GREG COWAN

Greg Cowan had wanted to be a Big Brother for a long time but decided to wait until his own kids were grown. When the time came, he discovered that Carbon County had no Big Brothers program but many similar programs. In January of 2000, he attended a special training by Utah’s Promise titled “Caring Adult in the Life of Each Child” at the College of Eastern Utah.

The Carbon County Caring Adults Program was created the following month with Greg elected as the chairman. The mission statement being “…to bring caring adults into the lives of all Carbon County youth by assisting other organizations in the development and/or support of mentor/caring adult programs throughout Carbon County.”

The Carbon County Caring Adult Program is now a “results” oriented program with a team of caring adults. Carbon Reads, Youth & Families With Promise, Division of Youth Corrections, Utah Foster Care, Child Care Referral and CASA all come together to work and share information in this program. The CEU Sun Center and the Division of Youth Corrections both contribute meeting space and clerical help for the program. Cowan has made recruiting presentations to several local organizations, educating all who will listen about the benefits of a positive mentoring relationship. Cowan says the main challenge is to recruit more male mentors for the boys in the program who need a male role model in their lives.

Cowan has mentored for the Division of Youth Corrections and found it very rewarding. He feels it has made a positive impact on his life. He says meeting regularly with a mentor will awaken self-esteem, instill values and encourage a purposeful life for youth. He also says statistics show youth who meet regularly with mentors are more trusting of their parents or guardians, less likely to lie and feel more supported and less threatened by their peers.

Carbon County has one of the highest percentages of teen mothers and troubled youth. This program will be a means of solving some of these serious social problems. Bryan Matsuda of the Division of Youth Corrections states “The Carbon County Caring Adult Program ensures that these local volunteer programs work together to pool their knowledge and gives volunteers one phone number to call for a wide variety of programs to serve.”

EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS LITERACY COUNCIL

Since 1970, EMLC has trained and supported more than 3,000 dedicated volunteers who have provided free literacy services for adults (both native speakers of English and new English speakers) seeking to improve their own lives. Volunteers provide services in all current programs including: one-to-one tutoring, small group tutoring, English Conversation Groups and Literacy through Technology.

Statistics compiled for the Massachusetts Department of Education estimate that more than 50,000 adults are eligible for literacy services in EMLC’s service delivery area – 20 municipalities outside of Boston. Only five programs funded by the Massachusetts Department of Education provide services in this area. EMLC’s current waiting list stands at 186 people. EMLC gives highest priority to low-income learners.

EMLC has been affiliated with Laubach Literacy for 30 years, Acton-Boxborough United Way for seven years, and the Massachusetts Department of Education for five years. For each organization, EMLC must address rigorous requirements concerning program planning and service delivery.

EMLCs tutoring program serves students who are unable to attend traditional adult education classes. In Fiscal Year 2000, EMLC’s tutoring program served 213 students including:

Low-income workers in domestic, food service, or industrial positions (approx. 35%)
Unemployed primary care providers of the elderly and children (approx. 39%)
Underpaid professionals, academically accomplished in their home countries (approx. 18%), all of whom lack the written, oral, aural, and cultural literacy required for success in our culture and promotion in the workplace. Many work two jobs for up to 60 or 70 hours per week for economic survival.
8% native English speakers; the vast majority of those learners have learning disabilities
92% ESOL learners speaking 34 different native languages

EMLC’s 260 current volunteers make a great commitment of time to help students obtain personal goals: job skill improvement, survival skills, citizenship, cultural understanding, increased parenting skills, and enrollment in higher education. Nineteen percent of EMLC learners got a better job or advanced in their current job as a result of improved literacy skills in Fiscal Year 2000. Tutors reported completion of some learning goals for all EMLC students.

EMLC exists due to the loyalty of its volunteers. Twenty-five percent of volunteers have been with EMLC for five or more years. The founder, Mildred Gilman, and her husband, Martin, have been active with EMLC for 30 years.

EMLC has much success using innovative approaching to serving students. EMLC’s most recent innovation, the Literacy through Technology program, provides volunteer mentors for literacy volunteers and literacy students wishing to improve literacy skills through use of the computer.

EMLC was located in Lexington, Mass. for 30 years. In November 2000, EMLC moved to West Medford.

ALLAN LAW

Founder and Director of Minneapolis Recreation Development, Inc. (MRD), Allan E. Law, has dedicated his entire adult life to teaching, mentoring and serving inner city Minneapolis youth. While working as a full-time 40 hour per week Minneapolis Public School teacher for 32 years (1967-1999), Law personally volunteered (after work) more than 65 hours per week in the afternoons, evenings, weekends and all summer long to provide inner city, below poverty level Minneapolis youth (ages 7-17) with free quality, recreational, educational and personal development activities. These youth would not otherwise be able to afford to participate in these activities.

