John Johansen
John Johansen is waging a battle against crime in the Washington, DC metropolitan area while proving that the pen is mightier than the sword. His weapon of choice is an all-volunteer newspaper called Crime Prevention Bulletin. Using the power of the press to achieve his goal, Johansen’s public safety initiative has won praise from law enforcement officials and citizens alike. By linking the police and the community, he provides a much needed community service to a segment of the population that often lives in fear of crime.
Investing $6,000 of his own money, Johansen started the Crime Prevention Bulletin because of high crime rates in the area. Because of the fear factor, he considers himself a victim of crime although he has never personally been subject to a robbery or mugging. The first issue of the Bulletin was published in July and the newsletter led to the arrest of 15 fugitives in its first year. In a particular case in April of 1994, Robert Lindsey had forced his way into a Southeast Washington apartment and shot 16-year-old Denise Slaughter and two of her family members in the head. A few days after Lindsey’s information was printed in the Crime Prevention Bulletin, a reader spotted the fugitive and tipped off police whom later apprehended Lindsey. Lindsey’s arrest was only one of many success stories that can be accredited to Johansen’s safety initiative.
In each issue of the Crime Prevention Bulletin, which is published quarterly, Johansen features photographs and descriptions of wanted persons and missing children. This makes the public aware of wanted felons within their community. The free publication also includes child abuse prevention information, crime prevention tips and features on police officers and citizens that are helping to fight crime. More than 50 volunteers distribute The Crime Prevention Bulletin to retail establishments in some of the most underserved neighborhoods in D.C., Maryland and Virginia.
Persons with information regarding crimes are instructed to call and can do so anonymously. This gives citizens the opportunity to take the offensive and assist in the apprehension of wanted criminals. According to the Chief of Police of the City of Alexandria, the publication’s distribution has generated tips on fugitives from every jurisdiction in the area. Moreover, the effectiveness of the Crime Prevention Bulletin is evident by its solid impact on crime in the city. The information contained in the Bulletin has led to the apprehension of more than 100 fugitives. These arrests, a product of Johansen’s efforts, bring closure to the victims of crime and their families. Meanwhile, the information contained in the Bulletin continues to empower the community with essential crime prevention information and build support for and understanding of the police.
Mr. Johansen has upheld his commitment to preventing crime for nearly five years, without compensation and with threats on his life. His charity publication unites inner city residents and suburbanites with police under a common goal—taking back their streets.
Give Kids the World Volunteer Services
Ninety-five cents of every dollar donated to Give Kids the World goes to supporting children. This is crucial for an organization that strives to do just what its name implies. Give Kids the World (GKTW), a non-profit 51-acre facility for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families, provides a week-long vacation to Central Florida for more than 4,000 families each year. Volunteers run the resort and vacations include accommodations, attraction tickets and meals, at no cost to the family.
The list of accomplishments of volunteers at GKTW is extensive. In 1998 alone, GKTW volunteers filled 617 volunteer shifts each week, served 125,000 meals in the Gingerbread House (the dining area), spent 1,460 hours operating the carousel, performed approximately 105,000 hours of volunteer service and greeted the 4,069 GKTW families at the airport. Not only do the volunteers reach out to children from around the world who visit the resort, they are an integral part of the Kids Club program that hosts monthly events for the children.
GKTW strives to prevent the resort from becoming an isolated area by reaching out to address social problems. For example, there is an eight-week volunteer endeavor sponsored by the Churches Voluntary Bureau. The event brings together about 18 Protestants and Catholics from Ireland to foster an understanding between the groups and to promote peace in Ireland. GKTW also recruits volunteers from several age groups, including college students through the Walt Disney World College Program. These students are encouraged to volunteer at GKTW and keep the spirit alive by volunteering when they return to college.
A 16-acre expansion is now under way for the GKTW village that includes 42 additional villas, a train-themed activity center, an ice cream palace, movie theater and a go-cart track. GKTW pledges to bring this service to terminally ill children for as long as there is a need. As long as there are sick children whose eyes light up at the sight of a magical place filled with color, rather than the dull whitewash of hospital walls, GKTW volunteers will work tirelessly to make their dreams come true.
Mary Lynn Morin
Educating students about the problems of hunger in the world is a top priority for Mary Lynn Morin. Every year she dedicates time to discovering new, more innovative ways to raise awareness at Winman Junior High school about this global issue. She is tireless in her pursuit to encourage children in her community to take action and lend a helping hand to those who are less fortunate. In fact, Morin helped write the Feinstein junior high program on hunger awareness that is now used in schools across the state. The program was created in conjunction with the Feinstein Foundation, a philanthropic organization.
