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Health Care Hero Finalists Volunteer
By Holly Fisher
Special Projects Editor
Eileen Beckett
Eileen Beckett has her helping hands in a number of volunteer activities in the Summerville region.
Each Wednesday morning she volunteers in the central sterile area of Summerville Medical Center, helping prepare instruments for medical procedures. She has been a volunteer for 15 years, working in a variety of hospital departments.
On Monday mornings, Beckett volunteers with the Faith Sellers Senior Center in Summerville, delivering meals to the elderly. On Friday mornings, Beckett works in the senior center’s kitchen, where she helps out as needed and occasionally bakes birthday cakes for homebound seniors.
Beckett serves as treasurer for her ladies’ group at St. John the Beloved Church of Summerville and helps with the church’s outreach program, preparing meals for a local homeless shelter.
Beckett has also volunteered as a poll worker during elections, and she has made quilts that are used on mission trips to Haiti.
Beckett previously worked at a podiatrist’s office as the doctor’s assistant. She has since scaled back her work to one day a week and only oversees accounts payable.
Married for 43 years, Beckett has four children and six grandchildren. Her reason for volunteering is simple: Her life has been good and she wants to return some goodwill.
“I very much believe in giving back to the community,” she said. “My personal life has been very blessed.”
Bill Smith
For seven years Bill Smith suffered silently. His wife was only in her late 50s when she was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
The doctor said she had a form of dementia, and Smith knew nothing about the disease that would rob his wife of her later years.
Smith had no idea where to turn. When a doctor suggested he contact the Alzheimer’s Association, Smith thought that organization simply did research on the disease.
“It was a while before I found anyone out there who could help me,” he said.
Smith retired early from his job as a structural engineer so he could care for his wife full-time. When the doctor suggested a care facility, Smith refused, certain he could care for his wife himself.
Nine months later, his grown children insisted their mother be placed in a facility for
Alzheimer’s patients. Again, Smith insisted this was his problem and he could take care of it.
A few months later, his wife got lost in a movie theater, and Smith realized that for his wife’s health and safety, she needed professional care.
“My one regret is that I didn’t do it sooner,” he said.
Although his wife has since passed away, Smith devotes much of his time to helping people find the resources they need. He is determined to help others avoid some of the challenges he faced while trying to single-handedly care for his wife.
“What I’m trying to be is the person I needed when all this started,” Smith said.
About six years ago, Smith helped organize the Caregiver Coalition of the Midlands. This organization supports a careline for caregivers who want to call in and talk or ask questions.
He also helped start a support group specifically for the spouses of those with Alzheimer’s disease.
Smith also has served for three years on the board of the Carolina Center for Medical Excellence, a quality improvement nonprofit organization. A few months ago the center decided to sponsor a secondary organization, the Alliance of Medical Excellence. Its mission is empowering consumers throughout the Carolinas to improve their own health care.
Smith remarried three years ago and he and his wife devote much of their time to these volunteer causes. Yet Smith’s overall goal is to reach out to others whose loved ones are facing a life with Alzheimer’s.
“I can’t get over what I went through,” he said. “I just wish I had been there to help me.”
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