From the time of his graduation from college in 1967 until 1996 he has provided after school and summertime activities for an average of 300 youth per month and entirely paid for these activities himself out of his school teacher salary. The cumulative total of Law’s after tax, personal donation to date is more than $450,000. For 29 years he funded this program entirely by himself. In 1996, it became necessary to register the MRD program as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with no salaries.

Law started the MRD program in September of 1967 to provide inner city youth with free of charge after school, weekend and summertime recreational activities. It has since evolved into just as much of a personal development, educational activity program for hundreds and thousands of youth as well as a recreation program. “Youth Builder” activities provide at risk youth with alternative to bad behavior. No other program in the area reaches out by actually going into the neighborhood to pick up youth at their front door and then deliver them home after each activity. No other program provides a full free meal (usually at McDonalds) during each activity.

Approximately 30% of the youth that Law’s program serves are stranded in emergency homeless shelters. 100% of the youth that participate in MRD “Youth Builder” activities fall below the level of poverty (qualify for free lunch at their respective schools) and 99% have no father figure in their home. Because he truly believe that a higher power put him on this earth to serve others, Law has been passionately and unselfishly working for more than 33 years to instill hope in inner city, at risk, youth and to let them know that at least one adult male cares about them and is always available to talk to them.

Since his retirement from teaching in July 1999 to date, Law’s life has been consumed with helping children, the poor and disadvantaged. He has been volunteering more than 100 hours per week (16 to 18 hour days) to build character and competence in hundreds of inner city Minneapolis youth. He also gives them direction, purpose and hope by providing them with wholesome after school, weekend and summertime activities as an alternative to crime, gangs, drugs, underage sex or idleness. Kids who otherwise might never see professional sports or take a boat ride, pile into his van – emblazoned with “Love One Another” – for trips all over town. Activities include roller skating (every Friday night for 33 years), Camp Snoopy Amusement Park at the Mall of America, Minnesota Zoo, Minneapolis Auto Show, and Minnesota Twins home games, among others. Tutoring and mentoring on topics such as staying in school, crime prevention, higher education, cultural diversity, and family and peer conflict resolution is also provided.

Late at night he personally feeds homeless persons in emergency shelters and on the street. The conservative, cumulative number of hours that he has volunteered over the last 12 months is more than 5,200. His total volunteer hours from 1967 to date, serving exclusively inner city youth and their families, is more than 125,000 hours. Dozens of former participants are currently involved in volunteer work. Law, who has never sought or wanted recognition for his tireless service, received the Minneapolis Award from Mayor Sharon Sayles-Belton for his lifetime and recent, outstanding volunteer service to Minneapolis. He brought 29 excited youth with him to the awards banquet.

CARROLL KING

Eight years ago, Carroll King became a trained volunteer instructor of the 55 ALIVE Mature Driving class or as he prefers to call it, a Defensive Driving class. His goal is to instill better driving habits into seniors who learned to drive years ago and have not changed their habits according to increased traffic and the fact that age makes updated driving skills necessary.

About 23% of Florida’s population are retired seniors over 60 years of age from different states and countries, yet Florida does not have a regular re-assessment of driver’s skills which make the highways extremely dangerous.

King holds classes four to five days per week, teaching not only the laws of driving but gently chides his students about their bad driving habits. He is the only instructor certified by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office to teach the drivers in the Neighborhood Watch Program before they are allowed to drive official cars. King’s classroom is a display of auto safety items and news clippings about driving accidents.

In 1998 and 1999, King had more classes and students than any instructor in the United States. Each year, the Prudential Insurance Company donated $1,000 to the Florida Center for the Blind in King’s honor.

King is also an active member of the Florida Lions Club. In Marion County, he has collected thousands of used eye glasses for the Lions distribution program to anyone unable to purchase glasses. He received the Lions International President’s Award for his devotion to serving others as a 55 Alive instructor. He is a member of Trinity Lutheran Church where he sings in the choir. For three years he was a trustee and opened the doors at 6:00 a.m. to prepare for an 8:00 a.m. service. King collects items for benefit yard sales and he is the official photographer for the church.

ASSETS, INC.

Assets, Inc. has been serving the city of Anchorage for more than 20 years. The organization was founded by determined parents and friends of individuals with disabilities, and for many years, was known as Alaska Specialized Employment and Training Services.

