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There are things we do for ourselves.
And then there are things that give real meaning to life.
Those are the things we do for others.
I really think it’s our duty. I don’t think we have a choice.
I’m giving back everything I can now as much as i can because I realize that we have
a finite life and we should make the most of it.
And then I saw vita-living’s ad so I went thinking my tidings supposed to be ten percent.
So I will do one day a week I will give twenty percent. Well that only lasted for one day.
Now, now I do 3 to 5 days a week. So when I looked at vita-living I looked at
the clients and there was no question, these people need help. They need people to help
provide for them.
this morning Dennis Davis and his friends, other vita living clients, are heading off
in the van for their daily activities...they’ll be away from the beechnut house for a while
just then, Dan Allice and his fellow volunteer Steve, arrive to lay a bedroom floor at the
house. Dan purchased the floor himself. he is donating his time and materials. This is
going to be a surprise for Dennis , who became vita living’s first client almost 30 years
ago.
We are going run front to back this way.
Dan and Steve do great work, but for this to work, they also have to work fast....
We have until 3 o’clock to be finished lock stock and barrel. Ready to get started?
watching men and women give of themselves this way, Dennis’s sister couldn’t be
more grateful to this organization, especially the way things started when Dennis was a child.
Dennis was nine years old when he was placed in an institution and—
There was a social worker, she said she just happened to be in contact with a woman who
happened to be Renee Wallace. I just feel like that was god's provision.
Dennis was the first person to move into vita-living.
well he needed a place to be the rest of his life and I knew this was the place for him
to be It was a real blessing
You can just go aaaahh...and it's been really good
This is not to give a higher style of living. this is to give an adequate style of living.
this is to give the bare minimum. we all want a decent floor to walk on especially our bedrooms
of all places.
Filling those basic needs, giving clients a sense of their own space, their own home,
is a vision that began in 1985 when Renee Wallace and her husband Stan purchased the
beechnut house. the mission of vita-living is to provide lifelong
services and supports for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities
to promote personal growth toward a safe, satisfying, and meaningful life in their community.
that mission is a reality today. Vita-Living serves over 500 clients in seven counties
in and around Houston by providing residential living, case management services and foster
companion care services. people no different from you or me. In Texas today, the waiting
list for these services ranges from 8 to 11 years. Vita-Living provides a safe alternative,
though they need a lot more help to do that. That’s where our friends, the volunteers,
come in.
This is actually our first house.
Volunteers are beginning to hear the call. They are giving their time, their talents
and their money, and they’re enjoying themselves as they help provide a sense of dignity to
vita living’s clients
You gotta get your own technique. I will just show you how to get started and you got to
roll with it. Ready?
Many of our clients especially the ones in our homes are so in need of just something
to make them smile because they haven’t had that as much in their lives as you or
i might have. It’s the little things that truly count
We get emails. we want to help decorate. we want to do this project. There’s a sense
of camaraderie you get from doing something good for others when you’re not doing it
by yourself.
there’s something with it I don’t know what. What’s that again? see I got on the
trim. I don’t know what to do. You see what you tell people is you did that
wall.
People, I think, have found that with us and want to do more of it and we are welcome and
hoping that others will want to follow us too.
Cari: yes please. Laurie: ok
Volunteering comes in many forms at vita living.
How about you sign that one for Katherine?
Laurie Tullier shares her scrapbooking skills with Cari
I think that Cari started off..... She wasn’t really sure what to write in the cards and
now, she fills up the entire card...
So I think it’s fun to see her growing interest in it, to see her getting excited about doing
it for other people past what we kind of planned on doing to begin “with.
Laurie and Cari now deliver their cards to the Barton House Assisted Living Center...
Cari: are you Alice? I am...and you are?
Cari Wonderful to meet you.
And Cari, who receives so much loving care from vita living, is now serving others, and
feeling their love comes back.
and this is something that is wonderful for our residents. because it is something that
sparks that memory of getting mail.
yeah, opening your mail.
Can I get hug Cari? Oh thank you!
This guy has an enlarged heart...
Like most volunteers, dr. Janet Hou has a very busy schedule. She’s a veterinarian.
but she decided to make time, and give back to her community. at vita living she makes
crafts with the clients, and the most important thing she crafts are relationships.
I think Allison and I have gotten to a point where it’s really comfortable. it’s like
seeing a friend and we don’t focus as much on getting the actual project done. we just
spend time together.
Dan and Steve have beaten the clock, the floor in Dennis’s room is finished and here comes
Dennis
Dennis! how are you doing my friend? Dennis: Oh that's a floor.
chuckles...
That’s a lot of excitement from Dennis.
His response tells you everything you need to know about becoming a volunteer at vita
living. “so this is what you like? yeah I like it
.....well you told me you one piece replaced. But I couldn't find just one piece so I decided
to replace it all.
When I come over he wants to shoe me his room and he’s just thrilled about it
The house staff has told me that Dennis has calmed down significantly. He’s preoccupied
with sweeping his floor versus tearing it up
I got it.
I mean we changed that whole house.
to volunteer at vita living is to discover friendship, with fellow volunteers, with staff
and with clients...both perfectionists in their own way, Dan and Dennis relate to each
other and they’re friends. as they sit and make cards Laurie and Cari have become good
friends. Janet and Allison? through a simple thing like crafts, they’re friends too.
That’s why volunteers at vita get back so much more than they came here expecting. After
all, you gotta have friends!
I think what we've done a good job of in what our organization has set a really great precedence
for doing is providing comfortable ways and fun ways for people that have never worked
with people with developmental disabilities to do it and have a really good time doing
it.
Getting to work with someone like Allison is such a special opportunity and you would
definitely enjoy it.
They want to be normal. They don't want people to treat them differently. They just want
to have their room, their habits, their lifestyles and vita-living provides that and that’s
why I’m there because I want that to happen. I want it continue.