Volunteer
Program |
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ECHHO is Ecumenical Christian Helping Hands Organization.
We
are concerned and willing Christians who volunteer assistance to the elderly, physically
impaired, and others who "fall through the cracks" of available help. Volunteers
from 23 churches throughout Jefferson County respond to calls that come through our ECHHO
office from pastors, social workers, health care professionals, and other caregiving
specialists. Service is assigned by referral only to guarantee that workers will be sent
to deserving and legitimate clients.
Services are free of charge to the people referred, whether or
not they are associated with a church. Over 30 services are offered such as driving to
medical appointments, shopping, recreation, meals, and church services or gatherings.
Volunteers shop, deliver groceries and medications, visit, read, help with paperwork, and
do respite care. Some do heavy work such as building wheelchair ramps, repairing minor
home problems, and maintaining yards. A variety of other help is available when those in
need can be matched with a helper who can do the task.
Medical equipment such as hospital beds, wheelchairs, walkers,
canes, commodes, etc., are received as donations, cleaned and repaired and sent out again
on loan to people who are ill and unable to buy or rent.
The main expense for ECHHO is maintaining the donated office,
computer equipment, and telephone. A referrals manager is paid to be responsible for
receiving calls and assigning volunteers. This is very critical work, and without her
dedication and expertise, no volunteers would be sent. Although the office is not always
manned, an answering machine records requests that are monitored daily to give prompt
responses. ECHHO is a non-profit organization, state licensed, tax exempt, has no means of
earning money and therefore is dependent on donation to continue this important work.
Our prayer is that the work of ECHHO volunteers will be
multiplied by others and that Christ will be magnified in all the care that is given. If
we love, we can never observe the other person with detachment, for he is always at every
moment a living claim to our love and service. (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
TO
VOLUNTEER OR TO REFER SOMEONE IN NEED
CALL 379-ECHO