Growing Old Gracefully by Helping Others
By Kasia Gladki
In 2013 Henry Street Senior Companion Program volunteer Mannie Wilson was honored at City Hall for her “remarkable community service and dedicated hard work” – Ms. Wilson was 94. That was just one year ago and Ms. Wilson, now 95, is still going strong, volunteering for the Senior Companions three to four times a week for two to three hours per visit.
She began volunteering with the Senior Companion Program in 2005 at the tender age of 87 and does not intend on quitting anytime soon (even though she now has to use a walker, or sometimes, on a good day, a cane to get around). “Helping people” is her life’s work.
Ms. Wilson visits her elderly clients – “I’ve got some nerve, I’m elderly myself” – and provides much needed companionship. They sit and talk, perhaps have lunch, go to a movie, walk through the park, or visit the local senior center.
She’s been giving back to the community her whole life: during WWII she volunteered as an Air Raid Warden, making sure that people observed blackout protocol; later on she was on the board of numerous hospitals and health care organizations; and she was the founding director of an organization that helped disabled people become actively engaged in their communities.
Debby Lowenstein, Henry Street Settlement, Senior Companion Program Director, said that this passion is evident in her work with the Senior Companion Program, “Ms. Wilson is a model volunteer, always reliable and bringing a smile to the faces of her clients, and is a shining example of how we should all choose to age!”
Ms. Wilson – who has 10 children and over 150 (!) grand, great and great-great grandchildren – has dedicated her life to others and Henry Street is honored to have her as a volunteer. “I love helping people,” she said. “I love brightening people’s lives and doing what I can for those who are not as able as I am. And, I’ll tell you, I’m going to keep on doing this until I can’t anymore. Nothing else will stop me.”
