INEZ NEAL
The Duke Eye Center Volunteer Program has been in existence since 1984, and Inez Neal has been a part of the team since its birth. Some of her activities of service are escorting patients throughout the entire Duke University Medical Center, assisting with the coffee serving cart, and visiting with patients in waiting areas. She also provides light clerical work for the eye contact staff and distributes magazines and brochures in the waiting areas.
There is always a need for volunteer service at any medical facility, and the Duke University Medical Center is no different. It is important for the patients to receive assistance when they enter the facility; so directing the patients and visitors to various clinical stations for treatment is an essential service Neal performs. Most that come to the center may be hesitant or a little nervous, but she offers a compassionate and warm atmosphere to help ease any discomfort.
Neal is one of the first volunteers to start and conduct a program of patient relationship and patient assistance wherever needed. The Center receives letters, notes, and cards with positive feedback from patients and visitors alike praising her efforts.
Many in the community are affected by Neal, not only those who come to the medical center. She also drives patients to the doctor and the hospital. She also delivers meals-on-wheels, takes wheelchair patients to church, and is an officer of the Community Resource Council for the Umstead Correctional Facility. Her service work spans three counties.
Inez Neal is especially talented in personal relations and writes poems about volunteer work at the Center as well as life in general. Her poems can also be seen in the volunteer newsletter and at the annual Volunteer Recognition Luncheon. She won top honors for the number of volunteer hours she served in 1992, 1995, and 1996. In addition, she has a certificate of appreciation from Governor Jim Hunt for her services to the city.
CASA DEL PEREGRINO AGUADILLA, INC.
The Casa del Peregrino Aguadilla, Inc. is a non-profit organization committed to identifying, assisting and serving the homeless population in an effort to improve the quality of life, health, education, security and nourishment of its participants. They strive to assist those who are homeless pave a way out of their situation into a better quality of life.
The Casa was established after a local university’s survey analyzed Aguadilla, Puerto Rico’s most pressing social concerns – homelessness attributed to 67%. Carmen Rosario, the current director of the Casa realized the impact of homelessness on the community, and she began to create innovative solutions to alleviate its affects. Partnered with the Civic Club and other local community service organizations, Rosario began to distribute clothing, personal hygiene items, and meals. With dedication and volunteer service, her goal of opening a shelter and expanding services to homeless community was realized on April 23, 1997 when Casa del Peregrino opened its doors. This shelter stands as the only outreach program of its type in their immediate area.
The Casa is open Monday through Friday from 8:00am to 6:30pm. Meals are served three times a day, and counseling is also available with drug and alcohol specialists. They also offer referrals to rehabilitation programs, personal hygiene items, showers, clothing, first-aid, and entertainment. Soon they will open an emergency shelter that offers 20 sleeping spaces.
A myriad of social problems brings the clients to Casa del Peregrino. All the neighboring communities have increasing problems with poverty, unemployment, and high levels of crime. Recent studies have shown that 50% of the population of Puerto Rico lives below the poverty line. There are 60 men and 26 women at the shelter now. The average age of the participant is 35 years old, and the average education level completed is eighth grade. Seventy percent of them are addicted to drugs and thirteen percent of the population is alcohol dependent. About 19% suffer from some form of mental illness, 15% are HIV positive, and 5% have a physical handicap. To date, 15% of the clients are rehabilitated after receiving the services at the Casa.
The shelter has a volunteer director, a paid part-time staff of five, a paid full-time maintenance employee, four AmeriCorps VISTA volunteers, and some volunteers from the community. The mobilization of volunteers is maintained through the renewal of contracts with the VISTA members and recruitment of community members.
Casa del Peregrino continues to strive to help the community alleviate social problems affecting the underserved. They were a JC Penney Golden Rule Award Finalist in 1999 and have also been honored by the University of Interamerican Studies in Puerto Rico. Since its inception in 1997, the quality of life in the homeless population continues to be enriched, and hope is found for those who, in the past, believed all was lost.