In 1980, a print shop, bindery and other labor contracts provided employment opportunities for the initial 80 adults served by Assets. Today, the print shop is still in operation, still providing high quality work. However, there is now a reduced workforce of eight individuals with disabilities in the print shop, the remaining employees have found employment in the community!

Assets has embraced change and incorporated cutting edge thinking into its service delivery system. New understandings about how individuals with disabilities are best supported have been the foundation of the service provided. People are no longer fit into programs, but now individually designed supports are created that are provided in community settings based on each person’s needs.

Assets, Inc. is the 78th largest employer in the State of Alaska, with a workforce of more than 350 employees, 65% of whom are individuals with disabilities. Each member contributes to the local economy and plays a valued role in the community.

Four years after Assets opened its doors, a contract was signed providing janitorial services at the Anchorage Airport. This was a pivotal moment in the history of the organization as it was the first of many contractual agreements established between Assets and various entities. These contracts today provide a variety of employment options to more than 200 employees, both disabled and non-disabled, in such environment as the Anchorage Area Commissary, Providence Hospital, and the Alaska State Court House System. Employees of Assets wash every dish at Providence, stock every shelf at the commissary and clean every square inch of the Courthouse!

Supported Living Service began in 1984, followed by Employment Services in 1986. In Supported Living, a combination of skill building, coaching, and resource coordination take place, assisting individuals to live in their own homes. Supported Employment assists individuals to live in their own homes. Supported Employment assists individuals to obtain and retain employment within local businesses. Assets assists each employer in hiring the right person, helping with training and working to ensure job satisfaction for both employer and employee.

Supported Living Services for Children was the last to be added in 1988. These services support children who experience severe emotional disturbances. Assets provides skill training, service coordination, and crisis response services, always striving to bring out the best in each child. The main goal is to keep children and families together, and to keep them in the State of Alaska.

ROBERT BLANKENSHIP

Robert “Bobby” Blankenship has spent his entire childhood and adulthood in Columbia, South Carolina. He worked his way to success at what is now Wachovia Bank and retired as senior vice-president almost 10 years ago. Early retirement was strange and quick for Blankenship and he soon was called to the Salvation Army to join their ranks and help with the Families Helping Families Christmas program, which was founded in Columbia in 1991.

The Families Helping Families Christmas program is a collaborative effort between its partners, volunteers, community organizations and private citizens to raise money to purchase food, gifts, and clothing for needy families at Christmastime. Since its inception in 1991, the program has increased and expanded from a program that served 200 families, to the program that today serves more than 4,000 families and elderly individuals in four counties in South Carolina.

The Families Helping Families program operates almost entirely through the generosity of volunteers. Blankenship is responsible for the recruitment of approximately 99% of the volunteers who work with the program. He is not afraid to call up old friends and remind them of their civic duty to “come down and work about 20 hours next week, to help the neediest families in Columbia.” These friends include past presidents of organizations, bank officials, retired Marine Corps members, and business people. It makes no difference from where they come; they all know and love Blankenship. During any given day there are 60-70 volunteers working for the program.

Blankenship’s volunteer position is as the volunteer coordinator and also the manager of the “toy shop.” The Toy Shop is a point of distribution that will require full-time management starting in November, when Families Helping Families will move its operation to a two-building warehouse donated by the South Carolina State Fair.

Aside from his commitment to the program, Blankenship is also committed to the families that are helping through this program. He has a notebook full of names and telephone number of people that he contacts throughout the year, “just to see if they are all right.” He has arranged for housing for people who are in need, he provides transportation, he acts as financial advisor and counselor. He does not admit to it, but it is suspected that he digs deep into his own pockets to help some of these families financially.

Blankenship has announced that after nine years with the Families Helping Families Christmas program, his family obligations have changed such that he will no longer be able to continue on the same level.

GUSSIE HAMMOCK

Gussie Hammock is a retired factory worker who has dedicated her services to the Prosecutor’s Volunteers for Victims Program since 1996. Service to the community is not just volunteer work to her; it is something she enjoys. Serving victims of crime at various levels of the criminal justice system is a passion that Hammock takes to heart.

One of her main roles is to make personal contact with crime victims in both misdemeanor and felony court cases. This initial contact makes victims aware of the resources available to them. She coordinates closely with the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office to ensure victims are reimbursed for medical bills accrued as a result of the offense. She also informs victims about community support organizations that provide protection through domestic violence shelters, local grief supoprt systems, and Rape Crisis Intervention groups just to name a few.