In her capacity as coordinator of the community service program at Winman, Morin has recruited the participation of other teachers in the school. She also acts as a consultant while donating many additional hours of uncompensated time outside of school to hunger awareness and prevention initiatives. In 1996, Morin and her students sponsored a hunger poetry contest that generated poetry submissions from teachers, students, administrators, secretaries and janitors. The widespread support for the event brought the issue of hunger and homelessness to the attention of the entire school population. The contest resulted in the creation of Hungry and Homeless: An Anthology of Poetry about the Homeless, a poetry compilation that was purchased by Barnes & Noble Bookstore. In 1997, Morin’s classes compiled a cookbook titled Help for Hungry Stomachs, which contained recipes and personal comments from such notable people as President Clinton, the First Lady and Senator Chafee. Students learned about hunger, its causes and effects, while conducting research for the cookbook.
On January 29, 1998, Winman held its first Hunger Banquet, an awareness and fund-raising event organized by Morin and her students. What was unique about the event was the way in which the banquet dramatized world hunger. Fifteen percent of the ticket-holders were served a well-balanced meal, 30% were served rice and beans, and the remaining 55% only received a handful of rice and water. A soup kitchen was open to the 85% who received meager meals, emphasizing the efforts of those who help the needy. A total of $1,000 was raised at the banquet and donated to Rhode Islander’s for a Hunger Free State. The money raised from cookbook sales and the banquet was matched by the Feinstein Foundation and all proceeds went to Rhode Island charities.
Morin is still very active in engaging her students in projects about hunger in America. This year they have made a quilt to be raffled off to raise money for their selected charities. Much of the success of the students and their hard work for this cause has been inspired by Morin through her personal dedication to the cause. She has worked to ensure that the problem of hunger and how to fight it remains a constant, ongoing presence in the hearts and minds of the students, faculty and staff.
John Hornsby
Every person is truly a good person. This is the belief that motivates musician John Hornsby to help teens from low-income households in Charlottesville, VA. He seeks to keep them from falling prey to the lures of alcohol, sex or drug dependency. In doing so, John needed a vehicle through which to accomplish his goals that would be enjoyable for this younger generation and would create voluntary and mass participation. He found such a vehicle in popular music (Rock, Rap, R&B, etc.).
In June of 1995, after substantial planning and foresight, John opened the doors of the Music Resource Center—a six-studio drop-in center for 7th through 12th graders that is open six days a week, all year long. He organized a Board of Directors comprised of musicians with similar community interests and proceeded to raise money, find space for the Center and recruit staff. He now contributes anywhere from 15 to 50 hours per week to the youth music program that has affected well over 1,000 teens to date through his compassionate efforts.
Through music, John inspires these teenagers to set and achieve their goals while keeping them out of trouble and providing the opportunity for real growth. In addition to enabling them to create music, John provides an atmosphere where the youth can work cooperatively with others, gain new skills, receive meaningful mentoring and build self-respect which makes them less vulnerable to peer pressure in the long run. In this sense, John embodies the true meaning of visionary with his long-range plan to help the school kids in his community.
When making decisions regarding the Center, John follows the philosophy of “what’s best for the kids.” He has found a way to use various types of popular music in constructive ways to produce positive results with the kids. At the same time, he has impacted the lives of their families, the Center staff and the dozens of volunteers who work to help make the Center a success. John has touched the lives of many and proven that the vision of one can be mighty enough to yield change.
John, who grew up in Williamsburg, VA, has been working with community leaders in Newport News and Roanoke to establish similar music centers for youth in those cities.
Teen Coffeehouse
Started by two motivated students, Breanna Robinson and Allison Buck, the Teen Coffeehouse opened in North Adams, MA in March 1997. The area has been cited for disproportionately high rates of substance abuse, teen pregnancy and child abuse, thus giving the city’s population a bad image, with teenagers often stereotyped as potential trouble-makers. With the Teen Coffeehouse, Breanna and Allison refuse to let the young people of their town exist underneath the shadow of bad reputation and instead provide opportunities for youth to gather together in a safe environment. In doing so, they have overcome the barriers between adults and teens in the community.