MARSHALLTOWN COMMUNITY Y OUTREACH PROGRAM
The Community Y Youth Outreach Program was founded in Marshalltown, Iowa in 1979. The mission of the program is to divert youth from the juvenile justice system. The Outreach Program serves 35 at-risk boys in the 6th through the 12th grades and referred from the Juvenile Court Services, schools, parents, and social services agencies. Several of the youth have been in the program from two to five years. The Outreach members excel and the program continues to make a difference in their lives, and in turn, they make a difference in their community.
The Outreach Program provides many opportunities for youth. They learn new skills, feel that they belong, and bond into the community. Healthy beliefs are taught and promoted and clear standards are set to lead to healthy behaviors among the members. In addition, the program recognizes clients’ accomplishments and continues to build their self-esteem.
The successes of the youth involved are many, although they volunteer for numerous projects. One of the most notable gifts of service is their work at the Iowa Veterans Home. Each Sunday, they escort wheel chair veterans to and from church. They initially offered their services when two programs were about to be eliminated due to lack of volunteers. The Outreach program participants also provide escorts for both bingo programs. Additionally, these youth sit with the veterans and help them play cards. Their dedication does not stop there. These youth also function as escorts for the Labor Day Picnic, 4th of July Picnic, Car Show, Motorcycle Rally, Flag Day, Root Beer Float socials, and many other events in the community.
The commitment of the Outreach Program to the community is also evident in the Eagle Eye Park Watch Program. This was established in 1997 and is a collaborative effort of the Outreach Program, Marshalltown Police Department DARE Officers, and Parks and Recreation. Annually DARE Officers train the youth on bike safety and witness observation for reports. This program promotes community ownership within the youth. They ride the bike path and patrol the parks from April through October to increase safety in the community. It empowers youth to take pride in their community and decrease incidents of vandalism and crime. It also fosters a good relationship between the youth and low enforcement officials.
Each year, the Outreach program has several community volunteers interacting with Outreach members. Besides the police officers, there are four missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, six International Exchange Students from Marshalltown Community College, area leaders, past Outreach members, and others. Members have the opportunity to bond with each other, the community and other adult role models.
The Outreach members learn and practice new skills, earn and receive recognition, and develop and practice leadership skills. They are contributing citizens that enrich the quality of life for the youth and veterans of their community.
MARY LOU WARREN
Mary Lou Warren has been a champion of the elderly for the past 23 years. She serves on numerous boards and committees that enhance programs geared toward senior citizens. She volunteers hours of one-on-one service to the Foster Parent Program in Great Bend. She coordinates Meals on Wheels for Great Bend, Hoisington and Ellinwood. In addition to coordinating the program, she is also a driver whenever volunteers are not able to assume their responsibilities. In addition, Warren works with the Historical Society by acting as a hostess and program director.
This, however, is not the end of Warren’s resume of service. She initiated Rural Family Friends, and she volunteered to sit with babies in the hospital. Her extensive networking skills and contacts have earned her the title of “the person to contact” if you need information or assistance with regards to elderly programs. She is aware of the government cut backs in social services and how important it is for communities to be aware of the special needs of the elderly. Their plight is different; they are living on fixed incomes, but they need continual service and sometimes fall through the cracks. She makes sure the elderly in her community get a visit when they need company, a drive to the grocery store when needed, or a trip to the hospital or doctor’s office for set appointments.
In 1982, the Business and Professional Women honored her as their Woman of the year due to her outstanding accomplishments in the community. She was also appointed to the White House Conference on Aging during the same year. Though her work is not done for recognition or praise, these awards encourage her.
Warren also serves as a volunteer to the SCHICK program, which provides counseling for the elderly. They are educated on Medicare, Medicaid and Drug Assistance programs. There is also a Community Service Advisor available to assist them in knowing what programs are available to them. She helped to write a grant for the Senior Center and initiated several programs in Barton County: Every One Able to Read By Sharing (EARS), Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers, Meals on Wheels, Alzheimer’s Support Group, Vouchers for Medical Transportation, and Volunteer Income Tax Training. These programs provide continual service as a result of her fund raising efforts, grant requests, and her solicitations to local programs and the government.
