Keren Aviad

With a population of approximately 1.2 million people, Sacramento County reflects a richness and diversity of people and culture. While the median family income is $30,000, nearly 25% of the County’s residents live below the poverty level. Many residents have incomes of less than 100% of the poverty level and qualify for Medicaid. Keren Aviad relocated from her native Pennsylvania specifically to address this problem in Sacramento County. As a volunteer, she confronts challenges of helping to preserve safety net services for vulnerable community members by helping the remaining safety net clinics coalesce and act together as the Sacramento Community Clinic Consortium despite their differing missions and approaches to service.

In one the first Medicaid Managed Care experiments in the nation, California implemented mandatory HMO coverage for most of the 145,000 Medicaid eligible persons. The program is managed by the state, with no local oversight and little community participation in policy making. Thus, the real needs of the people whose lives are affected by this experiment sometimes are lost in bureaucracy and remain unfulfilled. Within the first year of this experiment, 8 of 21 clinics closed their doors.

Aviad is determined to counteract the detrimental effects of this health care initiative. She has been instrumental in helping the Consortium obtain start-up funding, secure volunteer strategic planning consultants and complete a successful application for 501(c)(3) tax exempt status for the organization. Furthering the effort, she participated in California’s Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board hearing to help set the course of the “Healthy Families” program and encouraged qualified clinics to become certified enrollment contractors, thus ensuring a new revenue source for the clinics.

Through careful research, analysis and community organization, Aviad helped impact health care policy at the highest governmental levels as well as within affected sub-communities. From 1997-1998 she served with the Sacramento Clinic Outreach and Prevention Effort as a member of the Americorps VISTA program.

Glenn Stein

Glenn Stein has devoted himself to addressing the critical need for computer skills in low-income, inner-city neighborhood residents. He founded and manages an organization called Byte Back, which has provided computer-training classes to more than 700 D.C. residents since 1997.

Stein, a computer professional, realized that there is room in the technology sector for computer-literate individuals at all levels, as long as they possess the necessary skills. He saw that there was no organization to provide opportunities for people to receive that kind of computer education. Stein expanded this core concept into a project to which he contributed thousands of hours of personal time and tens of thousands of dollars to develop. He single-handedly crafted the curriculum, acquired computer hardware, established relationships with other community organizations that provide classroom space and recruited volunteer teachers. As the director, he usually contributes 30 to 40 hours to the organization each week, while maintaining a full-time job.

Stein’s efforts to develop Byte Back into a productive organization have paid off. Six Byte Back training sites operating throughout low-income neighborhoods in Washington host more than 30 classes each week and provide 300 students with weekly instruction. Classes cover various levels of advancement in computer basics, Windows, word processing, spreadsheets and the Internet. To date, nearly 750 students have passed the basic class and nearly 450 have passed upper level classes. An internship program, with a current enrollment of 22, provides more intensive and accelerated training in advanced skills to selected individuals.

The other half of Byte Back’s success, however, is the programs’ numerous ongoing volunteer opportunities. These opportunities allow individuals from different backgrounds to reach out and help inner-city residents to bridge the technology gap that exists in many communities. Glenn Stein has applied a grassroots, innovative strategy to mobilize volunteers for his program and address the unmet educational needs within his community.

Summerbridge Cambridge

“Students teaching students.” This is the motto of Summerbridge Cambridge (SBC), a non-profit organization founded in 1992. The dual mission of SBC is to prepare motivated Cambridge sixth through ninth graders for success in college prep high school courses and to encourage talented students in high school or college to become teachers. Particularly, SBC addresses the needs of ethnic groups that are under-represented in the field of education. SBC trains these future teachers in curriculum design and classroom management while matching interested students with high school or college-age mentors.

SBC serves an important role in addressing the needs of the Cambridge Public School system. At the city’s sole public high school, 40% of students failed one or more courses, according to a 1996-97 Cambridge Public School system Student Data Report. This rate was higher for students of color—49% for Black students and 46% for Latino students. To improve these statistics, SBC works to prepare the students for success by focusing on writing and science skills, providing individual attention and preparing them to take algebra in high school. The organization also incorporates service learning into its curriculum, with students participating in yearlong and one-time projects.

