appointments, check in people and record attendance, help to clean the shop by sweeping the floor and wiping down the counters, and transport elderly residents back to the units where they live. If time permits, provide manicures.
Requirements: Must be physically able to push wheelchairs for a short distance. Training on providing manicures will be offered (no nail cutting permitted).

Meal Mates Volunteer
Calling all people who are responsible compassionate, caring and patient. People who are afflicted with diseases ranging from Parkinson's to Alzheimer's often lose their ability to feed themselves. You can play a nurturing and critical role by assisting dependent elderly residents at mealtimes. You can provide encouragement and nourishment by giving verbal cues to eat, physically guiding them to feed themselves, and spoon-feeding those individuals who are dependent on caregivers.
Requirements: There is a one-hour training session offered by a speech pathologist and on-the-job training with a nurse assistant.

Oneg Shabbat Volunteer
The beginning of the Sabbath marks an important time for those who are religious. Help elderly Jewish residents who cannot go to the synagogue, by leading prayers and songs on their nursing units on Friday afternoons. One half hour is all it takes to help meet spiritual needs.
Requirements: Knowledge of Hebrew is not necessary. We will provide you with materials that are in English and a CD of songs you can play.

Exercise Volunteer
Assist elderly residents who are participating in the Circle of Fitness program. Help them on and off the weight-resistance equipment, spot them, coach them, count the repetitions. The motto is "You're never too old to exercise," and the 90-year-olds in the program are proof of that!
Requirements: Volunteers will receive training by staff on wheelchair transport safety and on the procedures in the "gym."

Helping Hands Volunteer
Help out on our short-term care units by running errands throughout the hospital, delivering flowers and newspapers, filling water pitchers, and helping patients fill out menu selections.

Weekend Activity Volunteers
Provide activities to elderly long-term care residents and short-term care patients. Card games, bingo, and board games are some examples of how you can brighten up someone's day.

Russian-Speaking Volunteers for the Elderly
Russian-speaking volunteers are needed to assist us in serving our Russian-speaking elderly. You can help by visiting, reading, playing chess, engaging in other recreational activities, or assisting with exercise program. 

Library Cart Volunteers
Travel to different nursing units throughout the hospital with a library cart, bringing reading materials to the elderly residents and patients. What a difference you can make when you appear with novels, romances, westerns, biographies -- books that will help residents escape to a different place and time. If you love books and enjoy working with the elderly, this is a great opportunity. The volunteer must be able to walk a distance pushing a multi-shelved cart full of books, and be organized.