Teresa Anglin (kneeling), a long-term volunteer, poses with Elmwood Place programs manager Patricia Kuhnen-Beaver.
'Mother T' bonds with residents over cribbage, soap operas and Tim Hortons
‘It’s amazing the people you meet,’ says 20-year long-term care volunteer
Thursday November 26, 2009 -- Michelle Strutzenberger
For Teresa Anglin, volunteering isn’t so much the duty of a good citizen or even a way to help others, it’s simply about connecting with people over a shared interest and enjoying one another’s company.

Her dad taught her how to play cribbage so she gets together with a resident at the Revera-owned Elmwood Place to play the game, although both concede they’re not very good at it.

Then there’s a resident who lives to watch soap operas, preferring not to attend the social events taking place within the long-term care home. So Anglin visits her in her room where they end up talking about the latest soap happenings.

“She’s got me hooked on The Young and the Restless,” she says with a laugh.

Anglin, who has been volunteering at Elmwood Place for about 20 years, has many stories to share of memorable connections she’s made with people.

“It’s amazing the people you meet here,” she says, noting she deliberately seeks out residents at the long-term care home who don’t interact as much with others.

“There are people who are in their rooms that are very quiet people that need attention too,” she says.

Anglin, who’s come to be known at the home at ‘Mother T,’ adds her intention is not to be everyone’s best friend; just connecting with a few individuals over a shared interest is “worth its weight in gold,” she says.

She recalls one woman whose son only stops in at the home to pay the bill.

One afternoon Anglin asked the resident if she would do her a favour and join her for a hot drink as she was in desperate need of a coffee.

The resident said she could use some caffeine too and so the two “split the joint,” Anglin having received prior permission.

As they were sitting together in the Tim Hortons shop a block up the road the woman began to cry, Anglin remembers.

“I thought, ‘Oh, my God,’ cause I’m not nurse or anything. So I said, ‘Sweetie, what’s up?’ and she said, ‘There was a whole room. Why would you pick me?’”

The answer Anglin gave her is one she lives out every time she gives a resident a smile or hug or takes a few moments to talk about the latest activity on The Young and the Restless.

“I said, ‘You’re as special as anyone of the other people that were in that room. Today is your day.’”

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