Walk into the UConn Health main building’s lobby on a Monday or Thursday midday, and chances are you’ll get a warm welcome from a friendly retiree in a blue jacket.
I like the idea that I could actually be of service. — Joan Munroe
Her name is Joan Munroe, one of nearly 50 people who donate their time as UConn Health volunteers in a typical week.
“When you retire, a piece of you disappears, and I kind of like the idea of putting an ID on, scanning in, and saying, ‘I’m a part of the UConn Health team, I’m somebody, I’m still doing something worthwhile,’” Munroe says. “And even though it’s a very small thing and it’s only for eight hours a week, I do make a difference. And that’s huge. That’s a big part of the reason why I come in.”
Primarily a front desk wayfinder, Munroe assists the employees who greet patients and visitors in the lobby, helping get them checked in and get them where they need to be. That can mean walking alongside them to escort them to their destination, or walking behind them, pushing their wheelchair.
“I like it here because it’s busy,” Munroe says. “I don’t want to sit around, I want to make sure that every moment that I’m spending here is well spent. That definitely is the case here, because no matter how many people they have there, there’s always somebody waiting for something. So the phone is ringing, somebody’s looking for a transport, somebody’s looking for a question to be answered, and unfortunately some people get impatient, and you have to deal with people who you have to kind of calm down, so that kind of stuff happens, but I like the idea that I could actually be of service.”
Munroe, who lives in Wethersfield, has been volunteering at UConn Health since 2017, except for the year the volunteer program was on hold because of the pandemic. She had retired from decades of private-sector service in 2016.
“Even though I’m retired and I put my career behind me, I still have something to offer this world,” she says.
When she returned in 2021, she picked up a new task – helping chaplain Dan Warriner with the bereavement cards UConn Health sends to families of patients who’ve died. She hand-writes a message in each one, and often members of the care team will sign them also.
“It’s an act of compassion I appreciate,” Warriner says. “I know staff also are grateful to have the ability to say goodbye to those they have cared for through those cards. Sometimes staff spend three days with a declining patient and family but then the person dies when the staff member leaves, and the staff member did not get a chance to say goodbye. And these cards are the chance they have to acknowledge that loss and get some resolution and practice saying goodbye. Having Joan write the cards not only benefits the families who’ve lost a loved one, it also enables me to spend more time with the staff and provide the counsel needed on the floors.”
Warriner says it’s an average of 10 cards per week, which Munroe gets to when she can between her front desk duties. She says not only is she happy to do it, it’s also meaningful to her.
“That is another small moment of my time that could make a big difference to somebody,” Munroe says. “Having experienced grief myself, I know how much it means to get a handwritten note from somebody. It is a lost art. When I sit down and look at the name and I write that note, I know that — even though I don’t know this person, I don’t know the family — if I were to receive this card from somebody, it’s going to be a moment of peace for me. So I say a little prayer for each person as I write that note and I think, ‘I’m hoping that somehow whoever gets this is going to feel some level of comfort.’”
UConn Health is observing 2024 Volunteer Appreciation Week April 21-27. And this year the White House issued a proclamation for National Volunteer Week.
