Local Student Making An Impact As Volunteer For Stamford Health

STAMFORD, CT — April is National Volunteer Month, and one young Stamford resident is making a big impact and gaining valuable experience in the process.

Darcy Churchill-Joell, a senior at Stamford High School, has always wanted to pursue a career in health care. As young as age 5, she dreamed of becoming a veterinarian, then a zoologist, or maybe an orthopedic surgeon.

After setting her sights on nursing, Churchill-Joell decided to volunteer at Stamford Health nearly three years ago. She started working one shift per week, greeting and directing visitors at the front desk of Stamford Hospital. Each shift is approximately two hours.

After a year, she picked up a second shift in Stamford Health's Interventional Cardiology Department, helping nurses clean rooms, set up rooms, transport patients, and outline the next day's surgical procedures. Churchill-Joel has even observed surgical procedures.

"I'm working right with the nurses, so I'm seeing a sneak peek into what my future would look like. I love that so much," Churchill-Joell said.

Churchill-Joell then gained a third shift in Stamford Health's Hearts and Minds program, in which volunteers visit patients who have some form of dementia or altered mental status.

"We go in, talk to them, see how they're doing. It brightens up their day a little bit," Churchill-Joell said. "Being there is what we try to do."

While working a shift at the front desk a little over a year ago, Churchill-Joell began noticing beautiful bouquet arrangements that were being delivered to patients, perhaps from family members or friends.

"I mentioned it to my mom one time, and she said flowers like that are really expensive," Churchill-Joell recalled. "I didn't even think of the cost associated with buying flowers. I wondered if we could do something to provide a free flower option for people who can't afford to pay that kind of money for a florist."

Additionally, patients in the Intensive Care Unit can't receive real, live flowers due to concerns over allergens.

"I was trying to think about what we could do to give everyone that experience of, 'Whoa, I got flowers,' and trying to show them that someone else is thinking of them and wanting them to get better," Churchill-Joell said.

In collaboration between Stamford High School and Stamford Health, Churchill-Joell launched The Flower Bank, a club that now has around 20 SHS students. She serves as co-president with her younger sister, Gemma, and is currently looking to add more members so the club can live on long after she graduates.

Through weekly meetings, The Flower Bank made around 140 "flowers" out of tissue paper and pipe cleaners.

Stamford Health Manager of Volunteer Services Wendy Froede had the idea to combine The Flower Bank with the initiative she was developing - the Hearts & Minds dementia program.

Volunteers in the Hearts & Minds program now bring handcrafted flowers with them to give to patients.

"I'm so grateful it was able to come together. I get to see the patient reactions, and it's honestly so beautiful to me to be able to experience that," Churchill-Hoell said. "It all came from a place of wanting to help them out and make their day better. You can really see that they're so appreciative and grateful that someone thought of them."

Froede praised Churchill-Joell for her work and the impact she has made on Stamford Health during her nearly three years as a volunteer.

"It amazes me how such a young person can have the maturity to do all of the things Darcy has done, all while juggling the usual demands of high school," Froede said. "Many of our teams have grown to depend on her presence. She has quietly made herself invaluable. We all hope she will return to Stamford Health as a newly minted nurse."

For Churchill-Joell, the experience has been invaluable, as her volunteer work has affirmed her goals as she readies to head off to Endicott College next fall to pursue a nursing degree.

"It's been great because it convinced me that this is really where I want to be," she said.

For more details on how to volunteer at Stamford Health, click here. Those interested in volunteering must now be at least 16 years old.