Retiree Offers Support to Families of Cancer Patients at North Carolina Hospital

Everyone can be a volunteer—no matter age, disability, talent, or time. Connie Dickens has been proving that for three decades, working closely with patients in Wake Forest Baptist Health’s Cancer Patient Support Program’s Radiation Oncology Hospitality room. Although Connie is 90, has limited eyesight, and depends on Trans-Aid to get around town, she doesn’t let any of these barriers keep her from showing up for her shift on time every Wednesday morning—often arriving early. After losing her spouse to cancer in 1986, she started volunteering at the hospital in 1988, wanting to provide care and comfort to families whose experience she knew all too well. Over those years, Connie has donated more than 10,750 hours of service, working with more than 1,300 guests in the last year alone. Connie knows how important it is to have someone walk alongside families facing one of their biggest and scariest hurdles, and she is committed to fulfilling that role as long as she can.