Summerbridge Cambridge has successfully achieved both parts of its mission. Every summer, 122 students commit to the program for two years at a time, with the understanding that they will receive two hours of homework every night. Still, the daily attendance rate for this program averages 97%. These students have also scored higher on the California Achievement Test (CAT) after enrolling in SBC. Fulfilling the second half of its mission, 68% of SBC teachers enter the field of education. Students from the first graduating classes are rejoining the program again as teachers. It is apparent from this success that Summerbridge Cambridge is a functional program that molds academically successful, empowered, and inspired individuals, most of whom will make lifelong contributions to the field of education.

Christiane Saunders

Most people use the word “unbelievable” to describe the contributions of Christiane Saunders to the Fort Lewis military community. Saunders has been involved as a volunteer in military communities since 1993 and has worked as the Fort Lewis Army Community Service (ACS) Volunteer Coordinator for the past four years. In that time, she has greatly impacted the military community in a variety of ways, including mobilizing 200 volunteers for ACS since her arrival.

Saunders organizes, directs and provides training for each new volunteer and ensures that childcare costs are paid for each volunteer. During 1998, she organized an innovative training program aimed at teaching young Army couples how to shop economically for food. The Commissary Shopping Class is loosely modeled after a Fort Bragg program and is taught at the installation commissary twice a month.

Each year, Saunders participates in special projects that ACS coordinates, including Kid’s Fest, the annual Fort Lewis Women’s Conference and the City of Lakewood Teen Resource Youth Festival. She also organizes and coordinates the ACS Volunteer Awards Ceremony so the staff can pay tribute to the phenomenal work the volunteers provide. She volunteers between 35-40 hours per week in ACS.

Additionally, she devotes extra time to a variety of other activities within the community. She manages the “Santa’s Castle” program, a self-help program that recruits volunteers from family support groups to assist her in repairing and cleaning donated toys. In the two years she has managed the program, Saunders has made Christmas come true for nearly 1,400 military families, providing over 8,500 toys to over 2,400 children.

Herself a foreign-born spouse, Saunders volunteers as a certified translator. Each year, she provides an average of 70 medical, legal and business transactions primarily for foreign-born spouses. She speaks six languages and can translate several others. Saunders doesn’t charge a fee, which saves each individual approximately $250. She has also led Family Support Groups, which provide support to spouses while their husbands or wives are deployed.

The Fort Lewis Military Community has been directly impacted by the extensive volunteer efforts of Christiane Saunders. Her selfless acts have dramatically increased the quality of life in the community. She has shown that she is fully committed to improving life for military families and has mobilized a legion of volunteers to assist her with this important mission.

Brigitte Van Marcke

Brigitte Van Marcke contracted polio as a child and spent several years in hospitals, experiences that made her acutely conscious of patient needs. Currently, Van Marcke dedicates approximately 45 hours per week to nurturing babies in the newborn nursery at Ben Taub General Hospital in Houston. Ben Taub serves an inordinate number of indigent clients from all over the world. Van Marcke’s ultimate achievement is that she was the catalyst for what is now a growing, thriving volunteer program in the newborn nursery at Ben Taub Hospital.

Six weeks after moving to Houston, Van Marcke began her volunteer career in Ben Taub’s newborn nursery. She now contributes to a vast array of activities within that setting. She brings love to every child born in the hospital (approximately 250 per month). She provides them with the warmth and love that current research shows can significantly affect a child’s ability to bond in early childhood.

In addition to the 18 hours per week that she spends in the hospital, she spends an average of 37 hours per week at home sewing baby hats (400 per month) for every baby born at Ben Taub. If a newborn is going directly to Children’s Protective Service, she provides them with a receiving blanket, socks, pajamas, and a pacifier. For these children, Van Marcke is like a one-woman social service team who ensures that each child has the necessary provisions.

