Interior Health recognizes contributions of volunteers

Role: Peer volunteer
Community: Penticton (Sylix Okanagan)
Years of Service: 2

Sue was the first peer volunteer with Interior Health’s Mental Health and Substance Use (MHSU) team in Penticton when she started in 2021. “The information and assistance I receive from my team inspires me to continue to move forward in life and help support others within my capacity,” says Sue. “I’ve really gotten into the role. I have a sense of understanding how people are feeling. I feel a deep connection to people that are facing challenges in their life.”

Sue does outreach at the downtown MHSU office and around the city of Penticton. As she explains, “I tell people about IH services, and give them information. By bringing awareness to people we are giving people options. My favourite part of my role is going out to find people through outreach and meeting people where they are at.”

She adds, “I try to be that person who I had wished had been there for me. Sometimes I will go out with IH staff and the person will look at me. They feel that they know that I have been there, and I understand. And if I don’t, I’m there to understand. The shared experiences and understanding can power connection.”

At the MHSU office, Sue helps out where needed, and checks people in that are visiting the clinicians on site. “Sometimes I just sit with a person. Giving them time to see if they want to talk or not,” she says. “A lot of people have given up on themselves and life in general to some degree. I feel that if I just walk away from someone I am validating that for them. I don’t want to do that to anyone.”

Sue has told her story of addiction and brought awareness about stigma with some City of Penticton employees. She also has created booklets to further help people she supports have a better understanding of IH services. She participates in group classes, and has taken many educational classes to help support herself and people she helps.

“Sometimes in life we just need someone that will be there for us,” says Sue. “Someone that will listen and someone who will understand. This is what I feel peer support is for.”

Role: Operating room support and youth volunteer supervisor
Community: Salmon Arm (Secwépemcylix)
Years of Service: 2

Before moving back to Salmon Arm, Pat was a long-time Vancouver resident where she spent much of her career “making money for other people.” Two weeks before her 60th birthday, she was let go from her job in a corporate restructuring. “My life changed drastically,” she says.

Raised in a close-knit family of five sisters and brothers, Pat is the only sibling who has never spent a night in the hospital, or had a life-threatening illness or ailment. Before the pandemic, her sister spent almost nine months in a hospital fighting a blood infection. “The care my sister received was unbelievable and I know that those health-care workers and their dedication to healing her is the reason she’s alive today,” she recalls. “It just felt right to lend a hand within health care. Volunteering came about at such an important time in my life.”

Today, Pat supports the operating room at Shuswap Lake General Hospital, providing comfort to patients waiting for surgery. She also helps with meal service. “A shift doesn’t go by without someone – nurses, physicians, staff and patients – thanking me,” she says. “I’ve had nothing but positive experiences.”

She also works with the youth who volunteer at the hospital. “Supervising the youth volunteers is especially rewarding, as you get to be part of watching them flourish through the experience,” she says. “I feed off their energy.”

Pat appreciates the professionalism, teamwork, compassion and sense of community within the hospital. She says, “It’s wonderful to be part of such a positive environment. I recommend volunteering to everyone. You will never regret it and it enriches your life. The best part is, you get to bring smiles to patients that often need just a little TLC.”

Role: Peer volunteer
Community: Kimberley (Ktunaxa)
Years of Service: 4

Jessica has been a volunteer with Interior Health’s peer network since its early inception in 2019. “After I met Alison (Alison Kyte, IH substance use practice lead) at IH, I started getting involved with every single opportunity that came my way. I have the lived and living experiences, and could provide feedback to IH’s harm reduction, peer engagement and other health-care programs.”

Since then, Jessica has been part of several IH projects, and is a member of IH’s Toxic Drug Supply Task Force. “I’m very thankful that management invited me to join the task force. It’s made me feel like I’m part of something, and has helped the work we’ve been doing,” she says.

Outside of her volunteering with IH, Jessica is also the peer lead development coordinator for ANKORS, and the co-founder and a coordinator and advocate for East Kootenays Network of People who Use Drugs (EKNPUD). She also works with the BC Centre for Disease Control’s Peer Engagement and Evaluation Project (PEEP). Jessica is behind the Instagram account @harm.reduction.saves.lives, which was one of the first accounts of its kind when she started it four years ago.

“I feel like I’m meant to do this work,” says Jessica. “The capacity building I’ve done through different projects, especially with Interior Health, has really set me up to help others in my community, and show others who are using substances that they are fully capable of doing whatever they set their mind to. Just because they use substances doesn’t make them any less of a person.”

She adds, “The drug poisoning crisis isn’t going to solve itself. I strongly believe people with lived and living experiences are going to create the change, and we just need to keep showing up, and to make sure we have a voice at the table.”

Role: Manager and buyer, Treasures and Trinkets, Penticton Regional Hospital
Community: Penticton (Sylix Okanagan)
Years of Service: 30

June was first introduced to Treasures and Trinkets, the volunteer-run gift shop at Penticton Regional Hospital, while serving as president of the hospital’s auxiliary.

The manager of the shop at the time wanted to retire, and June was ready to try something new. With her background in retail – June owned a shop in downtown Penticton for a decade – she was a natural fit for the store.

She now works 30+ hours a week in the shop, and works from home as well. “It has been very fulfilling. Great volunteers. They love working here. It’s amazing their array of experience from previous careers.”

She adds, “There have been heartfelt moments over the years. Some of our volunteers have gone through health and family issues. They come back here because they feel like it’s an outlet. It gives them that reprieve. Same with the staff. They’ve had an 8-hour or 12-hour shift and they’ve been through COVID. They are just looking for something normal to bring them back down.”

When she’s not working, she enjoys gardening, music and occasionally dancing. “I’m a retired belly dancing teacher,” she laughs. When asked about what she would say to a new volunteer, June says, “Do it. Penticton is a volunteer city. There’s always something you can do. It’s what you get back that keeps you going.”

Role: Child and Youth Immunization Program assistant
Community: Kelowna (Sylix Okanagan)
Years of Service: 20

“I knew I wanted to be a nurse when I was in grade six,” recounts Thresa, a 20-year volunteer with the Rutland Health Centre.

Raised in Penticton, Thresa became a licensed practical nurse (LPN) and worked in all sorts of roles at the Penticton Regional Hospital.

In 1989, she moved to Kelowna, and started volunteering at the health centre outside of her regular nursing shifts. Six years ago, Thresa retired from her 42-year career as an LPN, and now works three shifts a week helping check parents and guardians in to the immunization program clinics.

“I love working at the health centre – the babies, the nurses and the staff. I love all the babies that come in,” says the grandmother of two. “It’s nice. It’s rewarding to me and them.”

She adds, “To me, volunteering means just helping people. Making them feel comfortable when they come here. That’s all I really want to do.”

Have you thought about volunteering with IH? Volunteers are involved with many health-care programs and services, including community care, hospitals, long-term care, public health and substance use services.

Learn more about volunteering at IH