Partners In Care

Three Severna Park women have started a new volunteer program that deserves support."Partners in Care," based at North Arundel Hospital in Glen Burnie, provides services to the elderly, disabled and other needy people who have been released from the hospital and cannot or should not leave their homes. Volunteers are asked to perform simple chores: driving someone to a doctor's appointment, picking up a prescription or running to the grocery store, helping with minor housework or merely checking in to make sure the patient is all right.

Partners in Care is a new program at North Arundel Hospital that allows senior citizens and the disabled to remain in their homes by finding a neighborhood volunteer to lend a hand.The free service is the first of its kind in the state, says co-founder Maureen Cavaiola."The volunteers are asked to do very simple things: drive someone to a doctor's appointment, pick up prescriptions or groceries, mow the lawn, change a light bulb, or just call to say 'hello,' " Cavaiola says.Cavaiola, her sister, Barbara Huston, and their friend Sandy Jackson all residents of Severna Park, use their background in gerontology and hospital administration to make the 2-month-old program work.

George Seiler Jr. of LinthicumVolunteer Work:Mr. Seiler volunteers for Partners in Care, a program begun last October by three Severna Park women -- Maureen Cavaiola, Sandy Jackson and Barbara Huston. The program is based at North Arundel Hospital.About the program: Partners in Care, a volunteer-service credit bank, is for county residents in need of services when they have been released from the hospital. Duties may include driving someone to a doctor's appointment, picking up a prescription or groceries, minor housework or repairs or just staying in touch with the people to make sure they remain safe.

In its initial month of operation, the first Maryland-based volunteer bank can't keep up with the demand."If we had 50 volunteers right now, we could keep them busy. There have been people out there that we have not been able to help," said Sandra O. Jackson, one of three women who founded and operate Partners in Care.The volunteer-service credit bank, based at North Arundel Hospital, has 13 volunteers and is interviewing and screening nearly that many more. What it needs mostly is drivers.

The first Maryland-based network that lets volunteers bank and swap the time they spend helping elderly and disabled people is opening next month at North Arundel Hospital.Partners in Care is the latest entry in a growing national field of about 85 volunteer service credit programs. All are aimed at avoiding costly medical and nursing care by helping people stay in their homes.Volunteers earn credits for time they spend changing light bulbs or walking the dog for a disabled person or reminding an elderly person to take medicine, then use that time to get help for themselves, or donate to someone else.