The approach that Van Marcke takes as a volunteer is innovative in that she nurtures, feeds, and loves the newborn in the hope that young, first-time parents will observe and mimic her behavior. She has also initiated a volunteer mentor program within the newborn nursery with the goal of securing volunteers for every feeding all week. She mobilizes additional manpower by actively recruiting and mentoring new volunteers. Her goal is in line with that of the hospital’s Volunteer Department—to make the volunteer program within the newborn nursery one of the premiere volunteer programs in the city. With a volunteer career that spans two years and more than 2,500 hours of community service, there is little doubt that Brigitte Van Marcke will help Ben Taub General Hospital achieve this goal.

Richard Raup

In April 1991, Richard Raup started volunteering at the Erie National Wildlife Refuge. He volunteered 388 hours in 1998 and his cumulative hours since 1991 totals 1,987 hours. He is currently involved in three projects on the 8,777-acre refuge.

Due to the nature of the terrain, signs, water control structures and a pier, all of the mowing at the refuge must be done with a walk-behind push mower. Using his own vehicle and gas to transport the push mower, Raup mows three nature trails totaling five miles. He also mows the six parking lots and two dikes, which total approximately five additional acres. He is also responsible for litter cleanup in parking lots and along the 22 miles of roads that transect the refuge.

Raup also assists with the saw-whet owl banding project. This project entails catching owls in mist nets to be aged, measured and banded. Data is reported to the Patuxent Bird Banding Laboratory to assist in learning about the owl’s migration. Blood samples are taken and smears prepared from the captured owls to study parasite infestations. Raup contributes his time to this activity at night during the hours of 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.

With only five permanent staff members to manage 8,777 acres, Eric National Wildlife Refuge is in great need of volunteers to help with various tasks. The time and labor that Raup contributes to the Refuge equals that of two or three volunteers. He performs these tasks to maintain a safe environment for refuge visitors and contribute to the conservation of natural resources and learning about saw-whet owls.

The Suncook Happy Singers

The Suncook Happy Singers, under the direction of Muriel Simmons, are a group of 18 multi-talented adult and senior citizens who have provided musical entertainment for the patients and residents of New Hampshire Hospital since 1985. This group sings and dances its way into the hearts and audiences at the Psychiatric Nursing Home and Acute Psychiatric Services Building. They perform monthly and occasionally bi-monthly musical programs using a combination of piano, vocals, guitar and drums.

The singing group encourages their audiences to participate by singing, dancing or just by keeping beat to the music. The smiles and participation elicited by their performances is evidence of the positive effect their volunteer service has on the psychiatric patients and residents. The group has been able to elicit responses from patients and residents who usually choose not to participate in activities. During the winter months, the Suncook Happy Singers often travel in snowstorms in order to honor the commitment they have made to the patients and residents.

Through their volunteer service, the Suncook Happy Singers have become advocates for persons with mental illness and are committed to educating members of their communities about the importance of supporting the mentally ill. They also provide transportation to grocery stores and medical appointments for those unable to drive. The performances of the Suncook Happy Singers certainly make a difference in the lives of the people at New Hampshire Hospital.

Lois Garner

The handicapped adults in Siler City have benefited from the devotion and personal sacrifices of Lois Garner. The mother of a developmentally disabled young man, she saw the need for a local recreation group like one she had seen in a neighboring county. Garner created a weekly dance program for developmentally disabled young adults in 1990 that has now grown to include nursing home residents and group home residents. They meet weekly for social time and recreation that is not available to them in any other way.

To start the program, Garner raffled off a quilt her family had made to buy a stereo, found a place to meet and contacted parents of young disabled adults. The group has since relocated to a larger space in the cafeteria of a closed school. The organization continues because of Garner’s volunteer efforts, parents and concerned citizens. Garner has, on several occasions, used her own money and solicited donations from churches and a few businesses to fund this weekly, year-round program.

Garner is aware that her son and others with similar developmental delays enjoyed music and liked to dance. She brought her own music and now the participants are allowed to bring their favorite music as well. These adults have disabilities such as autism, Down’s syndrome and mild dementia. Yet, everyone looks forward each week to the chance to socialize and dance to a rhythm of their own without worrying about their physical or mental limitations.