The most meaningful aspect of volunteering for victims is to let them know that someone cares about their welfare during this most traumatic time of their life. Hammock’s selfless efforts impact the staff as well. The courtroom can be very busy while trying to expeditiously handle every care. She has assisted the attorneys by informing them about the victims’ concerns regarding their trial. This better prepares the prosecutor to make a recommendation that includes the victim. Issues involving bond amounts, No Contact Orders, or plea bargains are all important to the victim’s perspective of the effectiveness of the criminal justice system.

Gussie Hammock is also an active advocate in Parents of Murdered Children (POMC), a nonprofit national support organization that offers support to others during the grief process of their loved one. Her involvement as a victims advocate commenced shortly after her husband of 20+ years was murdered in 1992. “Ms. Gussie,” as her friends and colleagues call her, energetically commits herself to each homicide victim’s family by attending trials, bond hearings, and parole and clemency hearings.

The Remembrance Program is a component of POMC in which survivors receive letters of support from advocates. Hammock writes “thinking of you” notes coinciding with the anniversary date of the passing of person’s loved one. She also assists in coordinating a candlelight vigil on the National Day of Remembrance. This day memorializes the life of the murdered family member. Hammock actively participates in the Department of Community Punishment’s Victim/Offender Program. She shares her personal experiences caused by crimes such as thefts and burglaries to non-violent offenders. The goal is to give the offender the victim’s viewpoint and to reduce the recidivism rate.

During the trial process, the defendant’s rights are heavily protected while the victim often feels defenseless against the justice system. It is at this most vulnerable time that the assistance of a concerned citizen becomes a valuable component in the process of healing. Hammock’s unwavering service to the community affects everyone. It is a comfort to know that when crime strikes, a person like Gussie Hammock is in the victim’s corner.

MARY ELLEN STANEK

Since 1887, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee has served children from disadvantaged circumstances with quality after-school programs. 1999 was a turning point for the organization. Although they were already reaching 10,000 kids annually, they were only skimming the surface of need in the community. There were still numerous children at-risk for succumbing to the streets.

In response to Colin Powell’s America’s Promise – a challenge to serve more children – the organization set a goal of doubling membership to 20,000 by the end of 2000. To accomplish this strategic plan, known as Vision 2020, they were charged with raising a record $14 million. Without hesitation, Mary Ellen Stanek was asked to chair the campaign.

A member of the Board of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee since 1997, Stanek wanted to deepen her involvement with the Clubs. Vision 2020 presented a perfect opportunity, so she signed on.

Stanek devoted herself to the cause, attending meetings, interpreting financial reports, and lending advice. She shared a gift for motivating others to get involved with Vision 2020. With her engaging personality, she helped secure some sizable contributions crucial to the success of the campaign. In addition, she served as a resource for her colleagues on the Board, offering help and insight in regard to their own fundraising efforts for the Clubs.

Stanek impresses everyone with her unwavering dedication to children. She never forgets that the Clubs are not about fundraising – they are about serving kids. She often visits the central-city facilities and is eager to talk to members, getting right down on the floor with them.

Through this gentle approach, Stanek calls attention to serious social problems (i.e., violence and poverty in children’s lives) in a unique, refreshing way. She humanizes what the Clubs are all about. She does not rattle off statistics or preach; instead, she shows people, through her actions and words, that children are worthy of attention. Again and again, Stanek turns heads and raises awareness with her straightforward and loving way of supporting Club members.

Without Stanek, Vision 2020 would still be a dream. In December 2000, the organization met its goal of 20,000 and also surpassed the financial goal, arriving at $18.2 million! They are now extending their services to serve neighborhoods where children have been in need. Moreover, the organization is financially secure, able to sustain its growth. These successes are due to Mary Ellen Stanek.

In addition to the Clubs, Stanek serves on the boards for Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin Foundation, Safe & Sound, Junior Achievement and Marquette University. She is a past president and board member of Betty Brinn Children’s Museum. Last year, she won the Marquette University Person for Others Award and the Milwaukee Business Journal’s Women of Influence Award for her community involvement.

CENTER FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND COMMUNITY

Established in 1994 through a W. K. Kellogg Foundation grant, the Center for Social Responsibility and Community (CSRC) emphasizes an opportunity-oriented approach to social issues. The center helps students develop a strong sense of social responsibility and the necessary skills to continue throughout their lives as leaders in business, government, education, and the social sector.

