From Telephone Worker to Nursing Home Ombudsman

Dayton, Ohio

After being downsized from her telephone company job, Sandy Cherry earned a social work degree and became an advocate for people in long-term care.

In 1972 my then 19-year-old sister was placed in a nursing home. At the time I was living in another state with my husband, expecting our second child and working for the telephone company.

I tried to visit as often as I could. I still remember seeing one elderly gentleman sitting in his wheelchair tied to the handrail. He seemed to always be there when I visited and smiled back when I said hello.

My parents were the primary visitors to my sister and I never heard them complain. However, this was 1972 and we expected to be treated with dignity. I could never have imagined how these events would come to change my life.

Jump ahead 22 years. It was now 1994. My husband and I now had two sons in college and one in high school. I was still working for the telephone company. However, I was faced with being downsized. I now had to make the decision whether to move to another state and leave my family behind or take an early retirement. Not a very good position to be in with two sons in college.

After much consideration, including not wanting to upset the life of our son in high school, my husband and I decided I should take the early retirement. I was 48 years old, had never been to college, but knew I could not just sit at home. I started taking courses at a local community college, thinking I might like work in a social service field.

One Sunday, while reading the newspaper, I saw an ad for volunteers for the Long Term Care Ombudsman Program. After some research, I contacted them and began my volunteer work. I did have a selfish reason for doing this. You see I thought this would be a good way for me to have access to nursing homes to help me determine if the social service field was for me. I had planned on working in a nursing home. Little did I know how this was also going to change my path in life.

From the first time I walked into the nursing home as a volunteer, I knew this is where I needed to be. However, I never did go to work for a nursing home. I came to realize my work as an ombudsman would have a greater impact on the lives of those who would no long speak up for themselves.

Shortly after becoming the volunteer coordinator for the program, I was offered an to opportunity to become an Ombudsman Specialist. This meant I had more contact with the residents. It also was a greater opportunity to be their advocate and to ensure their rights are not violated - that no resident would again be “tied to a handrail.”

I continued to work full-time, finally obtained my social work degree and am now the program director. I could never have imagined how the events of 1972 would change my life’s path.

See Sandy Cherry's profile