In addition to organizing the weekly dances, Garner works two jobs, one as a full-time furniture plant operator and one as a part-time waitress at a local restaurant. Every Tuesday night she makes time to set up and provide a social opportunity for 75 disabled adults out of her desire to bring joy to their lives. During the holiday seasons, she arranges full meals at the dances and has volunteer groups provide these meals. This past Christmas, 150 disabled adults attended and received small gifts.

Joe H. Sweatt

Joe H. Sweatt has consistently produced positive results for the past 48 years in both volunteer and professional leadership. He continues a career that has spanned five decades in the same low profile and quietly supportive manner that has characterized him thus far. His leadership roles have included high school administrator, counselor, teacher, coach, interim director of the Southeast Arkansas Behavioral Healthcare System and project administrator of the Jefferson Comprehensive Care Center Inc. Even retirement did not slow the pace at which Mr. Sweatt labors to improve the quality of life in Jefferson County, AR.

Mr. Sweatt is always willing to share his talents, concern and time to address serious community needs. He has worked on projects intended to help in areas such as teen pregnancy, senior adult needs, handicapped accessibility, minority youth volunteer participation and affordable mental health services. In doing so, Sweatt successfully forms partnerships with people of varied interests, backgrounds, capabilities and expectations to achieve a common goal. In planning and negotiating to extend human services and educational opportunities, he has led the community to respond financially and develop programs that are increasingly self-sufficient and sustainable.

Specifically, he wrote the original proposals which resulted in the establishment and funding of three important organizations – Jenkins Memorial Center – served 358 clients ranging from infant through adult; Southeast Arkansas Behavioral Healthcare System – served 5,700 clients resulting in 771,900 units of service; and Jefferson Comprehensive Center – more than 38,000 medical and dental visits by the needy as of 1997. Sweatt’s indispensable and significant leadership and education has mobilized countless community volunteers to make living more affordable for Jefferson County citizens.

However, writing million-dollar proposals is only one aspect of Sweatt’s service. He has taught Sunday school for over 46 years. He also serves on numerous board and panels in his community. His service is far reaching and has made a lasting impression on the community in which he lives.

Project MENTOR

Project MENTOR (Meaningful Encouragement Now TO Reduce Alcohol and Drug Use and Increase Self Esteem) is a highly successful mentoring program which reaches into the schools and community for caring adults and teens who commit to nurturing and supporting young people who may otherwise slip through the cracks. This program provides children and youth with a fundamental resource necessary for the productive growth of a child, that of the sustaining presence of a caring adult in their lives. Hundreds of adults who live and/or work in Community Unit School District #300, a unit district located 35 miles northwest of Chicago, have committed to making a difference in the lives of hundreds of children.

This school-based volunteer program, begun in 1993, has trained more than 800 volunteers to mentor elementary, middle and high school students. Volunteers who enter a one-on-one relationship with a student learn effective communication skills, age-appropriate activities which nourish and strengthen the mentoring relationship and how to sustain the relationship within the midst of their busy professional and personal lives.

The philosophy of the mentoring program is that every child needs a special adult in their life and the children who participate in District #300’s mentoring program are not limited by socioeconomic, cultural or educational factors. The highly diverse district educates students whose family backgrounds range from uneducated to highly educated, from low income to affluent and from a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds. Mentors are matched with children across the demographic spectrum from rural, suburban and urban areas within the district.

Data collected indicates students who participate in the mentoring program show increases in grades, self-esteem and attendance—all strong benchmarks of success. But the adults gain much from participating in the program as well. Becoming a mentor represents a way to “pay back” the special adults they knew in their own childhood. Their training includes ways to foster the attitude of returning something back to the community in the mentees, too.

Project MENTOR’s director notes that, “it’s not that people don’t care about children, but they need a vehicle to reach children and they need to learn how to fit it into their lives. Project MENTOR provides that vehicle and the community has responded to the challenge.”