Retired from social work, this volunteer continues to make a difference

Bonnie Inscho might not see the impact she’s had as a volunteer for UCHealth Community Health Improvement in Fort Collins, but her efforts have certainly changed the lives of hundreds of families.

For eight years, Inscho has been helping individuals prepare their advance care directives, which help document a patient’s choices in the event they cannot speak for themselves.

“In many ways, the pandemic has sparked an understanding of sudden and severe illness, which could require advance directives,” said Kathryn Laws, community health educator. “Bonnie’s nursing background helps clarify the many questions that come with medical advance care planning.”

Inscho’s history of helping patients in Fort Collins began in 1983. She started as an LPN at Poudre Valley Hospital. Two years later, she moved into the admission’s department, working there until 1994. During that time, she earned her bachelor’s in social work and a master’s focused on mental health.

She left Poudre Valley Hospital in 1994 but remained in the community as a social worker for long-term care and home health. In 2003, she worked at a local mental health center, retiring in 2013.

In retirement, Inscho quickly began looking for a way to continue to give back and found herself going full circle, landing a volunteer position with UCHealth Community Health Improvement in an office across the street from Poudre Valley Hospital.

“In all the years I worked at PVH, I knew I’d end up here as a volunteer,” she said. “PVH offers so many opportunities for volunteers. I understand that when some people leave a job, they don’t want to do anything like that again. But it is a good feeling to be able to use the knowledge I’ve gained. I understand my boundaries. I’m not a nurse or social worker anymore. But for me, this is fulfilling.

“I’m 73 now and in reasonability good health. I hope to do this until I’m 80,” Inscho said. “I feel fortunate because I know others who haven’t found the right thing, but I have found it. Or maybe it found me, I don’t know which.”

Either way, the impact she’s made in people’s lives, first as an employee and now as a volunteer, is extraordinary.