HOSPITALITY HOMES HOSTS
Each year more than 200,000 people travel to Boston to receive state-of-the-art medical treatment at the city’s renowned hospitals. With them come family and friends to provide emotional support. Though hotels abound in Boston, the average hotel rate is among the highest in the country – $181 per night in 2002. Affordable accommodations are scarce, leaving those who cannot afford a $181 nightly hotel bill with few options. Faced with a decision that could mean the difference between life and death for their loved one, many people often choose to sleep in waiting rooms or cars rather than forego the trip: anything to be near a loved one during his or her treatment.
For the past 20 years, a quiet group of volunteers has been offering a solution to families in this situation. Known collectively as Hospitality Homes (formerly The Hospitality Program), these amazing individuals open their homes to families during times of medical crisis. Hospitality Homes was born out of the resolve of several individuals to help families find comfort and strength through the hospitality of Boston-area residents. With spare rooms and big hearts, Hospitality Homes Hosts touch hundreds of families each year through a simple act of kindness.
Currently, 120 Hospitality Homes Hosts throughout the Boston area offer free accommodations to patients’ families and friends. Hosts provide a clean, comfortable place to sleep and access to a bathroom. They receive no compensation from guests or the organization. Instead, they reap the personal rewards that come from knowing they have enabled guests to rest comfortably and focus on caring for their loved one. And, they have helped enable patients to focus on their own recovery; knowing loved ones are being cared for in a safe home.
Hospitality Homes Hosts are true examples of the power of human connection. Their willingness to welcome strangers into their own homes is testament to their remarkable compassion and generosity, particularly given the climate of today’s world. True to their selflessness, hosts often react with surprise when others shower them with praise for their volunteerism: to hosts, it is not something special; it’s just what they do.
Hosts have directly impacted the lives of thousands of guests. Rather than the anonymity of a hotel room in the middle of a strange city, guests return each night to the warmth of their host home. Friendships are forged as guests and hosts share stories, laughter, and even tears.
Since 1983, Hospitality Homes Hosts have collectively provided more than 102,000 guest nights for families in need. In 2002 alone, hosts provided 8,001 guest nights for more than 850 guests from 36 states and 13 countries. More than 2/3 of the families served each year have household incomes of $40K or less. Though most guests identify cost as the motivating factor to apply for housing, these same guests state that the strength of the program is the guest/host relationship. Hospitality Homes Hosts offer a unique solution to a need that many do not even realize exists. Hosts help enable patients to receive the care they need with their loved ones by their side, and exemplify in the truest possible sense the adage: “Charity begins at home.”
SHANNON CAMPER
Shannon Camper has dedicated the past six years to community service through her “Think Pink” program, a breast-cancer awareness campaign. By dedicating more than 100 hours per year and helping raise more than $96,000 for research, Shannon has made real the seriousness of breast cancer to the area’s young men and women.
Because there is a family history of breast cancer in her family, Shannon learned at an early age the importance of monthly self-breast exams. As she spoke with her friends and others in her peer group, Shannon realized that not many young women knew much about breast cancer. At the age of 17, Shannon began developing her “Think Pink” campaign to educate those in her peer group about the impact of breast cancer. In the years since, she has spoken to area high schools and church groups to educate youth about breast cancer awareness and prevention.
Shannon has participated annually in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life program from the time she was 17 years old. Shannon worked with the BMW Ride for a Cure to raise funds for research. She was also named as the youngest spokesperson for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer foundation in North and Central Alabama.
Shannon last year developed the idea for a C.A.B. (Call-A-Buddy) program, which prompts a woman to call five additional women and remind them about their monthly self-checks and yearly mammograms. Shannon worked with a local graphic artist to design a card that can be made into magnets with places for five names and numbers for this program. She presented her C.A.B. cards at a breast-cancer awareness luncheon hosted at a local bank. Since that time, she has been working with the Susan G. Komen Foundation to introduce this program on a national level.
Shannon has also served in the Oncology Center at the Cullman Regional Medical Center in Cullman, Alabama since the summer of 1999. There she plays a vital role in providing compassionate care to the cancer patients. She also continues to educate ladies of all ages on preventing breast cancer. Shannon has served in excess of 200 hours there specifically assisting cancer survivors and individuals going through treatments. In addition, Shannon speaks to church groups and civic organizations on breast cancer awareness.
