Becoming a True Companion

Clementina R. from the Cardozo High School Chapter recounts her encounter with a senior and her experiences as a companion throughout GlamourGals.

As a GlamourGals volunteer for four years, I have grown and learned so much from the residents of Ozanam Hall of Queens Nursing Home, especially when I met Mr. Ray. As I was filing his nails one day, he told me how relieved he felt being able to talk to someone about his depression and anxiety after his hip surgery. Because of this, I reassured him that GlamourGals volunteers visit every other Saturday to the nursing home if he ever wanted to just come down and chat about anything. 

Since then, Mr. Ray never missed attending any makeover. He always asked our supervisor, “where is the girl with red hair?”. He mentioned that having someone to talk to for a few hours made his recovery time at the nursing home much easier. With every makeover, I became more joyful,  mirroring Mr. Ray’s cheerful, relaxed demeanor. As a volunteer for GlamourGals, I believe it is our goal to create wonderful experiences, in order to help those who are going through a hard time and make them feel better. Like it says on the back of our GlamourGals t-shirts, “manicures and makeovers are just half the story”. I believe I made a change in the life of Mr. Ray for a few months and it has motivated me to keep on helping others. Mr. Ray motivated me to keep on doing what I love and what makes me happy, which is helping our senior residents.