Dr. Karim Haji
Dr. Karim Haji is the founder of the Health for All clinic located in Bryan-College Station, Texas. It is the only free, private, nonprofit medical clinic providing the poor health care in its surrounding area, Brazos Valley.
Founded in May of 1987, the clinic started as a two-room hotel suite provided by his sister, when she realized that many of the people who lived in the hotel she owned were unable to afford proper medical care. Prior to the founding of Health for All, she would continually ask Dr. Haji if he could come to the hotel and see individuals who needed medical attention, which he always did with the help of his wife, Dr. Asha Haji. News of the two-room clinic spread by word-of-mouth, and as a result, the clinic’s client base began to grow and with it, a need for the help of other medical professionals. Dr. Haji did whatever it took to get health care to those in need.
Ten years since its inception and three moves later, the Health for All clinic sees more than 4,200 patients a year. Open five days a week, the clinic provides comprehensive medical care, including needed medications, x-rays, and laboratory tests, free of charge to low income children and adults who have no Medicaid, Medicare, or any other form of health insurance. Free eye exams are provided twice a month, and Health for All covers the cost of children’s eyeglasses. With only three paid staff members, volunteers are the heart of the clinic: more than 50 doctors and 30 nurses, eight pharmacists, four ophthalmologists, eight optometrists, and more than 60 office assistants give back to their community by volunteering their services to those in need. On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, the clinic is open from 8 am until the last person is seen, while Thursday’s are appointment only for specialist care.
Because one out of every five people in Brazos Valley has no health insurance, more than 20,000 people are in need of Health for All’s services.
One third of the clinic’s funding comes from the cities of Bryan and College Station through Community Development Block Grants. Another third of the funding comes from St. Joseph Regional Health Care Center, United Way, Children’s Miracle Network and other organizations. The final third comes from private donations. All medication is free to clinic patients. St. Joseph provides $2,500 of free medicine for the pharmacy each month, and major drug companies supply free drug samples.
In addition to serving as Health for All’s medical director, Dr. Haji works one full day per week at the clinic. Several clinics in nearby towns are currently being set up under his guidance and direction.
David and Marjorie Ward
In 1985, Majorie and David Ward founded the Citizens Association of Bonita Beach (CABB) an organization concerned with the beaches on the county and state level, and the preservation of the Florida environment.
Since 1987, the organization has taken an active stand on environmental issues, working with its local representatives to keep off shore drilling out of the area. In 1988 they started the coastal cleanup program, which now covers 40 miles of coastline from Ft. Myers Beach to Delenor Wiggins Pass. They have also secured the funds to complete the Carle Johnson Park at Lovers Key.
As president and vice president of CABB, Mr. and Mrs. oversee the 1,650 member organization. Each year the Wards write hundreds of letters to keep offshore drilling banned from the shores of Florida. Recently, they have become involved in the effort to save Estero Beach from overdevelopment.
The Wards have also helped create a Lovers Key recycling program that is used to raise money for the beach front park, organized the county’s largest band of volunteers for the International Coastal Clean Up with 322 volunteers cleaning up the 40 mile coastline. In addition, they started a program at Pelican Marsh Elementary School where second and third graders picked up more than 1,000 cigarette butts from Bonita and Barefoot Beaches. They succeeded in adding Barefoot Beach added to the list for a national marine debris monitoring program.
Funding received for CABB comes from donations and annual fund-raisers which often include bake sales, membership drives and aluminum recycling.
Ken Porath
A volunteer for the Epilepsy Foundation of Oregon (EFO), Ken Porath is founder and Volunteer Coordinator of the statewide Library Epilepsy Education Project. In starting the Library Project, Mr. Porath personally visited 222 of the 224 public library sites across the state (two were temporarily closed) in 1997 to assist librarians with implementing a statewide network of public education about epilepsy.
Two-thirds of epileptics’ biggest concern is that the public misunderstands their illness, which results in a need for public education. Mr. Porath is himself the grandfather of a teen with epilepsy and has been volunteering for the United Way, EFO and his local library for over ten years. The Library Project addresses the lack of public information about epilepsy by giving an unlimited number of people access to current epilepsy resources and promoting the information through community networks and the media.
