Heart Disease - Zipper Club
The Zipper Club is a nonprofit, volunteer, peer-support network composed of cardiac patients and their families whose mission is to help others like themselves.
Working in partnership with the Pennsylvania-Delaware Affiliate of the American Heart Association, Zipper Club volunteers serve hospitals in Southeastern Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey.
The Zipper Club was founded in 1974 by a patient who had undergone valve and bypass surgery at Deborah Heart and Lung Center. While he was still in the hospital, a doctor asked him to speak with another patient who was feeling frightened and anxious. Both recognized the value of peer support and human empathy in recovering from this very technical, life-altering surgery.
In the early days, Zipper Club volunteers made home visits at all hours of day or night to patients referred by hospitals and doctors. The emphasis was on pre-op visiting and developing “heart-buddy” relationships among patients. Meetings were held in members’ homes.
The Zipper Club was incorporated in Pennsylvania in 1981 and established a relationship with the American Heart Association that continues today. In 1991, The Zipper Club received national recognition as the 520th Daily Point of Light in the Thousand Points of Light program.
Today, Zipper Club volunteers visit patients in area hospitals, by telephone and via the Internet. They touch the lives of thousands of heart patients and their families each year. Many volunteers feel this is an opportunity to express gratitude for their second chance at life and speak of the enormous satisfaction of helping others. They offer emotional support based on their personal experience with a cardiac diagnosis or event. While they do not offer medical advice, they encourage healthy lifestyle by their example. Patients feel confidence in volunteers who have “been there” and can relate to them as peers.
Additional support and heart education is provided through meetings featuring such topics as nutrition, exercise, stress reduction, and the latest information on prevention, diagnosis and treatment of heart-related diseases. Beginning in 2007, a monthly support meeting will be held at the Klein Branch, Jewish Community Center located at 10100 Jamison Avenue (at Red Lion Road) in Philadelphia.
Participants in the Volunteer Visitor Program receive specialized training with experienced volunteers to assure appropriate interaction with patients and family members. Confidentiality is of paramount importance.
Please contact us if you are a patient or family member seeking information, reassurance or a sympathetic and knowledgeable listener. A Zipper Club volunteer is as close as your telephone or e-mail! The Zipper Club may also be contacted through the Social Services Department of your local hospital.
The Zipper Club
c/o American Heart Association
625 West Ridge Pike
Building A, Suite 100
Conshohocken, PA 19428-0860
610-940-9655
http://www.zipperclub.com
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The Zipper Club may also be contacted through the Social Services Department of your local hospital.
The Zipper Club is currently seeking men and women who have experienced bypass and/or valve surgery to join our Volunteer Visitor programs at Hahnemann Hospital, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (all in Philadelphia), and Phoenixville and Chester County Hospitals.
Volunteer opportunities are also available at our administrative office at the American Heart Association in Conshohocken, PA. Please call 610-940-9655 for more information.
