Staff Spotlight on Volunteer Manager Patty Smith
She likes to Delight Patients and their Families
Established by President George H. Bush in 1990 as an expansion of National Volunteer Week, which was established by President Richard Nixon in 1974, National Volunteer Month is celebrated annually in April. It is a month when the efforts of volunteers everywhere are recognized and celebrated. National Volunteer Month is also a time when new volunteers are recruited to organizations.
In honor of National Volunteer Month, we are shining a spotlight on Crossroads Volunteer Manager Patty Smith in Memphis. She has a knack for staying flexible during what are often very unpredictable workdays.
Patty entered the workforce right out of high school, taking a job at Nationwide Insurance that she planned to keep for three months but instead stayed for 33 years, surviving five rounds of downsizing as a successful claims adjuster. When her department moved to Florida, she did not follow, not wanting to uproot her family.
A Second Career from the Heart
While looking for a new role, Patty told her husband that her next job had to be something that felt “meant for her” — a true passion. Then, a friend from high school reached out about a receptionist opening at Crossroads and the rest is history.
Patty has always had a passion for people and she strongly identifies with Crossroads' philosophy, “Patients may be in hospice, but they’re still here and worth celebrating.” If it’s possible to do something special to make a patient’s day, with the help of volunteers, Patty will — that is her purpose. Encouraging words from patients’ families about the difference volunteers make in their lives mean the world to her.
Patty joined Crossroads in 2012. After three years as the Receptionist, she transitioned to Gift of a Day Coordinator before becoming Volunteer Manager, the role she holds today.
As Volunteer Manager, Patty is responsible for recruiting volunteers, evaluating their capabilities and effectively matching the right volunteers with patients or administrative duties. If she cannot find the correct fit for a specific need, she often takes on the responsibility herself, never wanting to miss an opportunity to support a patient.
Patty is always recruiting. She currently has a good mixture of Volunteers who both visit with patients and support Crossroads’ operations including a cherished few who bake cakes for birthdays and anniversaries and a few others who quilt patriotic blankets for Veterans.
Since every day at Crossroads is different, Patty likes to “go with the flow,” which suits her personality. She describes herself as a flexible team player “sometimes to a fault.”
Although she is no longer a Gift of a Day Coordinator, supporting the social workers who run the program remains one of her favorite parts of the job.
And when she’s not on the job at Crossroads? Patty has been happily married for 41 and a half years. She has two adult sons she’s immensely proud of and three young grandchildren, 4, 2 and 8 months. Patty spends much of her free time with family but still makes time to be an active churchgoer, where she is actively involved in her church’s women’s ministry, the Sunday school and the choir. One Sunday each month, her choir visits long-term care facilities to sing for patients.
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