Members talk about services
Published on 8/11/2014
Liesbeth Boxman, who lives on 25th Street, describes her experience with Village volunteer services as "fantastic."
"I had knee surgery and I used the Village for anything and everything," she said. "There was not one glitch and everyone was very professional."
She used Village volunteers to get groceries for her and run errands. They took her to medical appointments and rehab and brought her home.
"Sometimes I baked something and we had a cup of tea at the end," she said. "It seemed to me that the volunteers really liked doing it."
Claire Ciftci of Hughes Mews has lived in Foggy Bottom for more than 40 years. Village volunteers picked up prescriptions for her and took her to doctor's appointments. "It's the nicest thing that's happened to me since I started living here," she said. If it weren't for the Village, she would have had to use taxis even for these short errands.
Janet Farbstein became a charter member of the Village because she loved the concept of aging in place. But when she joined, she thought it would be a long time before she needed volunteer services. A series of infections that put her in the hospital twice in two months changed that.
"Volunteers drove me wherever I needed to go and brought me home. They even took me to the beauty parlor, which was important, because I couldn't shower for a while and I can't stand dirty hair," she said. She used Village services for about two and half months.