Community volunteer highlight: Patrick R.
Meet the self-proclaimed mascot of Project Access NOW: Patrick R. is the first Project Access NOW patient to volunteer for our organization.
You may remember Patrick from our April 2009 patient story. Right after the interview, Patrick called our office to offer his time and energy. His thinking was straightforward. “It’s a volunteer program. Doctors volunteer their time. It was a natural motive to give back and volunteer mine.”
Pharmacy Resource Specialist Margaret Lamb confirmed the uniqueness of Patrick’s effort. “Many patients have called to say thank you and to say they’ll pay us back when they can. Patrick is the first patient who said, let me pay back by volunteering.”
Patrick has been giving 4 hours per week since then. Every month he enters hundreds of client entry and exit surveys into our database. “Most people are really happy with the program. It gets great feedback,” he said.
Project Access NOW has been a positive environment for Patrick while he continues to attend Portland Community College, where he’s taking college transfer courses to work toward a master’s in psychology. “Everyone here is a good influence, and all the volunteers really want to volunteer. I could be doing something else but I wouldn’t get as much out of it as here.”
As he plans to continue volunteering, Patrick sees an increasing number of clients entering the Project Access NOW system every month. “They’re looking for more volunteers, so if you’ve been enrolled in the program, don’t worry about giving back with money, just come and volunteer.”
(January 2010)