Although faced with opposition from local community officials who warned that teens gathered in one area would inevitably lead to trouble, Breanna and Allison persisted in their efforts to establish the Teen Coffeehouse meetings. Together they proved that a good idea supported by hard work and determination could turn into a viable action plan. Gatherings take place twice a month at a café on Main Street in North Adams. Between February and May 1997, five coffeehouse events took place. Four of the five events attracted nearly 200 teens. The events were so successful that some had to be turned away at the door due to fire code regulations. In 1998, the Teen Coffeehouse was revived in a larger location, the Eagles Hall in North Adams. The group has been welcomed back to this location on a monthly basis.
The Teen Coffeehouse is bringing together several community organizations, each of which lend their support to the Coffeehouse events. Such groups include the CommUNITY Arts Program of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, the North Adams Police Department and the Mayor’s Office, all of which work to ensure the group’s continued success. The smoke, drug and alcohol-free café where area teens are able to congregate, socialize and enjoy music are widely supported by the adults in North Adams because it is a positive, fun environment for the city’s youth population.
Future plans for the Teen Coffeehouse events include finding a permanent home for the gatherings so that the organization can be self-sustaining. Most importantly, the teens that run this program want to see the Coffeehouse to expand to include the participation of a majority of the young people in their city. They understand firsthand the need for substance-free activities for teens that often find the movies too expensive or are unable to find transportation to events. The Teen Coffeehouse provides this service to the teen community of North Adams, emphasizing the safety of everyone who comes to enjoy a night out with their friends.
Elmer Frykman
Although he retired from Honeywell Inc., a Minneapolis based manufacturer of control systems, in 1978, Elmer Frykman’s retired years have not been spent resting quietly at home. Instead, he has taken an active leadership role in creating and ensuring the success of the Honeywell Retiree Volunteer Project (HRVP). Started in 1979, HRVP links the needs of nonprofit organizations with the skills and interest of volunteers—all Honeywell retirees. Elmer and his fellow volunteers, worked with the company to develop this program to provide much needed volunteer services to the community and allow retirees to use the skills they gained while employed.
HRVP has proved rewarding and successful for all involved—the nonprofit agencies who benefit from the volunteers’ services and the volunteers themselves who are engaged in tasks that utilize their personal skills, interests and expertise. Today, there are approximately 1,044 volunteers who support more than 300 nonprofit agencies in the Twin Cities area. HRVP volunteers have collectively donated four million service hours to their organizations—a contribution worth more than $40 million. Much of this success can be attributed to Elmer and his outstanding leadership.
A visionary and tireless worker for HRVP, Elmer’s work achievements include serving as the first chairman of the HRVP Management Committee and developing the screening process HRVP uses to recruit retiree volunteers and complete the volunteer placement process (almost 2,500 retiree volunteers have been recruited through this process). He also represents HRVP with a variety of nonprofit organizations dedicated to retirees and their concerns, and shares information about HRVP with other companies to help them establish similar programs.
It would be next to impossible to list all of the highlights of Elmer’s service to HRVP. This busy husband, father and grandfather simply understands the basic needs of people—to feel useful and appreciated—and strives to fill these needs through the HRVP program. Although Elmer is technically retired from Honeywell, his successes during this second unofficial “career” with the organization rivals the accomplishments of his previous employment and continues to touch the lives of many in the process.
Casas por Cristo
For the past six years, Casas por Cristo has been in operation as an intergenerational volunteer program that provides youth mentoring and assists homeless families with young children. Casas por Cristo volunteers help these families by constructing both short-term crisis and permanent affordable housing. The volunteer teams have constructed almost 500 single-family dwellings for needy Mexican families in El Paso County, TX and Juarez, Mexico.
Casas por Cristo is filling a crucial need in the areas they serve. El Paso and Juarez both have a shortage affordable housing units. In 1998, the 3,200 volunteers came to El Paso from 31 states, to build a home for a deserving family. After three days of intense labor, they constructed a dwelling for a family they did not know, never saw again and could not communicate with due to language barriers.
The typical Casas por Cristo group has 18-20 youth and adult sponsors, an excellent example of a hands-on mentoring program with young people learning construction skills and responsibility under adult leadership. Each group operates as a team, providing the opportunity for team-building skills and working together under adverse conditions. The program also has intergenerational teams where three generations – from grandparents to grandchildren – work together to build a home. A unique work team is their annual all-women’s team and Casas por Cristo also works with local agencies like Ft. Bliss Protestant Chapel and servicemen.
Arkansas Health Care Access Foundation, Inc.
