REM Award Honorees (2017) — Elise Roy-Hobbs (Lakewood Continuing Care)
Elise Roy-Hobbs began volunteering at Lakewood 28 years ago when she was commissioned to offer Catholic communion to the residents. At that point in her life, she had already been volunteering for over 40 years in the community.
Elise is an incredibly kind and loving woman with a humble spirit, always willing to help those in need, and doing everything she does unto God. Each week, and sometimes more frequently. she comes to Lakewood and spends hours offering communion and personal visits to residents. She can often be seen praying quietly, holding hands, or offering a gentle hug to someone in need. Her encouragement is relied upon by many and her smile can brighten up a room!
Elise is married to a physician and has three children. One could say she works full-time since she assists her husband with calling patients, scheduling, and whatever else needs to be done. In her "free" time, she visits Lakewood and eight other nursing facilities in Maine as a Eucharistic Minister, as well as visiting people in their homes and offering her services in the community.
There are several hobbies which Elise pursues, including walking her two dogs, swimming, listening to music, singing in the church choir and at funerals, and writing poetry! For over 40 years, Elise has been putting her thoughts down on paper in the form of poetry and hopes to publish some of her works in the near future.
When asked about her favorite part of volunteering at Lakewood, Elise says, “The residents give me more that I give them. I am blessed to be able to assist them with healing — not physical healing, but spiritual healing and preparation for the next part of their life's journey.” Compassion is what Elise is known for, and we can't thank her enough for her dedication to Lakewood!
To volunteer at Lakewood, please call Michelle Rossignol at 873-5125 or visit Lakewood’s website.