We salute those who - New Orleans City Business

VOLUNTEERWalter MelanPosition: volunteer, Touro InfirmaryAge: 86Family: wife, Betty; children, Bryan, 53, Melissa, 51; stepdaughters, Lisa, 43, Pamela, 36, Janine, 32Education: graduated from Samuel J. Peters High Schoolphoto by Frank AymamiWalter Melan takes pride in helpingpeople navigate Touro Infirmary as avolunteer attendant at the DelachaiseInformation Desk, stationed on the walkwaybetween the Buchman Building andthe hospital.“I’m not as grumpy looking like somepeople. I try to be friendly and talk to people,”Melan said.But what truly separates the 86-year-oldfrom others is a commitment to spend fourhours at the hospital most weekdays beginningat 7:15 a.m.“Sometimes I’ll have two, three or fourpeople come in looking for directions. Youdon’t want to run them all around the hospital,”he said. “I try to give them the shortestand straightest way to where they wantto go.”Melan began volunteering at Touro in1992, about a year after the death of hisfirst wife, Althea, a dialysis patient therefrom 1979-91. Melan retired from the NewOrleans Public Belt Railroad in 1982 andhad made many friends at the hospital overthe years. Volunteering seemed a naturalthing to do, he said, since he was accustomedto waking up at 4 a.m.As it turned out, he found plenty tooccupy his time at Touro, including hiscurrent wife, Betty, whom he met in thecafeteria and married in 1995.“We started going out. … We decidedto get married. We were interested in mostof the same things.”And even though he was hospitalizedthree times last year with cardiovascularproblems, he intends to continue volunteeringas long as his health permits.“I’m feeling all right. As long as I’mable, I’m gonna keep coming here,” hesaid. “I’d rather be up here where they gotpeople. I can talk to people.”•— Diana ChandlerWalter Melan provides directions to Colleen DeFraites at the Delachaise Desk at Touro Infirmary.VOLUNTEERMattieSchouestPosition: Auxiliary member and craft committee chairwoman,West Jefferson Medical CenterAge: 81Family: children, Marian, 46, Herbert Jr., 51, Georgette, 47;three grandchildrenEducation: Ponchatoula High School alumnaphoto by Frank AymamiIn 1977, when her three children left home, Mattie Schouestwanted to start a new chapter in her life. She chose to go toWest Jefferson Medical Center to help her community.“I needed to find something to occupy my mind and mytime,” Schouest said. “Volunteering with the Auxiliary gaveme another outlook for my life. I got to be involved with otherpeople, and I made some marvelous friends. They gave apurpose to my life, and I hope I brought some good spiritand efforts to the hospital.”What may have started as a refuge and release from everydaylife turned out to be anything but temporary; 33 yearslater, Schouest is still a member of the hospital’s Auxiliary.“I don’t go as often as I would like because it can be hardfor me to get around, but I plan to try and go once a monthto check-in and visit with my friends,” Schouest said.Without sounding boastful, Schouest speaks fondly of allof her accomplishments since joining the Auxiliary.She and other volunteers started a craft club in 1979that did not have a specific area in the hospital where theycould work. So she opened her home and invited theother volunteers.“We would drink tea, have lunch and talk while we madecrafts to help raise money,” she said. “We also held bazaarsand sponsored other events to support different projects.”Schouest is quick to talk about her grandson, who is graduatingfrom Tulane University in May with a master’s degreein public health.“I like to brag about it,” she said. “I am hopeful that he willstart medical school.”“I hope I had some influence on his choices.”•— Abby Kral38 Health Care Heroes