While so much in our world feels uncertain, one thing remains certain: we need each other. The people living in our long-term care communities need us. While I don’t have a crystal ball, I do know that loneliness and isolation will not wait, and neither will we. The work of the NALTCV is more important than ever.
My commitment, the NALTCV’s commitment, to increasing community engagement in our long-term care communities is unwavering. So many of our nursing homes are isolated from the larger community.
Our aim is to bridge that gap through vetted and well-trained companion volunteers and to provide support to the people that are charged with managing those volunteers. It is my and our sincere commitment to do everything in our power to make that happen. The first order of business was to set our goals for 2025. Our goals reflect our commitment to our mission and vision.
Here are the NALTCV goals for 2025:
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>Growing our financial foundation
To continue making an impact, we need to raise $27,110. For us, this is a big number, but together I believe we can get there. We will be focusing on grants ($10,000), corporate sponsorships ($6,000), and individual donors ($4,000), board contributions
($3,610), the “One Hour, One Visit, One Heart” campaign ($2,000) and subscriptions to NALTCV training/webinars ($1,500).
>The First NALTCV Strategic Planning Meeting
This summer, for the first time, we will gather in person at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, the Barbara Weitz Community Engagement Center for a day and a half to lay out our plans for the next three years. We have an amazing board of directors and advisory board, all experts in long-term care, and volunteer management. I can hardly wait for this to happen. I love strategic planning meetings. They are the perfect environment for constructing a roadmap to our vision’s success.
>Building a More Inclusive Community
The NALTCV belongs to all of us, and that means making sure everyone feels represented. We use a board matrix to identify talents and skills that we have and need as well as demographic data. We use that matrix to identify holes in our effort to make sure that we represent everyone. We want to bring in new voices and perspectives as well as partner with groups that serve underrepresented communities. With that you are invited to participate on either our board of directors or advisory board.
>Expanding Pilot Program – Bringing Our Vision to Life
I am very excited as we are anticipating starting dozens of pilot programs to prove what I, we, already know – companion volunteers transform lives. We will be working with local champions who will oversee each program, collecting impact data and evaluating program effectiveness to mitigate loneliness and disconnectedness among the people living in long-term care communities.
>Making Volunteer Training More Accessible
Training is the foundation of what we do, and we are going to take it to the next level. To start, we are collaborating with other organizations that offer training in skills such as storytelling, arts, music, physical exercise, and more. These partnerships will provide volunteers with the opportunity to further advance their capabilities after successfully completing our course, “Volunteering in Long-Term Care Communities”. In addition, we will be offering webinars tailored for the people managing volunteers in nursing homes, many of whom have had little or no training in volunteer management and little or no time to effectively manage a volunteer program.
>Strengthening Our Core
To keep growing, we need a solid foundation. We will be looking for champions to join our board of directors, or advisory board. I will be working to empower our board and advisory board to take ownership of key initiatives. We will be updating our website, bringing on volunteers to help us produce effective social media and marketing material, and garnering NALTCV corporate sponsors.
Well, this is quite an aggressive “to do” list, but I am confident that we will prevail.
However, I’m not going to pretend that 2025 is going to be a walk in the park or that I know exactly what’s ahead, but I do know this: loneliness will not wait, and neither will we. While there is so much in the world that is out of my control, I believe in our team and in our ability to meet our goals for 2025 and to make a deep and meaningful impact. Whether it’s donating, volunteering, sharing our mission, or cheering us on, I hope you will walk with us on this journey. Thank you so much for believing in this work, for standing with me, and for being part of this movement.
Let’s do this together!
Most Sincerely,
Paul
P.S. If you would like to join our team, I would love to hear from you. Email me at pfalkowski@naltcv.org
