PGS seeks volunteers to provide companionship, brighten clients' lives

For the nearly 300 clients of Personal Guardianship Services (PGS), life can be lonely. The ability to make important decisions regarding your health and housing situation is out of one’s hands, and the presence of family and friends is sometimes nonexistent.
 
“I think there are so many people who don’t know a guardian or who have never ran into guardianship, who don’t know what we do,” says Wanda Bevington, CEO of the nonprofit that pairs clients with court-appointed guardians who make decisions “necessary (for individuals) to maintain a safe and secure lifestyle.”
 
In addition to being decision-makers, guardians are friendly faces — individuals who show clients they care.
 
“Nobody wants to have a guardian, although I will tell you when we’re at a particular nursing home and we see lots of the same people at the same time — even if they’re not our clients — we often have people say, ‘Will you be my guardian?’ ” Bevington says. “It’s that visit factor, so that someone’s coming to see them, so that every day is not the same.”
 
Currently PGS has six individuals on staff, but for 289 clients time is of the essence, so the nonprofit is seeking volunteers who can give of themselves and make someone’s day brighter simply through company or conversation.
 
“It would mean so much to our clients who do not have anyone,” Bevington says. “If they had someone who just came to the facility, if it’s somebody coming to see them or just sit with them and play a game or whatever they may choose to do, it’s somebody coming specifically for them.”

Do Good:

•   Check out a short video that shows the impact you could have in the lives of PGS clients. 

•   If you would like to become a PGS volunteer, contact Wanda Bevington.

•   Connect with PGS on Facebook.