Mary Lou Warren is a hero to many in Great Bend. Through her work and dedication, many are able to receive appropriate medical care and prescriptions as well as live a more comfortable life.
THERESA ANDREJACK
Theresa Andrejack’s leadership encompasses her school, the Enola community, and the entire South Central region of Pennsylvania. She has been a student director for a middle school program that assists middle school children having difficulty in physical education. In addition, she is the high school representative on the community PumpkinFest Committee and the East Pennsboro School and Community Foundation along with being the student coordinator for 300 high school students involved in community service programs.
Theresa directs six ongoing programs: Classroom Companions, Math Mentors, Playground Pals, Senior Citizen Center, Special Friends, and Spanish Amigos. Classroom Companions pairs high school student volunteers with at-risk middle school students. Math Mentors pair the high school volunteers with middle school algebra teachers who work with children having difficulties keeping up in math. Playground Pals and Senior Citizen Center are programs that give elementary schools and seniors friendship and companionship from their high school buddies. The Special Friends program joins the high school volunteers as mentors to middle school special education students, and the Spanish Amigos is a program in which middle school foreign language teachers mentor students having difficulty with being exposed to speaking Spanish.
Theresa has received the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Conference Award, National Merit Scholars with Commendable Honors, Advanced Placement Scholar Award, and earned first place in the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science for the state, region, and regional/national Scholastic Writing Awards.
Some of her extracurricular activities are the interscholastic girls’ basketball, field hockey, and she is on the girl’s soccer team. She is also secretary of Latin Club, president of the National Honor Society, Treasurer of the Senior Class, and Secretary of the YMCA Youth and Government Club.
NANCY OPRSAL
Through her professional and voluntary work, Nancy Oprsal has distinguished herself as an extraordinary friend and educator of children. As a teacher for 44 years, she has been constantly involved in educating children.
While teaching, Oprsal found time to volunteer at the Effie Yeaw Nature Center, an organization that educates people about the environment and a place where she could combine her loves of children and nature. She became an EYNC volunteer in 1979 by participating in a beautification project. She began volunteering on weekends and during the summer as a receptionist, giving her the opportunity to educate visitors about EYNC. She informed visitors about the volunteer program and was responsible for recruiting several new volunteers.
One summer, Oprsal substituted for a sick volunteer in the Summer Fun Days program – a nature-oriented day camp for children in grades K-6. She had so much fun in the program that she has spent nearly every week of each summer since then working as a Summer Fun Days Assistant. After her retirement in 1996, Oprsal completed an intensive, 8-week training program for Docents and began to lead Nature Area Tours. She says, “If we don’t teach children to appreciate, understand, and enjoy nature, there will be no nature here for their children.”
In addition to her direct interaction with children, she has helped to develop new teaching instruments and curriculum for EYNC. She co-authored a workbook called Discovering the American River Parkway: A Handbook for Outdoor Exploration and Learning. This book includes lesson plans and activities for teachers who want to incorporate nature into their students’ lessons. Oprsal also designs a “Kid’s Page” for a bimonthly newsletter associated with EYNC.
In addition to volunteering an average of 25 hours per month for EYNC, Oprsal volunteers for other organizations, including her church, Loaves and Fishes, and she is a part of the organizing committee for a new program to help homeless persons get back on their feet. She also tutors young children in her home, at no cost to their families. Through the Coalition for Sustainability in Sacramento, Oprsal tries to improve the environment by conserving energy. She has helped many families make solar cooking ovens, and encourages everyone around her to sun-dry their washed clothes.
PATRICIA KRANZOW
Patricia L. Kranzow has been volunteering for three years and has accrued more than 2,200 volunteer hours in the Education Therapy Section of the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Service at the Edward Hines, Jr. Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital. She works as a tutor, writing assistant, and computer assistant to paraplegic and quadriplegic hospitalized veterans in the Residential Care Facility (RCF).
