Art Introduction: Meeting New Residents!

Saturday, February 22nd 2025

By: Charlotte Hendrey

Today I got to volunteer at Cogir San Rafael Memory Care for the first time! I met the Activities Coordinator, Maria, who welcomed me to do art with the residents to get to know them. At first I wasn't sure what to expect, since some facilities do not provide any guidance for volunteers. But Maria introduced me to all of the residents, and we had a great time.

I met a kind resident named Hiroko, and she painted a flamingo (left image). I also met Kay, a nice lady who lives at Cogir. She was very active and talkative despite any cognitive disability she has. She was so happy to see me, and told me that she doesn't often get to see young people. When I told her that I went to Archie Williams High School, she asked me "Who is Archie Williams?". So I explained to her and all the other residents that Archie Williams was a gold Olympic runner who also went to my school, so they named the school after him. All the residents listened attentively, and once we started to play music they all were singing and dancing.

Being experienced with volunteering with residents with dementia, I am good at recognizing when residents are beginning to get upset, and deescalating the situation. So today when two residents were talking about whether the brown paint was really brown or purple, any volunteer might not pick up the underlying potential dispute that might need attention. Both residents didn't seem to be upset (yet), but people with dementia can get riled up in a short amount of time. So I told both of the residents that they were both right, and that the color was brown MIXED with purple. They weren't fully convinced, but it was enough to get them to move on to another subject. Identifying mood changes in residents is a skill that comes with spending a lot of time with them.

I told the residents and Maria about Hearts and Hands, and showed them pictures of activities that I have led at other facilities. When I showed them pictures of the cookie decorating parties from last weekend, they were all very excited. I also told them that I would bring my friends, and Kay's eyes lit up as she asked "How many friends do you have!? I want to meet them!". Clearly Hearts and Hands will be a great contribution to their lives, and I am excited to begin planning activities for Cogir.

In the end, we had a great time and the residents were so sweet. Kay hugged me goodbye, and then rushed back to me again to ask for a second hug. She told me that seeing me inspired her to call her grandchildren, and that she was going to do that later today. Maria, the activities coordinator, was impressed with my experience with dealing with dementia. She told me that my outgoing personality really made the residents' day.