สไลด์โชว์ Young woman’s disability makes her perfect volunteer to cheer the elderly

[b]By[/b] Lou Baldwin [url=http://catholicphilly.com/2013/03/local-news/local-catholic-news/young-womans-disability-makes-her-perfect-volunteer-to-cheer-the-elderly/]http://catholicphilly.com/2013/03/local-news/local-catholic-news/young-womans-disability-makes-her-perfect-volunteer-to-cheer-the-elderly/[/url] Alexa Bucci, a friendly, high-spirited volunteer, chats with a resident of St. Monica Manor, an archdiocesan skilled nursing facility in South Philadelphia. (Sarah Webb)

Residents are happy when Alexa Bucci, a volunteer at South Philadelphia’s St. Monica Manor, stops in to see them. She’s warm and friendly, always there with a smile and always wanting to do something for them. “I love it there; when you go in if you are in a bad mood they pick you up,” Alexa said. “I usually just talk to them or help them with their meals. The patients light up when they see me, because they like to be around people, and they tell me everything. I don’t feel like I have something wrong with me when I’m with them.” Most of the residents at St Monica, which is an archdiocesan nursing home, probably don’t even realize Alexa was born with something that is generally termed a disability. Now 23, she was born with Williams Syndrome, a genetic disorder that strikes about one person in 10,000. Sister Mary Christi, I.H.M., and Alexa Bucci chat with Diana Tavani, volunteer coordinator at St. Monica Manor, Philadelphia. (Sarah Webb)