By volunteering at local hospitals in cancer treatment centers, speaking to and entertaining local civic organizations and churches, presenting breast-cancer programs to teenage area women, and raising money for breast cancer research and prevention programs, Shannon is bringing the serious issue of breast-cancer to the forefront of her community.
LURIE FOSTER
Lurie Foster has given 55 years of service to the citizens of Columbia as well as the entire state of South Carolina through the South Carolina Department of Mental Health. His constant smile and big heart are the source of happiness for mentally ill persons who are so often forgotten by society. Foster is Crafts-Farrow State Hospital’s first volunteer. He began his service many years before the Volunteer Services Office was even established. When he retired in 1981 after 37 years of service to the South Carolina Department of Mental Health, Foster was acutely aware of the special needs of the mentally ill and had already begun his “volunteer career” that continues to expand to this day.
Foster started to volunteer during a time when stigma was very much a part of mental illness. He understood that this stigma resulted from a fear of the unknown and a set of false beliefs, stemming from a lack of awareness and understanding. As a volunteer, he was instrumental in dispelling some of the myths, false beliefs and discrimination against people who had been treated or were hospitalized in a mental institution because he understood that they were just like everybody else in that they deserved respect, dignity and love.
In 1948 Foster began organizing dances for residents at Craft-Farrow. Monthly, he would bring in a jukebox at his own expense for the Wednesday night dances. In addition, he assembled a quartet to sing in the auditorium to the patients on Sunday afternoons for spiritual enrichment. Foster, however, is best known as “Mr. Santa Claus.” For 50 years, from 1952 until 2002, he donned a Santa suit and spent the day delivering gifts and greeting each of the patients. Even his family understands that his special friends come first on this special day because many of them have no family and no one to visit them.
Foster’s volunteer work expanded to include work as a volunteer van driver for the Mental Health Association in Mid-Carolina, along with Crafts-Farrow State Hospital. He drove a van weekly to transport patients to a local church for social activities and then on to the grocery store for a special time of shopping. In addition, Foster took Community Boarding Home residents to physician appointments, shopping and furnished other transportation needs.
Although Foster has a special affinity for mentally ill persons, he does not limit his volunteer work to just those individuals. He is also an active member of Zion Canaan Baptist Church and is presently President of the Senior Usher Board and has served as President for the past 35 years.
Foster has been selected as the 1983 Volunteer of the Midlands, Crafts-Farrow Volunteer of the Year and South Carolina Department of Mental Health Volunteer of the Year in 1985. In 1986, Foster was also recognized as one of the “Four Coachman” who provided transportation for the mentally ill. He also received the Jefferson Award in 1993.
ALPHA PHI OMEGA NATIONAL SERVICE FRATERNITY
For more than 75 years, college students from around the country have volunteered their services for their local communities and the nation as a whole through Alpha Phi Omega National Co-ed Service Fraternity. On 350 campuses nationwide, 16,000 student members give unselfishly of their time and energy on a daily basis. Alpha Phi Omega members cumulatively donate over 300,000 hours of service every semester.
On the local level, members are encouraged to get involved with four fields of Service: the community and youth, the nation, the campus and to each other. Each Chapter determines how best to meet the needs of its own community. For example, Chapters assist at shelters and nursing homes; provide leadership and mentoring for Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Campfire USA, 4H Clubs, and Big Brothers and Big Sisters; clean parks and highways; create walking and biking trails; sponsor blood drives; and provide a wide variety of other service projects. Activities range from large annual events to small, weekly acts of kindness. Involvement with other local organizations’ service projects is typical.
Alpha Phi Omega also encourages national service programs. Each fall, Chapters simultaneously participate in a national program of emphasis as part of National Service Week. The students, at their biennial conventions, determine these programs. In addition, Spring Service Day is strongly supported. Chapters participate in Youth Service America, Special Olympics, America’ s Promise, March of Dimes, and Habitat for Humanity, to name a few.
Alpha Phi Omega is active internationally as well. A recent nation-wide project resulted in more than 113,000 books collected, labeled, boxed, and shipped to the Philippines for distribution to schools and young people there. Membership in Alpha Phi Omega is inclusive. With the knowledge anyone can be of service, Chapters are comprised of freshmen working next to seniors. Physically challenged students find ways to be of service through Alpha Phi Omega. Race and religion are merely individual characteristics that provide for a well-rounded Chapter.