With Kranzow’s dedication to education, resourcefulness, and artful persuasion, these veterans are now enrolled in the undergraduate program of the Telecommunications course at Triton College. Despite their severe handicaps, her students have achieved a remarkable grade point average of 4.0 and are members of the President’s List. She also assists another quadriplegic veteran in his pursuit of a legal career through correspondence courses.
As a writing assistant, Kranzow provides the means for the veterans to pursue a writing career. Her efforts have enabled her students’ work to be published in Veteran’s Voices. This publication is devoted exclusively to the works of hospitalized veterans and is published in cooperation with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Kranzow is employed at the University of Chicago Laboratory School as a substitute teacher. She is also a part-time instructor for teachers in the Chicago Public School System at Columbia University. In her spare time, she enjoys being a Sunday school teacher at Hope Lutheran Church in Countryside, Illinois. She is also a member of the Board of Parish Education, Northern Illinois District, and Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.
Kranzow is a Past President of the American Legion Auxiliary (ALA), Department of Illinois. As a member of Cicero, Illinois Unit of the ALA, she was instrumental in getting the organization to adopt the RCF patients. The unit conducts bi-annual bingo parties and distributes birthday and holiday cards to all patients. In addition to this, she is a member of the past presidents club of the ALA.
Patricia Kranzow is an exemplary volunteer and serves as a role model for patients, other volunteers and employees. Not only does she offer invaluable support to Hines, but she also serves as an advocate for all veterans. Her superlative performance, coupled with her positive attitude reflects favorably not only on the volunteers but on the Education Therapy Section and Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital.
KIMBERLY HALL
Deciding whether to give a book to one classroom or a child in every classroom was a decision discussed and debated in the preliminary brainstorming stages of the 100 Days of Learning Program. Kimberly Hall is the children’s program executive for MSC Hospitality, a service organization at Texas A & M University dedicated to serving the campus and surrounding community for over 29 years. Kim wanted to give as much as possible to any and every child in the communities surrounding the University. Kim began to make 100 Days of Learning a reality.
The 100 Days of Learning Program reinforces and expands the celebration of kindergarten children across the nation. On the 100th day of school at the University, 100 Texas A & M students will read in 100 different classrooms throughout Bryan and College Station. Each student would be provided with a new book and a literacy packet aimed at promoting home literacy involvement. This program reaches each of the 2,000 kindergartners enrolled in the 19 public schools in the community. It exposes 100 diverse college students to the educational needs of our community, involves them in important aspects of community service, and allows them to serve as role models of literacy.
The students that volunteer in this program are from the university. Included are representatives such as the student body President, MSC President, Yell Leader, Corp Commander, Fish Camp Director, UACT director along with MSC Hospitality. They are involved in the planning, budgeting, fundraising, advertising, and development. The members are empowered through their participation, and Kim teaches them how to design and operate a program. Local businesses also get involved in supporting the program. For example, Whataburger, a local restaurant, donated 2,000 burgers to help establish a reading incentive program.
Kim has created a program that will touch many in the future. Book grants and other business contacts continue to be made for the 2000-2001 school year. The long-term goal of this program is to exponentially expand each year to reach more and more kindergartners. It is astounding that in two months, a team of university students, empowered by one leader – Kimberly Hall – would have the initiative and determination to obtain funding and support to give back to the community.
PROJECT UNITY
In 1993, a small group of concerned and committed people came together to examine the barriers faced by families seeking assistance to improve the quality of life for their children. Jeannie Heller Goss noticed that although the community had numerous agencies dealing with poverty, unemployment and other problems, many people were not getting the help they desperately needed and qualified for. People in crises did not know where to turn to get quick, effective help. The multitudinous requirements of each individual agency often discouraged clients from getting the help they needed. Today, Project Unity transcends those barriers and bridges the gap between families and agencies through neighborhood outreach centers.
Project Unity is based on the belief that solutions to community problems must come from the individuals most affected. A key component, therefore, is community input and participation in planning and policy. Neighborhood meetings are held to focus on the needs of the community. Leadership training (Community Voices) is provided to community members who then help to take charge of their neighborhoods and assist families in resolving difficulties. Civic social and business leaders are oriented to the identified needs of the neighborhoods through “Community Plunge.”
