Buddy program makes a huge difference for New Brunswick seniors

If it’s 9:30 a.m. on a Wednesday, you can bet you’ll find Ruth Barry and Anita Neuman getting up to something.

Barry and Neuman were paired up through the Nursing Homes Without Walls Buddy Program last June and their friendship has only gotten stronger.

“We’ve really clicked with each other, we love spending time together,” said Neuman.

“We chat constantly when we’re together. Most of the time we spend running errands, we go to the grocery store, the pharmacy, the bank, the library, and we just putter around and chat and have a grand old time together.”

Regardless of the errand, outing, or task at hand, a lot of laugher and a lot of love are at the heart of every visit.

“Very, very special… very special. I feel like I can talk to her just as though she was my age,” said Barry.

The Buddy Program matches up vulnerable seniors, who are living alone, with volunteers.

Terissa Salmon, the Nursing Homes Without Walls senior navigator, says that every volunteer must pass a vulnerable sector police clearance and screening before they’re paired up with someone who has similar interests, background, and personality.

“The buddy program is able to give them somebody who checks in on them, makes them feel like somebody cares, because a lot of time when you’re alone you feel like there’s nobody out there that cares, and we do,” she said.

It’s also designed to help keep seniors in their own homes for as long as possible and gives them another person to lean on.

“I was saying how I was having difficulty trying to keep track of dates and days and all these and she comes back the next week with it all typed out, ready to go and it just meant so much,” said Barry.

“To some it wouldn’t mean nothing, but to me it meant everything.”

Since launching in 2022, the initiative has made a difference for more than 20 seniors and the hope is that friendships, as special as Ruth and Anita’s, will continue to form across New Brunswick.

“I have two seniors that I’m really trying to find volunteers for right now. One is located in the Bayfield area and one is located in Sackville. Both are gentlemen who have recently lost their wives, so they’re facing their first winter alone,” said Salmon.

She says the gentleman in Bayfield is very isolated in terms of location and although he has a lot of family and support, she’s looking for someone who can visit him during the evenings.

The gentleman in Sackville is facing a similar situation.

Just this month, Nursing Homes Without Walls expanded with 14 nursing homes across the province now offering the program and the government says another six are expected to join by the end of the year.

“As soon as we make the pairing, we see a transformation in the senior. It’s almost like there’s been a weight lifted off of them. They no longer feel alone,” she said.

“We have one pairing, our senior absolutely loves to sew and the buddy that we set them up with has always wanted to learn how to sew, her whole life, so now they spend their afternoon every week, sewing and doing crafts and stuff like that and it just, you really see the difference and the change in the senior and I think it makes a change in the buddy as well.”

Both Ruth and Anita can testify how big of an impact a buddy can have and the possibilities are endless when it comes to how the pairs want to spend their time together.

“Just in August of this year we went over to Prince Edward Island to go to Ruth’s great nephew’s wedding and that was such an exciting time for us. For her to be able to be with family that she doesn’t get to see very often and to just be apart of that celebration with her family is really exciting,” said Neuman.

“Ruth is just so fun to be with and we’ve had her out to our house a number of times for meals, for Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and so she’s just part of our family.”

They’ve also spent time watching shorebirds, decorating Ruth’s year-round festive tree, and just being together.

“Sometimes it’s the little things that matter the most, but it’s nice to be able to call someone on the phone and just know that you can talk for a few minutes and she’s got such a happy voice all the time,” said Barry.

“It’s hard to put into words… it’s very, very special.”

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