A typical member will hold several Chapter leadership positions during his or her college career- from Project Chair to Executive Board officer. Further, Alpha Phi Omega has an extensive leadership development program to help members realize and improve their abilities to organize and direct individual and group activities. Students take what they learn in Alpha Phi Omega into their post-college lives, becoming service-oriented leaders in their communities and professions. Alpha Phi Omega has produced more than 300,000 such alumni.
Alpha Phi Omega excels in each of the Points of Light criteria: community needs and solutions, connection building, ongoing involvement, impact and innovation. In fact, Alpha Phi Omega has been promoting and practicing these concepts for more than three quarters of a century.
RAPE & SEXUAL ABUSE CRISIS LINE VOLUNTEERS
The Rape & Sexual Abuse Center’s mission is to help people heal from the effects of rape and sexual abuse and reduce risk through community education. The Center was founded in 1978 to fill a critical need for a Middle Tennessee crisis support line to address these particular issues. From that simple beginning, and those initial volunteers, grew a Center that provides counseling annually for over 800 victims, both children and adults, of sexual violence. A majority of our clients are low-income, but at RASAC, no one is turned away for the lack of ability to pay. A hospital accompaniment program for rape crisis victims and educational safety programs developed at the Center and reaching over 20,000 school children annually are also provided. 25 years later, RASAC is still finding new ways to assist and educate Middle Tennessee.
Trained volunteers now staff the Center’s 24-hour crisis support line more than two-thirds of the time. This provides a tremendous financial saving to the Center, in addition to the value of the support they provide to the callers, and these volunteers are still an integral part of the mission of RASAC. Currently, 123 volunteers are scheduled for 8-hour monthly shifts or more. They donate more than 4,800 hours a year answering the line. Although there are other crisis lines in Middle Tennessee, this is the only one that specializes in the issues of rape and sexual abuse for women, men, and children.
The Crisis Line Volunteers are required to complete 25 hours of training conducted by the agency’s Volunteer Coordinator. The volunteers continue to work closely with and are supported by staff. Though, they receive no salary or stipends, several of the volunteers have been giving their time to the Center for over 10 years. This group is racially diverse, both men and women, and from all walks of life–students, homemakers, and business professionals-who fit this incredibly significant commitment into their busy lives.
Callers to the line are victims of sexual violence. They often feel disconnected with nowhere to turn. They are usually too ashamed to talk to family or friends. Callers are all ages and from varying backgrounds. Through talking with one of the crisis line volunteers, sometimes several times, they often decide to seek further help. The volunteer may suggest that the caller contact the Intake Coordinator at the Center to become a client, or refer them to other appropriate sources. Sometimes they just listen.
The Crisis Line not only makes an impact on those who call in from the community, it also gives clients who are currently in counseling a venue for support between therapy sessions, and those who have completed therapy, a safety net to fall back on should they need it. Being a Crisis Line Volunteer provides one the privilege of having hands-on interaction with clients. The volunteer becomes a conduit to the necessary services for someone in need. Although there is no way to precisely measure the impact, they can confirm they received 2,232 calls last year and a substantial number of those callers entered therapy. Volunteers are able to work from home at any hour, and though it requires training; you do not have to be a therapist to serve. Although dealing with a difficult subject matter, this volunteer job is uplifting because it touches those who are in need.
BILL CORDELL
Bill Cordell is a literacy volunteer for the BookPALS (Performing Artists for Literacy in Schools) Program. BookPALS, one of the fastest growing literacy programs in the country, is an all-volunteer program administered by the Screen Actors Guild Foundation, the charitable, educational and humanitarian arm of the Screen Actors Guild. The BookPALS mission is to stimulate children’s interest in reading and encourage them to read on their own; to awaken young imaginations, enrich vocabularies and open doors to a broader, richer landscape; to help children visualize and see themselves in other realities, and to inspire and motivate children’s ability to communicate and to listen.
BookPALS serves public school children in at-risk areas and those from impoverished immigrant communities where English is not the primary language in the home. BookPALS are professional actors from the Screen Actors Guild and other performing groups who volunteer their time and talent to help at-risk children learn to read and write in English. By combining the talents of professional actors and performers, BooKPALS proves to be a match made in literary heaven, for who better to bring the magic of stories to life than actors, gifted in the art of storytelling? Because BookPALS visit, read to and mentor children on a regular, ongoing basis, they become a familiar figure and thus part of the “learning scene” in a very concrete way. Visits are anticipated, enjoyed, and remembered
The children know to expect their BookPALS and the novelty of their visits adds a good measure of interest and pleasure to the experience. In reading to the children, the gift of BookPALS talents as actors and performers generates excellent storytelling and demonstrates the skills and dynamism that good spoken communication offers.