An estimated 12 to 15% of the Arkansas population does not have health insurance and most are unable to afford the rising costs of health care. For the poor people who are ineligible for coverage by medical benefit plans such as Medicare and Medicaid, obtaining health insurance is sometimes impossible. Arkansas Health Care Access Foundation, Inc. (AHCAF) is trying to address this need by combating the disproportionate access to health care in the United States.
The operation of AHCAF, which now has 55,000 certified clients, is simple, yet effective. Clients enter the program through an uncomplicated application process at their county Department of Human Services office or Arkansas Public Health Unit. They have access to services by calling a state-wide toll-free number which refers them to volunteer physicians for non-emergency medical situations. A network of more than 1,000 physicians and 700 other health professionals and organizations volunteer to participate in the program including dentists, pharmacies, hospitals, pharmaceutical manufacturers, home health agencies and the Arkansas State Department of Health.
Benefits of this program for all involved are plentiful. The users of this program gain entry into a needed, complex and expensive system. The medical professionals have access to a simple, well-administered program that allows them to provide care to those truly in need. Finally, both the client and the Arkansas health system benefit by the potential to minimize cost by early medical intervention and less frequent visits to emergency rooms. Without these programs, research indicates the needs of the medically indigent will not be met.
The volunteer health care professionals that make up the Arkansas Health Care Access Foundation, Inc. have achieved commendable results in helping ill patients lacking health insurance. The program itself is innovative and comprehensive and is a way that the poor may receive more efficient, high quality care.
Kentucky Coalition of School Volunteer Organizations
The Kentucky Coalition of School Volunteer Organizations (KCSVO), a non-profit organization recognized by the Kentucky Department of Education, realizes that schools cannot work successfully without the integrated support from students’ families and the community. KCSVO was formed in 1992 with 22 board members and goals to establish a self-sustaining coalition of local school volunteer organizations in each school in Kentucky, to ensure volunteer training and support to local school districts, to create a network for all those associated with the school system who endorse volunteerism and to establish a state wide process of recognition of volunteer service.
KCSVO has more than 160 members and representation from across the state of Kentucky and continues to grow as more districts and schools recognize the value of school volunteers. Its conferences are designed to provide opportunities for training of school administrators, staff, parents and community members. In addition, KSCVO developed a 230 page manual, given to every new member, which outlines and explains the steps involved in starting and maintaining a volunteer program.
In an effort to recognize and reward the many volunteers that make up the programs that are in place across the state, KCSVO holds an awards luncheon each spring. Each school member may nominate one outstanding volunteer. Each nominee, along with one guest, is invited to attend the luncheon and receives a plaque in appreciation of their services to their school. From these nominees four state winners are chosen (elementary, middle school, high school, and district) and each receives an engraved clock in addition to their plaque.
KSCVO is striving to meet the needs of the students and teachers by teaching them how to take an active role in their schools, a measure that is critically important to the future success of their children. KSCVO is committed to bringing parents, community and schools together to provide a safe, productive educational environment that is conducive to learning.
Grace Lutheran Church
Grace Lutheran Church, in partnership with HOPES and Friends of New Parents programs through Lutheran Social Services, has helped fulfill the mission of service to families since 1997. Grace Lutheran Church entered the partnership with the requirement that a pastor would sit on the volunteer board and they would contribute space to hold parenting groups. The church and its congregation took the initiative to expand their role in the partnership. Christ Care Groups within the church have sponsored holiday dinners for families with everything from food to clean up included.
The partnership between HOPES/Friends of New Parents and Grace Lutheran Church has turned out to be more promising and rewarding than originally expected. This past winter, the whole parish collected hats and mittens for the parents of the children affiliated with these organizations. For the past two years, the Social Ministry has had an angel tree during the Christmas season and adopted the program’s children and mothers. A Christmas party with food, Santa and pictures is the follow-up to the angel tree celebration. Most families would not be able to have their children’s pictures taken with Santa due to restrictive financial situations. Church confirmation classes have become involved with the Christmas party plans – decorating for the party, planning activities for the children, serving dinner, and assisting with clean-up.
Most recently, Grace Lutheran Church has held a collection for shoes for the children and a baby shower. Congregation members personally donated items for the shower that included diapers, bibs, clothing, and formula. Also, whenever the church’s partners need to request something from the church, they respond in kind with more than was expected of them. Grace Lutheran Church, and all those affiliated with the church, has answered their call to service in a mighty way.
