Bilingual (English & Vietnamese) Volunteer Medicare Counselor. Training Provided

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IMPORTANT: This volunteer opportunity requires mandatory trainings 4 times a year from 1-4pm, usually on Thursdays. If you are a full time worker or a student, you would need enough flexibility in your schedule to meet this requirement.

We are seeking an English and Vietnamese speaking volunteer to become a SHIIP (Seniors' Health Insurance Information Program) Medicare counselor to provide our cost-free, objective counseling for Medicare plans to Vietnamese populations in Guilford County.

You would also identify and provide outreach to these populations who are underserved by our program. You could do presentations to these communities or serve as an interpreter enabling a SHIIP counselor to do the presentations.

This is a rewarding, challenging opportunity. You will do a lot of problem solving and get to make a difference in the lives of many people, seniors and disabled, who have or are going on Medicare.

You help people make informed choices for their health care needs. Often you save them money. For example, one of my counselors saved a senior $70,000 a year on her medication costs. Another counselor saved a senior $14,000.

We also sign income-qualified people up for Extra Help, a Social Security program that saves them money on their medications.

The time commitment is usually about 1-3 hours every two weeks, sometimes once a week, depending on how much time you have to help. During Open Enrollment, Oct 15-Jan 7th, it would be great if you can do more when many people contact us to change or look at their plans.

One of the biggest benefits of volunteering for this program is you challenge your mind learning about Medicare and you share that knowledge with clients, sometimes solving problems for them, like helping them afford expensive medications or improving their Medicare plans.

As you may know, you derive multiple benefits from volunteering. Here are 6 benefits:

1. A sense of purpose that many people lose when they retire.

2. The satisfaction of accomplishment.

3. Studies indicate you are less likely to get depressed if you volunteer.

4. Other studies suggest volunteers live longer and have "greater functional ability."

5. You meet like-minded people, more so with SHIIP if you are a person who likes to challenge your mind and learn new things.

6. When you successfully help people, you often feel elation, kind of like a helper's high. And it truly feels good to know you are making a difference in the lives of others and in a small way in the world. If you are a retired, this is a rewarding way to spend your retirement years.