The Center supports the development and implementation of new solutions to existing social needs by engaging students in hands-on experiences in our community. Faculty and community members play an active role in supporting creative thinking, enhancing student leadership, and building capacity in the community for the college’s students.

Student values, attitudes and behavior have changed as a result of their involvement in the Center. In addition, students develop empathy with the clients they serve in their volunteer, internship or service-learning placements. Some continue with their initial agency after their voluntary involvement. Additionally, students’ self-concepts expand when they are seen and utilized as valuable resources.

The Center uses several strategies to promote opportunities-oriented social enterprises:

Offering quality volunteering, service-learning and internship opportunities
Providing a student-led and run information and referral office
Collaborating and partnering among administration, faculty, students, community agencies and campus clubs and organizations
Administering an AmeriCorps/Rural School Empowerment Program
Offering American Humanics training and professional certification
Offering consulting to nonprofit organizations and counseling to students to promote social entrepreneurship

Currently, CSRC serves more than 90 nonprofit organizations and is an active part of Nonprofit Leadership Forum operating in Oneonta. More than 20% (1,000 students) of SUNY College at Oneonta students are involved with the Center and 15 students are working towards an American Humanics Professional Certificate in nonprofit leadership. The Center’s AmeriCorps program has nearly 100 members serving Otsego County’s elementary schools. The CSRC program has been replicated in eight different universities and dissemination is currently taking place as far as in Helsinki, Finland, in the form of open lectures on social responsibility. Thirty percent of CSRC’s graduates work in international workplaces, thus impacting global communities. Other programs that CSRC is involved include CNS Service-Learning Initiative, SCALE Literacy Training, VISTA, Boy Scouts’ Pop-Corn Sale and many other projects.

As an example of various projects, this year CSRC received a $5,000 grant to promote service-learning in 21st Century schools in the Oneonta area from CNS/Binghamton School District as well as a $7,000 grant from SCALE to provide monthly workshops in literacy education.

ANNA PANAYIOTOU

Anna Panayiotou is the founder and chairwoman of Bayonne 2000: Cleaner and Greener, the City of Bayonne’s voluntary community forestry and clean-up group. Panayiotou, a teacher at Washington School in Bayonne, founded Cleaner and Greener five years ago with the goal of making Bayonne “a model urban forest, cleaner and greener, by the year 2000.” Like-minded teachers, students, public officials and business people joined in because they wanted to improve the environment in the community.

Thanks to Panayiotou, Cleaner and Greener brings together children and teachers from the public and private schools, forestry workers from the Bayonne Department of Public Works, Parks and Recreation, and business supporters. Cleaner and Greener sponsors clean-up campaigns, tree-planting programs, gardening classes and guest speakers who promote cleaner and greener communities. The group also presents non-competitive awards to students for cleaning, painting and composting.

Under Panayiotou’s leadership, Bayonne 2000: Cleaner and Greener holds planning meetings involving students, teachers and public officials. They reach out to parent-teacher associations and organizations to help plan school-based activities. Cleaner and Greener activists work with the City of Bayonne on tree order forms for the general public. Ordinary residents are empowered by getting a choice of trees, flower barrels and other plant life.

Working with the City of Bayonne, Cleaner and Greener has sparked the planting of nearly 4,000 trees during the last five years, at schools and on residential and business properties. Other trees have been planted around municipal buildings and in parks. Thousands of students have learned about the environment. Hundreds of students have been involved in tree-plantings, clean-ups and other activities. Dozens of adults have taken gardening courses. The Cleaner and Greener activities have made Bayonne residents more aware of forestry and the importance of trees and the environment.

Cleaner and Greener has staged successful visits to Bayonne by Senator Gaylord Nelson, the founder of Earth Day, and Tim Womick, founder of the National Trail of Trees. Municipal policy has become more tree-friendly and there is now a municipal tree ordinance. Tree-planting ceremonies have become a part of public life. The City of Bayonne has an agreement with the Bayonne Housing Authority to take care of trees at public housing projects. Panayiotou and Cleaner and Greener have earned recognition from the National Arbor Day Foundation, which recognizes Bayonne as a Tree City USA.

Anna Panayiotou has brought together volunteers with public and private sector organizations. The Bayonne 2000: Cleaner and Greener Committee is the key force for tree-planting, clean-ups and environmental consciousness-raising. The Bayonne Department of Public Works, Parks and Recreation provides the manpower for a major portion of tree-planting and tree maintenance in the community. The Bayonne Board of Education encourages public school teachers and students to become involved in Cleaner and Greener activities. The McDonald’s Restaurant of 25th Street provides financial support for Cleaner and Greener programs.