Mr. Porath assisted local librarians with setting up visible displays of epilepsy education brochures, familiarizing them with the information, and issuing news releases about the easy availability of the information. The Epilepsy Foundation provided each library with a customized resource kit. He then began volunteer recruitment across the state to ensure at least one volunteer for every two library sites that would keep the resources current, deliver new material, and promote community attention.
The EFO supports 33,000 people with epilepsy in the state, an area of 100,000 square miles. They fund Mr. Porath’s program with in-kind contributions of materials and pay for some program-related costs. Mr. Porath paid for all of his transportation costs associated with his driving across the state to visit every library site.
The EFO has been approached by other epilepsy foundations about replicating the Library Program. Similar programs have been started in other areas, including Nebraska and Florida. The EFO will be presenting their program at the Epilepsy Foundation of America’s National Conference this year.
Mr. Porath volunteers in three positions for the EFO: the Program Committee, the Advisory Committee for TAPS (a federal grant program facilitating employment of individuals with epilepsy), and as Volunteer Coordinator for the Library Project.
Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport Environmental Volunteers
The Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, is a research, development, test, evaluation and engineering laboratory with a scientifically-oriented workforce. Over the past several years, many of the Division’s personnel have embarked on an outreach program designed to bring their enthusiasm and skills to local efforts to preserve and protect the environment.
The beginning of Division Newport’s coordinated volunteer environmental efforts was in September of 1995, when a small group of volunteers participated in Rhode Island’s eleventh annual state-wide beach clean-up. The volunteers, along with some of their family members and friends, provided necessary equipment and instructions, cleaning up a sizable area of the beach and properly disposing of the collected trash.
The success achieved in the 1995 clean-up resulted in the Audubon Society requesting that the Division’s volunteers take responsibility for coordinating the entire 1996 clean-up effort of one of Rhode Island’s major shoreline areas, Moonstone Beach. 33 Division employee volunteers were joined by 25 family members, a Cub Scout Pack, a college fraternity and employees of a nearby Navy Facility, as they conducted a highly productive clean-up effort.
In addition to clean-up efforts, Division Newport’s employees use a three-pronged attack to increased community environment awareness and involvement. They begin with the “environmental adoption” of a sixth grade class at a local middle school, teaching students basic facts about pollution and other environmental issues. They expanded involvement in local beach clean-up drives. They also joined forces with the state’s Department of Environmental Management, the Audubon Society and other environmentally sensitive organizations to increase employee participation in activities across the state.
An outstanding example of the volunteer’s spirit of community was their response to an environmental disaster that occurred on January 19, 1996, on Rhode Island’s shoreline. A barge ran aground and leaked 800,000 gallons of home heating oil into the coastal waters. Volunteers from the Division responded to the call for help by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Save the Bay, by assisting in the retrieval and treatment of numerous oil-soaked birds. The Division’s divers later provided volunteer services, spending almost 12 hours in the polluted waters to survey, document and videotape the spill site. The information obtained during the dives was instrumental in the state’s overall effort to assess the damage caused by the oil spill.
Project Advancing Literacy, Northeast Region
Serving the Greater Grand Forks area, Project Advancing Literacy (PAL) is a volunteer library-based adult literacy program that provided one-on-one tutoring support for those who have been identified as needing to increase basic literacy skills.
PAL originated in 1987 and was formally organized with an advisory board and an office donated by Quad County Service in 1992. In 1993, PAL moved to its present location at the Grand Forks Public Library. At that time, Grand Forks was chosen as a recipient of VISTA services to work on a literacy project. Through VISTA, the Grand Forks Public Library received full-time coordinator services from 1993 until April 1996.
Though PAL has undergone various reductions in program services, it still offers 20 hours of support services each week. After volunteers are trained as tutors, they are matched with low-level or non-reading adults. PAL provides these services and learning materials at no cost to the participants. PAL’s library connection provides participants with a valuable resource.
Throughout the year, PAL offers a variety of programs and services that promote adult literacy. The September Read-In Festival promotes the services and adult literacy needs through an information booth set-up at the local mall. Reading is Fundamental supports the Family of Readers Book Distribution program, which allows families to come to the library four times during the year for storytelling and activities.
