REM Award Honorees (2019) — Connie Winship (Northern Light Inland Hospital)
Connie Winship has been serving our community for a long time — as a local home economics teacher for 27 years, as an LGBTQ activist who has worked locally and at the state level for over two decades to advance pro-LGBTQ legislation, and as a volunteer and board member for the Evening Sandwich Program at the Universalist Unitarian Church for 20 years. After being retired for ten years, she felt restless and wanted to give back and started volunteering at Inland.
She greets and assists visitors, organizes the queue for registrars, escorts patients to day surgery, and helps them from surgery to the lobby to their cars afterward.
Connie and her husband Ray have three sons and will celebrate their fiftieth wedding anniversary next year! She enjoys reading mysteries and likes to cook, most recently experimenting with vegetarian cooking.
Connie enjoys volunteering, meeting interesting people, and being out in the world, being productive. She says, “Volunteering at Inland is very satisfying. You run into old friends, share remembrances, and laughs. Other times when a visitor is worried about their health or a loved one, there is the opportunity to just listen, be present in the moment, or if appropriate, to express comfort or support. It’s very gratifying to know you’ve helped someone who is frightened or discouraged. For me, volunteering is a way of paying it forward, giving back to the community.”
Connie, thank you for your generous service to Inland and our community! We truly appreciate you!
To volunteer at Inland, contact Maggie Simpson at 861-3325 or visit the Northern Light Inland Hospital website.