Long before COVID-19 entered our collective vocabulary, Cathy Hoddinott considered the student volunteers from Lori’s Hands part of her family. She recounts their accomplishments with glowing pride, noting one former volunteer is in graduate school while another current one is raising a young son while continuing her education.
Hoddinott laughs about the time she did a video call at Christmas with the family of one of her former students. (“She told me they wanted to meet me because she talked about me all the time,” Hoddinott gushes.) She praises two of her current student volunteers – Connor Barrett and Harshitha Henry – for continuing to help her even with a pandemic swirling around them.
The pair have been delivering groceries to Hoddinott weekly so she doesn’t have to leave her Newark apartment. Along the way, they’ve learned a little something about what it’s like cooking for one, and Hoddinott has enjoyed their determination to get everything on the list, even if they can’t find something in the store.
“We get along so well,” Hoddinott says. “The biggest thing I can say, their patience and their kindness and the fact they are involved in something like this really makes me feel so good,” Hoddinott said. “To see young people doing this – and going out of their way to do it during a time like this – really shows me that I can still learn from young people.”
For Barrett and Henry, the experience of volunteering with Lori’s Hands has been just as rewarding. Henry was introduced to Lori’s Hands by an upperclassman and immediately became intrigued. She says the connections she has built with community members have helped her develop a greater sense of social responsibility and empathy towards others. Henry plans to carry that perspective into her career in healthcare.
“I did not expect to build such meaningful friendships with my clients with such a large age difference,” she says. “They are some of the first people that hear about my accomplishments and important events going on in my life, and I love sharing with them.”
Helping out during COVID has meant a shift from in-person visits to phone calls and contactless pickups, but Henry says she still feels a strong connection to her clients. In addition to her shopping trips for Hoddinott, Henry also chats on the phone with other clients. One expressed his appreciation for their phone conversations, saying, “You are all my adopted grandchildren, I want to hear all about your lives!”
“With my own grandparents living in a different country, these connections have been so meaningful to me,” Henry says. “These clients have filled in that role for me and give me the opportunity to physically connect with them.”
From playing board games and helping with chores before the pandemic to now picking up fresh fruits and vegetables at the store, volunteering with Lori’s Hands has given Barrett a way to learn deeply about the patient experience in a non-clinical setting.
“It has revealed the daily challenges that doctors don’t generally see, so I feel that I am better equipped to understand the obstacles a patient may face outside the hospital,” says Barrett, who plans to pursue a career in medicine.
Like Henry, Barrett appreciates the opportunity for long-term connection. “Service is never one way,” he adds. ”It is far more impactful to learn about who one is helping.”
As grateful as she is to hear from her students, Hoddinott says it tickles her heart just a little more when she can share nuggets of wisdom with them.
“It’s so nice when they want to know things or when they ask your opinion on things. I tell them, ‘Don’t let anybody mistreat you. Speak up for yourself,’” she says. “It really does mean a lot to me. I feel like they’re family.”
