Doreen Sigle Is Leading Age Oklahoma’s 2012 Resident Volunteer of the Year

Doreen's efforts go far beyond beautifying the community. Under her leadership, Inverness logged more than 2,011 volunteer hours last year.

Doreen Sigle describes her life at Inverness Village as “blessed” when she explains the transformation she underwent after joining the community. But, in return, Inverness has been blessed by Doreen, thanks to her incredible commitment as a volunteer. Her time and her can-do spirit turned our 2011 Volunteer Campaign into a great success, and we thought it should not go unrecognized. We’re so pleased that Doreen has been chosen as the 2012 Leading Age Oklahoma Volunteer or the Year Award – Residents.

The road that brought Doreen Sigle to Inverness Village is not one she expected to take. As a 20-year-old war bride fresh from London, she put complete faith in her husband, Buddy, to help her through many of life’s difficult decisions, making the shock she felt after losing him to cancer that much more difficult. Doreen suddenly found herself emotionally devastated and missing the person she had previously leaned on most for strength and support.

That was when Doreen decided to move back to Tulsa, the first town she and Buddy had lived in after they were married. Knowing where she wanted to be made the decision to move to Inverness Village an obvious choice and now she reflects happily on that decision. “To be so happy, and to spend the rest of my life here at Inverness, I have been blessed,” she says. Nevertheless, the transition was not without its difficulties. Anyone who has ever moved to a completely new environment knows that it can be a little frightening and intimidating. Fortunately, associates and residents worked to draw Doreen out socially and make her feel at home.

It worked, and that sense of family that Inverness Village offers made Doreen want to take on an active throughout the Inverness Village Community. She soon joined the community’s volunteer committee and, in 2011, agreed to spearheaded our campaign to encourage 2,011 annual hours of volunteer work internally and externally during the year. Doreen took it upon herself to create a log book, kept track of hours volunteered weekly, and was an advocate for residents who wanted to help.

In addition to her role as campaign director, she continued to volunteer her creative skills around campus. As a member of the decorating committee, Doreen decorates 35 tables in the dining room and makes three large, holiday arrangements for the community’s entryways. But her interest in helping Inverness goes well beyond making it attractive – she is dedicated to enriching the lives of its residents, too.

After spending time with a resident in skilled nursing memory, she went to the HealthAbility Coordinator and asked if she could start taking some outside for walks. Doreen rounded up four of her friends and weekly walks were born. This activity has turned out to not only be beneficial for the residents in skilled nursing but also for Doreen and her friends. Doreen also helps with administrative duties such as distributing memos, monthly calendars and flyers, and in the community’s library and Village Treasures store. She has become the HealthAbility coordinator’s go-to person, making their job easier and more efficient. In fact, any time anyone needs something done, she is more than willing to do it with a smile. With all of Doreen’s volunteering she totals more than 35 hours on a monthly basis, all done with a kind and helping heart.

Doreen’s commitment to Inverness’s 2011 Volunteer Campaign made the volunteer committee more recognizable in the community, encouraging volunteerism at resident council meetings and  reminding everyone to log their hours. Thanks to her efforts, we completed and tracked more than 2,011 volunteer hours that within the year’s first half!

Since moving to Inverness Village Doreen reports feeling a newfound sense of freedom and special enjoyment in life. “Inverness Village has provided me with opportunities to become the person I never thought I would and do things that I never thought I could,” Doreen says. “I go on outings with friends or by myself, I go to group exercise classes, and I have ridden a bike for the very first time! I learned how to fish and even caught one for the first time. I owe me, the real me, to Inverness Village.”