Anne Waller - Another person to watch in Burnaby

Anne Waller is the administrator in charge of volunteers with Citizen Support Services [CSS] in Burnaby. We recently caught up with her to ask her a few questions about her line of work and why she does it.

Anne Waller 

Tell us a little about your position and previous work.

I have enjoyed working in this department for 20 years. I manage a small department with a big heart! We have five staff who manage almost 300 volunteers —volunteering in programs and services that we provide to enable seniors to live independently in Burnaby. Volunteers also assist nurses at Fraser Health immunization clinics, breast feeding clinics, flu clinics and as a home visitor in our baby cuddle program. Please check us out at www.burnaby.ca.
My experience and education in volunteer management and working with seniors in the community for 34 years are the perfect fit for this job.

Why do you enjoy it? 

I love helping isolated seniors keep connected with the community and managing our fantastic volunteers is an honour.

What have you learned about who volunteers? 

Anyone can volunteer! We have some of our clients who cannot get out, who volunteer as phone buddies or take grocery orders over the phone.

Volunteering with people who require a little help to be able to stay at home for as long as they wish, gives pleasure to the senior and to the volunteer. It only takes a few hours a week to make a huge difference in the lives of those who are often not visible out in the community. A volunteer helps provide the maximum quality of life with a minimum of effort.

What is the relationship CSS has with Burnaby Family Life? 

The Pacific Post Partum Society approached us about partnering with them to supply “cuddle” volunteers to assist with babies whilst mothers attended a weekly workshop. Burnaby Family Life supply some child care workers to assist with older siblings.

What do you hope for the organization moving forward? 

Looking into the future – with the number of seniors living in Burnaby growing at an accelerated rate over the next 20 years, more of the kind of services we offer will be needed to meet the demands.