Project Unity’s Community Partnership Board consists of 80 local agencies with 300 members, including law enforcement, adult and child social services, workforce, faith groups, private citizens, advocacy groups, city/county government, businesses and corporations collaborating to connect people to the services they need. Increased access to these vital services makes it easier for residents to become self-reliant.
Project Unity was officially started in 1995 with funding from the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services. In 1996, Project Unity was one of six national recipients of the “Award for Excellence in Community Collaboration for Children and Youth.” Project Unity has ongoing partnerships with the City of Bryan, the City of College Station, the Brazos Valley Council of Governments, Brazos Valley United Way, and the Children’s Miracle Network to provide continued funding. Bryan Independent School District and the Brazos Food Bank provide in-kind support.
Project Unity staff served 1,746 unduplicated families in 1999-2000 with more than 48,000 contacts. Services provided include case management, food pantry, divorce education seminars, referrals to other agencies that meet families needs for medical care, utility money, rental assistance, social security assistance, clothing, diapers, furniture, job training, childcare, youth programs, Community Voices leadership training, and Town Meetings to address issues of concern. A mobile unit carries representatives from health and human service agencies to neighborhoods throughout the seven county region offering improved access to family services and support.
Project Unity’s success is rooted in the relationships that are built and sustained between agency partners and community leaders. Building a leadership base within neighborhoods to offer suggestions for positive change helps neighborhoods organize to effectively meet their needs. Jeannie Heller Goss, through Project Unity, is focused on building and maintaining winning relationships for families and agencies to foster success in our community.
HOPE HARBOR CHILDREN’S HOME
Since 1947, Hope Harbor has provided shelter and support for thousands of needy children and families in crisis in Oklahoma and the surrounding states. Today, Hope Harbor restores the hope of at risk youth who, although academically capable, are experiencing serious problems at home, in school and in the community.
The ultimate purpose is to assist these young people to become self-sufficient, productive member of the community. This is accomplished by providing a nurturing home environment, specialized education services and life skills training. Prior to coming to Hope Harbor, most residents were not attending school regularly, if at all. During the course of the average stay of 12 months, students gain approximately 2.5 years of academic progress in core subjects through the alternative school. In addition to a rigorous academic program, student involvement in volunteer service is an integral part of the Hope Harbor experience.
In previous generation, serving others was a necessary part of the life that reinforced one’s value in the home and community. This is rarely true in today’s culture. While youth are exposed through media to extraordinary need both at home and abroad, they are conditioned to believe that they lack the resources needed to be of service to others. For children who are already at risk of school drop out because of learning differences and problems at home, this belief contributes to a strong sense of worthlessness and helplessness. It is well documented that school dropouts are much more likely than the general population to become delinquent, substance abusers, teen parents, and/or welfare dependent. The consequences can be tragic; for the individual, their families, and their communities.
Through participation in a program called TRACE (Team Recreation and Adventure Challenge Experience), all residents of Hope Harbor learn the value of serving others. The program begins with experiential learning exercises, where students learn how to work together to accomplish goals. They also learn to recognize and cultivate their unique gifts, as well as the gifts of others in the group. Then, the team works together to identify needs and plan service projects. The team completes an average of one community service project each month.
Service efforts undertaken by the students are wide ranging and include yard work for shut-ins, coordinating and collecting clothes for a children’s shelter in Mexico, cleanup after natural disasters, baking cookies for nursing home residents, stuffing envelopes for a local grief center and sorting clothing for a homeless shelter. The most ambitious project to date was a day of service to a private children’s shelter in Juarez, Mexico. TRACE participants painted walls, doors and gates, cleaned laundry, prepared meals, scrubbed floors and played games with the residents there.
By participating in a substantive community service program, at risk youth can learn valuable lessons about their unique skills and potential. It is in service to others that some of the most valuable lessons in life are learned.