PAL works with various community committees that promote volunteer community service. Since 1996, PAL has provided the steady support of approximately 25 volunteers to adults in the Greater Grand Forks area.
Tobin Smith
Tobin Smith is an individual whose contributions to the Arlington, Virginia community are vast and far reaching. As a youngster in Michigan, he was an active participant in 4-H. Wanting to give back to the program that was there for him throughout his childhood years, he brought his commitment to 4-H to the young people of Arlington County.
Virginia Cooperative Extension is an organization, of which 4-H is a part, which provides practical education within Virginia communities, based upon the specific needs of each community. It is through this educational organization that Mr. Smith has volunteered his service to the community by chairing committees and boards, advocating for youth and families, by recruiting volunteers of all ages and by working with children one-on-one. It is through these efforts that he brings together the many diverse faces of the county.
Within the 4-H program, Mr. Smith has organized a club for immigrant children at one of Arlington’s Bilingual Outreach Centers. He has developed and served as chairman for the Arlington 4-H council, recruited and trained Council members, raised scholarship funds for 4-H camps, instituted “4-H Day” at the County Fair and advocated for support of Arlington’s 4-H Agent position. But the one 4-H program that he holds closest to his heart is Arlington’s 4-H Fishing Club, which he developed, organized and still runs.
Arlington’s 4-H Fishing Club, started in 1988, provides children with the opportunity to learn about fishing, nature and environmental conservation. It also provides a chance for the children to get out and experience nature first hand through weekend fishing trips and a yearly summer camp every June.
Mr. Smith’s involvement with these children goes far beyond making sure that the program runs smoothly. He participates in all the activities and continues to be a mentor to the children that participate throughout their childhood and high school years, helping them and guiding them in any way needed. He has also taught many to follow in his footsteps; for many of the children go on to be volunteers.
Mr. Smith is a full-time legislative representative for MIT on Capitol Hill.
Betty Finney House Corp.
After counseling many HIV/AIDS patients in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, psychologist Betty Finney became increasingly aware of the special needs of this population. She noticed a dramatic increase in homelessness among families living with HIV/AIDS. In 1988, she presented this problem to her church community and from there started a committee specifically designed to meet the housing needs of this population.
The Betty Finney House Corporation is what evolved from this committee. Funded through local, state and federal grants, individual donations and fundraising events, it is now a housing organization whose purpose is to provide the practical, emotional and spiritual resources individuals infected with HIV/AIDS need to maintain control of their own lives. With a current staff of about 20 volunteers, who work at night and on weekends, along with two paid workers, the organization runs several programs assisting both low income individuals and those living with HIV/AIDS in Lancaster County and their families by providing housing and/or financial assistance.
They provide support for their clients in three main ways. The first is a four-unit apartment building located in Lancaster City, which is used to provide independent housing units for families and individuals living with HIV/AIDS. Living in this apartment building provides them with subsidized rent/affordable housing, the ability to maintain their independence and the opportunity to socially interact with and care for neighbors.
The organization’s Extension Program keeps families together in their own homes by providing rental or mortgage subsidies, budgeting and financial counseling, case management services, referral services and housing inspections to ensure that certain living standards are met.
The Betty Finney House Corporation also provides service to low-income individuals with HIV/AIDS through their Group Home Project. This project provides the housing needs for up to three individuals per group home. In addition to the services offered in the Extension Program, the Group Home Project also provides permanent housing for persons diagnosed with HIV/AIDS that are currently living in shelters or the streets.
The Betty Finney House Corporation currently serves more than 67 clients and is continuing to grow and expand. It has recently opened a new group home in Lebanon County with plans to establish all of their programs and services within the Lebanon community.
The organization also serves as a living memorial to those who have lost their lives to HIV/AIDS. Many of the volunteers either know someone who has been helped by the organization or volunteer as a tribute to the memory of someone they have lost to the disease.
Ft. Meade Adopt-a-School Program
The Fort George G. Meade Adopt-a-School program started as a community outreach pilot program under the Army’s “Service to the Nation” program, when Meade Senior High School found itself the focus of local and state news because of reports of its incidences of student violence and drug use. The program operates under the commonly accepted role of the military to protect and serve. “Be All That You Can Be,” the program’s motto, sums up its approach.