Sadly, the children in Florida have scored at the bottom of the list of states across the nation in literacy. More than half of Florida’s fourth graders read below their grade level. Children who cannot read independently by the end of third grade have greatly diminished chances of ever catching up; they face higher risks of delinquency and dropping out. This problem adversely affects the community in many ways: Low literacy skills weaken the economy, contribute significantly to the crime rate, and increase the need for higher taxes to sustain social services for the chronically unemployed.
It is estimated that companies “collectively pay $25 billion a year teaching remedial math and reading to entry-level employees.” (USA Today). The Screen Actors Guild Foundation created the BookPALS program to combat illiteracy and to serve the children and families who need them most-those in at-risk, underprivileged communities.
ROBERT BRADSHAW
Catholic Community Services is dependent on volunteers to help distribute food five days a week. These volunteers help gather, sort, bag and distribute food boxes.
For the past 13 years Catholic Community Services of Northern Utah (CCS) has distributed food boxes to low-income and poverty stricken individuals. CCS feeds more than 8000 people each month. There are in excess of 3600 households seeking supplemental food boxes each month. Last year they provided more than 97,000 individuals with food boxes. Catholic Community Services of Northern Utah has over 200 volunteers each month.
These volunteers help in the office, at the warehouse, and providing home delivery to seniors and shut-ins five days a week. They work with youth corrections, juvenile and adult courts, as well as senior programs to help staff the volunteer positions needed. Volunteers put in 20-40 hours each week helping with the distribution of food.
Robert Bradshaw has donated his time to picking up donations for the Northern Utah Food Bank. Bradshaw is 85 years old. He uses his own vehicle and has purchased five additional refrigerators and three freezers to help store the donations until he delivers them to CCCS. . He has brought over 128,495 pounds of food to the agency in the past year.
He has spent more than 1,800 hours gathering, sorting, and distributing food. On top of all of that he has put in excess of 6,350 miles on his own small pickup truck. He delivers 6-8 pallets of food each week to the food bank. The produce and food that he brings feeds 60 to 70 people each week. The food he delivers is a blessing to those who stand in line for the food boxes.
When you think about the amount of food he delivers each year, it is quite astronomical. The food that Bradshaw delivers feeds more than 3,300 people each year. His commitment and dedication to bringing fresh produce, milk, and other food items is greatly appreciated by both the staff at CCS and the clients who are need in Northern Utah.
HBCU TECHNOLOGY PROJECT
Historically, Black College & University’s (HBCU’s) look for skilled, ambitious and talented students to volunteer weekly to change the lives of local residents by assisting community-based organizations (CBO’s). CBO’s are used to identify, prioritize local needs and solve problems in specific areas. Because nonprofit and CBO’s are often viewed as neighborhood assets, the nonprofit organizations serve the twin functions of delivering services and providing a voice for community concerns. They can be key players in building the capacity of the local area.
Atlanta University Center (AUC), Inc., the oldest and largest HBCU consortium, is working to bring vital knowledge and employment skills to its constituent communities through a new project, the HBCU Technology Project. This project has been designed to bridge the digital divide, and that cannot be accomplished without putting into place policies and procedures in the technological arena. The Technology Project is providing information technology, computer operations systems training, Internet/Web technical assistance and service-learning for tutoring and mentoring of members of CBO’s in neighborhoods adjacent to AUC’s six-campus university grounds. Schools in the consortium include Clark Atlanta University, Spelman College, Morris Brown College, Morehouse College, Morehouse School of Medicine and the Interdenominational Theological Center. Besides the AUC institutions, six other out of state schools participate in the program: Alabama A&M University, Benedict College, Bishop State Community College, Florida A&M University, Jackson State University and Oakwood College.
AUC began the project through a partnership with the Center’s University Community Development Corporation, a nonprofit that coordinates community development projects with AUC schools, and Seedco, a national nonprofit intermediary founded in 1986. Assisted by AmeriCorps VISTA members, the Seedco-HBCU partnership provides skilled students who volunteer a few hours each week to help make a positive change in the lives of local residents in low-income communities.
