Volunteer Joseph Ultimo Spreads Joy All Year Round
December 2002 — For Joseph Ultimo, it all boils down to one thing: helping.
"They help me, I help them," Ultimo says of the residents at Memorial Manor nursing home. "They have helped me learn patience and compassion, and I help them because I just want to make them happy."
Ultimo is one of about 100 volunteers at Memorial Manor. He is among the facility's most dedicated helpers, spending four afternoons a week as an activities leader, a confidante and a friend.
"He's incredible. He does the work of five people," says Margaret Diaco, Director of Activities Therapy and Volunteer Services at Memorial Manor. "There aren't enough Josephs in the world."
Ultimo, 29, wasn't always so focused and generous. For years, the New York native did little more than watch TV and work as a nightshift dispatcher for the Pembroke Pines Fire Department. "I wouldn't leave the house except to go to work," he says. "I used to sleep 10 to 12 hours a day, my job was very stressful, I'd sit in front of the TV for hours, and I had terrible road rage."
His transformation began in 2001, when he lost 50 pounds with what he calls his "diet of the body." In January 2002, he started his "diet of the mind" by enrolling in a meditation class. That led him to study Buddhism and to begin applying its principles to his life.
Today, Ultimo spends more time with his family, holds doors open for strangers and leaves big tips. He doesn't get mad if another driver cuts him off, and he has learned to handle the stress of his job. He doesn't have a TV and sleeps only about six hours a day because he doesn't need more. "Being here gives me energy," he says while walking down a hallway in Memorial Manor. "When you start doing good things, you get the energy you need from that."
Although he is perfectly comfor-table in the setting now, Ultimo says it took about a month to fit into his volunteer role at Memorial Manor. "It started with one person, and it grew each week so that I was learning more names, and more people were saying 'hello' to me," he says. "Now I look forward to coming here. It has become a part of me."
Memorial Manor has many volunteer opportunities year round. To learn more, please call (954) 431-1100.