The program chose to work with an entire K – 12 program rather than just adopting one school. As one group of volunteers read to kindergarten students, others put into place a senior high program that will affect those kindergartners in 12 years. One elementary school in the program now has a drill team with uniforms, public performances and a growing sense of pride. There are more than 400 men and women volunteering to help the school system’s 7,300 students achieve the goal of “Success for All Students.”
The Adopt-a-School program seeks way to achieve goals that address the concerns of the entire community. It has promoted partnerships to enhance the quality of education and activities in the Meade High School Feeder System. It has made an impact on reducing the demand for drugs among high-risk student populations. The program has enabled students to interact with military role models.
Principals have reported improved self-esteem, greater sense of responsibility and improved physical fitness. Volunteers have reported an increase in self-worth as they realize they can make a difference in the lives of children.
Though the pilot program funding ended September 30, 1995, the volunteers keep the program thriving. Most volunteers use their own leave to participate, however, officials offer support through release time whenever possible.
Glenwood Springs High School A-Team
The Glenwood Springs High School A-Team is a group of students who, through the encouragement of a service-learning class at their high school, utilize their talent and vision to identify community concerns, prioritize them and develop plans to address the most crucial issues.
Since the project began in 1994, the students envisioned, planned, raised the funds for and implemented the building of a pedestrian mall in downtown Glenwood Springs. Despite financial barriers and some community opposition, they worked with the established political and planned processes and ultimately accomplished their goal. “Not only did the A-Team students become aware of the issues facing our community, they also were able to develop relationships with people that they normally would have been intimidated by,” commented Gregory J. Geissler, Executive Director, Governor’s Commission on National and Community Service.
The A-Team used innovative techniques to address the identified community need. They raised more than $75,000 for the mall. They help community planning sessions and conducted a live town meeting on public television. The club recruited professional adult volunteer mentors and involved the entire community in a fundraising campaign. They also solicited the construction industry for in-kind building opportunities.
The mall is now the main feature of the downtown area and has brought a sense of pride to the community. The A-Team maintains the mall.
These students have been a role model in leadership, promoted community action and volunteerism and helped their community through service. The A-Team’s dedication and motivation has inspired other student service-learning groups to approach local organizations to build a park and a river trail in the community.
Kent Nylander
Reverend Kent Nylander is a full time minister at Grace Lutheran Church in Bensenville, Illinois who has been volunteering for more than 28 years. For the past 23 years he has used his vacation time to lead bus tours and raise funds for Tabitha House, a residential shelter and human service organization as well as 37 other organizations worldwide.
In 1974 Reverend Nylander founded The Fellowship Tours Program as a way to raise funds for various service organizations. Each year Reverend Nylander organizes and conducts tours for individuals at a reduced rate. To date he has conducted approximately 120 tours to all 50 states, most of Canada and to countries throughout the world. All proceeds raised from each trip are distributed to needy organizations. Past recipients have included: Pacific Garden Mission, Chicago Area Literacy and Reading Project, Wycliff Bible Translators, World Vision, Focus on the Family and The Salvation Army.
In addition to his various other service projects he has worked diligently to help Tabitha House. Reverend Nylander volunteers hundreds of hours a month at Tabitha House. A never-ending advocate, he has also persuaded a network of churches to become involved. Each of the participating churches has agreed to act as a collection center where people can drop off new and used furniture for former homeless individuals preparing to move into their new home.
After a fire destroyed a thrift shop associated with Tabitha House, Reverend Nylander organized the transfer and funding of a donated building for the program. In addition he worked with the EPA to remove two fuel storage tanks that were behind the building, obtained legal services, appraisal, consultants and raised $14,500 to establish the Tabitha Thrift Shop, a place for donated and recycled furniture.
He has also raised $11,750 to purchase two used U-Haul trucks to pick up donated items in the Chicago area.
Furthermore, Reverend Nylander has taught three inner-city young men to drive tractor trailers and they are now productively employed. He and his wife have also opened up their home to a number of young people. One young woman who lived with them for three years has received her degree and is now teaching Special Education at an inner-city school.