There are community organizations participating in the Technology Project also. They are the Technical Outreach Community Help (TORCH) Computer Center, which is supported by the National Society of Black Engineers Alumni Extension Chapter in Atlanta; the Lester J. Rodney Mentoring Center, a technology and general academic program for elementary school students; the Reynoldstown Revitalization Corporation, which gives 6 to 14 year-olds homework help on the computer and additional computer skills; Renaissance Economic Development Corporation, an after school program that prepares high school students for the SAT, ACT and GRE test; and the Metro Atlanta Resource Center, which offers tutorial sessions on computer skills and test-taking for higher learning opportunities and job advancement.
Last summer, AUC also partnered with Helping Teens Succeed, an AmeriCorps program that provides college-bound teenagers and their parents the skills to access online information on scholarships and other resources to finish college.
PARCA
Parca is a private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that serves 1,500 people with developmental disabilities and their families. The disabilities include Down syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy, epilepsy and other neurological disorders. Founded in 1952, Parca’s mission is to enrich the lives of people with developmental disabilities and their families in the Bay Area from the Silicon Valley to Marin to the East Bay.
Parca offers programs to help adults live independently in their community. They also offer recreational activities for children. There are available for clients and their families at all stages in their lives. Family Support Services is a resource for parents, offering support and information from the moment they learn they are going to have a child with disabilities.
Children’s Services includes the REACH integrated child-care program for children with and without developmental disabilities. It also includes the Raji House weekend respite care program for children and teens with developmental disabilities. These programs use positive learning and recreational activities to emphasize the similarities between people rather than the differences. All Parca children’s programs are licensed by the Department of Social Services.
Adult Services provide training and support services to assist clients in mastering self-reliance and independence to their highest personal levels. Parca’s philosophy is that all people have the same value and the same human rights. They know that people with developmental disabilities also have the right to live and receive services in the home community of their choice. They should then have access to everything society has to offer just as any other member would. They also believe everyone has the right to participate o the best of their ability in all decisions that impact their daily lives.
Parca is committed to providing opportunities for people of all ages with developmental disabilities. These opportunities will allow them to experience choice, control and individuality in every aspect of their lives. Parca is supported by memberships, donations, grants, Golden Gate Regional Center, San Andreas Regional Center, Regional Center of the East Bay, state and federal contracts, and regular fundraising events.
NATIONAL STUDENT PARTNERSHIPS – SAN ANTONIO
Affiliated with St. Mary’s University, the all-volunteer-run San Antonio office of National Student Partnerships (NSP) was formed in January, 2001, to meet the needs of disadvantaged residents of the community seeking sustainable employment, or services related to obtaining or maintaining employment, such as childcare, housing, healthcare, etc. NSP-San Antonio, which has no eligibility requirements, uniquely serves the community by operating as a “hub” in a community’s network of services, providing clients with research, and with referrals to the services most appropriate for their particular situations. Clients assume responsibility for following through on the research offered by NSP and making the contact with the service provider.
The student volunteers of NSP-San Antonio build their connections to the community by meeting one-on-one with community leaders to discuss opportunities for collaboration, by assuming leadership roles in community events like job fairs or “Make A Difference Day,” and by working with community service colleagues to identify the ways each organization can uniquely contribute to enhancing the service opportunities for the San Antonio community.
Recently, Summer Directors of NSP-San Antonio created an innovative partnership with the St. Mary’s Leadership and Learning Development Center (LLDC), an adult education center, outsourcing its volunteers to the center to conduct a job search-related “soft-skills” class that addressed areas like resume writing skills and interviewing skills. This kind of arrangement helps the LLDC, which is unable to coordinate such a class on its own due to staffing limitations. It also helps establish NSP in the community as experts in employment skills, and helps the clients in the community receive the most comprehensive services offered by both organizations. Similar volunteer-outsourcing initiatives are being developed with the Texas Workforce Centers.
NSP-San Antonio’s student volunteers have a profound impact on the residents of San Antonio. In the last year, student volunteers served 74 clients from the community who needed assistance finding a job, locating housing, securing daycare, or registering for a GED course. A recent segment on a local cable talk show has yielded a large number of calls and appointments for the office; as did a collaborative job fair activity for Make A Difference Day, as does the ongoing support and referrals from community service partners. NSP-San Antonio’s AmeriCorps VISTA member Jodie Briggs recently demonstrated the office’s impact with the conclusion of a recent report she submitted to NSP’s national office.
