Meet Gaby Gabriel, ElderHelp’s Volunteer Services Manager! We asked Gaby to share about her approach and her perspective now that she has been in the Volunteer Services Manager role since fall of 2024. She moved into the position after working on ElderHelp’s Food Pantry and Housing Support Fund.
Why does ElderHelp’s work/mission matter to you?
As we get older, we don’t always consider every aspect of what growing old means. We all know that we’ll need to consider our retirement accounts, where we are going to live, and maybe some of us even consider making our homes safer with grab bars, but none of us really think about the little things that we might need help with. Will we need help sorting the mail? Carrying our groceries into our homes? Learning the newest technology just to be able to communicate? Our volunteers step in to fill those gaps that are left when family moves, neighbors aren’t very close, and our clients are left feeling alone. Every match that we make is a new connection and a new community for our client and our volunteer. As we make these connections throughout San Diego, we are creating a larger community of compassion that makes caring for seniors a priority.
Do you have a favorite client story?
I wouldn’t say there is one story that stands out, but it was the entire Housing Support Fund program that I will always look back on and remember with so much pride and joy. Sometimes it was as simple as paying for a moving company to get a senior with mobility issues to the first floor, other times it was helping a senior get into housing after years of living in their car, but every time it was life changing. So many of these clients had run into wall after wall when trying to get help, and we were often the first organization to even speak with them directly, let alone offer our help.
What is your favorite part of your new job?
Getting a client matched with a volunteer for a one-on-one service like Grocery Shopping or Friendly Visiting starts with a match visit where I introduce the two individuals. My favorite part is the moment that I see it all click into place and think “this is going to be a great match.” It is the moment when the client and volunteer discover that they both love the same football team, are reading the same book, or grew up in the same area and just start talking to each other. I become a fly on the wall and am no longer needed to help create a dialogue because they’ve found common ground.