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1645 Marthaler Lane, West St. Paul, MN 55118
A Volunteer’s Perspective:
Tammy’s Story
A Volunteer’s Perspective:
Tammy’s Story
Creating Community
I actually grew up in Inver Grove, so not very far away from DARTS; and yet, I didn’t learn about DARTS until I was an adult. My family lived in Canon Falls until I was in third grade, and, I don’t remember a whole lot about it. We moved to Inver Grove Heights when I was in 4th grade. I graduated from Simley High School and have stuck around this area since.
Dakota County is my home. I have friends that I made when I was in 4th grade in Inver Grove, and we still are good friends – we meet up once a month to catch up.
Before I retired, I was an elementary school teacher. I was a teacher for over 30 years – 33 and a half! I started at a little private Catholic school that was near the airport, which is now a runway. From there, I went to District 196 in Eagan and spent the rest of my time teaching there. It was a good career.
Creating Time
When I was in High School, I remember volunteering with seniors in Inver Grove at a facility there. It was not for long, probably 6 months. I belonged to the choir – which is really funny because I have a terrible voice – but we would go and sing with the seniors. It was always fun because you could see the joy in their eyes. Then I graduated and got busy. I When I retired, I knew that volunteering the way I did in High School was the kind of thing I wanted to go back and do – give more full time, more consistently.
I actually learned about DARTS through a childhood friend. Her husband was struggling with memory issues, so she found DARTS for him. At one of our monthly meetups, she asked our group if we had ever heard about this program, the Breathing Space. We had not! After some scouting around, she got her husband into it. I was looking for a new volunteer opportunity, newly retired, and it sounded like the perfect fit for me.Â
From there, I heard about the Pen Pal program, and that’s my cup of tea. I loved to write as a kid, and I loved to teach writing when I was a teacher. When I found out there were kids that struggled with writing, I thought that would be a good thing to do to help them with their writing skills.
Creating Connections
Now, I am a volunteer for these two programs – the Breathing Space and the Pen Pal program.
As a Pen Pal volunteer, my little buddy is 3rd grader Chris. He doesn’t share a lot about himself and instead asks me a ton of questions. I learned he loves art, and I am a big art lover as well. He seems like he’s just a typical little boy – he loves sports, he loves soccer, he loves to play outside – he hates it when he can’t go outside at recess. I found out just recently that we actually have the exact same birthday! Isn’t that cool? I gave him a little journal I made as an early little birthday treat. I told him that he can use it to write or draw, but that he had to make sure to practice his writing skills.
At the Breathing Space, I try to get to know everybody. There’s Sharon, whose got a great sense of humor, laughing at herself a lot, and she has some fun stories to tell. Frank is another one – he’s quiet, but suddenly he says something that just makes you laugh.
The Breathing Space is so good for caregivers, who are dealing with people with memory issues. It’s a hard, hard job. It’s good for the people that need to get out of the house and have someone telling them that they’re a valuable part of society. I think sometimes they don’t know, or they forget that truth. I’ve heard a couple of them say that this is a place where they feel welcome. When I leave each week, I leave happy. It brightens my day!Â
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