State honors Vineland veterans home volunteers during National Volunteer Week

At the New Jersey Veterans Memorial Home at Vineland, a bus trip, a bingo game or a coffee social can be as important to a resident’s day as a medical appointment. State officials used National Volunteer Week to recognize the people and organizations that help make that possible at the Cumberland County home, where volunteers add companionship, gifts, parties, entertainment, games, pet therapy, arts and crafts, outings and weekly religious services.

The home at 524 North West Boulevard opened in 1899 and is the state’s oldest continually operating veterans home. Its replacement facility opened on the same site in 2005 and can house 300 residents, including veterans discharged other than dishonorably, qualifying spouses and Gold Star parents. The home is licensed by the State of New Jersey and certified by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, with around-the-clock medical and nursing care plus occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy and restorative nursing services.

The New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs said it held three volunteer appreciation lunches from April 14 to 25 for the Menlo Park, Paramus and Vineland veterans homes. Those events recognized hundreds of volunteers and dozens of organizations that contributed thousands of hours, donations and other quality-of-life enhancements for residents. At Vineland, volunteer service is overseen by a Volunteer Services Coordinator, and those hours can count toward recognition through the Presidential Service Award program.

The home’s volunteer work reaches beyond scheduled recreation. Volunteers help create the kinds of routines that make an institutional setting feel more like a community, especially for residents who may not have family nearby or who need extra support to stay engaged. That daily contact matters in a long-term care setting where residents depend on steady social connection as much as on clinical care.

In January, the home also received an overall five-star rating from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which bases its ratings on health inspections, staffing levels and resident-level quality measures. Officials who oversee the home said the volunteer program is part of the broader effort to support residents’ quality of life, alongside the care provided by staff.

Cumberland County residents who want to help can contact Vineland’s volunteer services office at 856-405-4213 or call the home’s main number at 856-405-4200.