MARK AND LINDA STALEY

Compassion In Action, Inc. (CIA) is an outreach ministry and educational program for women who are incarcerated. Their families are also welcomed to the programs and services offered by CIA. One of their many services is to interact with the children of the participants during their incarceration to build the foundation for the reconciliation of the family when the client is able to come home. CIA recruits and train families for this special service; one of their volunteer families was Mark and Linda Staley.

A CIA participant gave birth to her child while incarcerated at Douglas County Corrections Center. In order to keep the infant from being lost in the system, the Staley’s volunteered to care for her until her mother was released. Once Machaela came into the Staley’s home, they noticed several abnormalities that needed medical attention. Machaela was shortly diagnosed with severe Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Because of this, she had to undergo several surgeries for her respiratory and digestive system. The Staley’s home was turned into a hospice care unit for little Machaela. She needed constant room temperature controls, a dust free environment, around-the-clock monitoring and constant care. The Staley children welcomed Machaela and thought of various ways they could help their parents that were suited to their own personal abilities.

The family did not take on Machaela as a “project”, but they loved her, as she was their own child. She was showered with constant love an attention daily. The Staley’s knew how important the developmental years are in infants so they worked hard to give her the special attention she deserved. Machaela was surrounded in an environment of love.

Special skills were needed for Machaela’s care. The Staley’s learned how to change the Trachea tube in her neck that was necessary for her to breath. They also helped her play and develop her mobile skills to the best of her ability. Initially, The Staley’s were childcare providers through CIA, but they had to do more to be able to give her the care she needed. So the Staley’s got legal custody of Machaela. Machaela’s mother agreed the care for her daughter was far beyond her ability, and she felt blessed that a loving family was willing to love her so unconditionally. Machaela continued to be an integral part of the family as well as the Staley’s church home.

On Tuesday, January 5, 1999, Machaela passed in her sleep. The Staleys and their children experienced much sorrow. There was a deep void in their home with all Machaela’s medical equipment and toys. Their hearts were broken, but they had to remember Machaela was a blessing to them. Though she had challenges, she was a strong and determined little lady. Though she did not make it so see her second birthday on January 23rd, she showed strength of character and lived against the monumental odds when was born with. There was a joy for the life and love she experienced because of the Staley’s in what many may have looked at as an “unfortunate situation”. Machaela was fortunate to have a loving life, though it was short, because the Staleys dared to care.

RANDY POVEY

In May 2000, Randy Povey was chosen as the Central Oregon Volunteer of the Year in Deschutes County. He was picked out of a field of 22 nominees from various volunteer agencies in the area.

Redmond is a small Central Oregon city of about 12,500 citizens. It is in the process of transition from a small, farming and logging community to a larger, multi-use area and is facing many of the issues that accompany growth, but does not yet have the extreme poverty and crime that many large cities face.

Randy Povey has lived in Redmond for more than 30 years and has volunteered in one way or another for all of that time. Some of his activities include 23 years as a volunteer firefighter and EMT, city councilor (volunteer position) for 12 years, and founder and organizer of the Redmond Flag Committee, a volunteer group which has collected close to 600 flags that have been flown over the Capitol Building in Washington, DC and displays them throughout Redmond every 4th of July, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Flag Day, Fair Parade Day and Labor Day.

Randy Povey feels that “the strength of a community can be measured by its interest and commitment to youth activities.” One of the problems common to small communities is a lack of things for young people to do. For many years, the only playing fields for youth sports were at the high school and middle school and, as the population grew, they became more crowded. Povey gathered community members and contractors and over a period of several years the group of volunteers built two large sports complexes, both of which include several fields for baseball and soccer.

As a city councilor, Povey recently helped a group of youth and parents realize a long-term goal of building a permanent facility for skateboarding in one of the city parks. The project faced several years of opposition from community members and businesses, but with Povey’s help the group was able to answer questions and solve the problems.

Several community members have said that if you need something done in Redmond, get Randy Povey involved and it will be done. This statement was proven when he organized a group of volunteers to build a large parking lot at the new county fair and expo center in order to be ready for the annual fair.

Although he is no longer a city councilor, he continues to be a volunteer in Redmond to help the community move through the growth process and remain a livable city.

LISA YOUNG

Lisa Young has been involved with the Pleasant Grove Youth City Council and Youth Court for over five years. She serves in this capacity as a volunteer and puts in over 25 hours per week on the average. Some weeks her service is over 60 hours. Lisa does this along with being a wife to her husband, Russ, and mother to four boys.

As the city advisor to the Youth City Council, she gives the young men and women the opportunity to see how their local government works. Lisa offers them the chance to have hands-on activities to experience what it takes to be a leader. Many of these young people would never have been able to participate in leadership roles because they are unable to get elected or named to positions of leadership in school or church. Lisa comes up with innovative types of service and leadership activities for these young people to do for the community. This includes organizing and inviting parade entries into the annual city celebration, Strawberry Days. This involves over 40 young people who send out letters to prospective entries, follow up with letters and phone calls, and line up the entries on parade day. They also clean up the parade route after the event is over.

Each spring as the high water comes out of the canyons above town, people are needed to fill and place sandbags. The town can always depend on Lisa. They make one call to her and she puts the youth to work. They call and organize groups and the town has all the sandbags needed in a matter of hours. Lisa is helps teach the people, and then she stands back and lets them use the knowledge they have gained. She knows that in some cases they will make mistakes, but she always turns these mistakes into a positive learning experience.

The Youth Court is handled by this same group of youth. They serve as judges and juries for minor legal infractions involving other young people. Many times when there is a certain problem in the city that involves youth, this Youth Court will step in and hear the cases and give out the punishment. The cases run from under age smoking to vandalism, trespassing, etc. As these young lawbreakers come to court with their parents, they are given a trial and if found guilty they are assigned community work hours. If they fail to do the work they go to Juvenile Court. There are very few repeat offenders. In fact, Lisa and her group have many of these former lawbreakers who want to become part of the Youth Court program. Again, Lisa stays in the background and watches and teaches these future leaders of our community.

Lisa is teaching these young people, who would most likely never get a leadership opportunity. She works to inspire them and show them how to make themselves better leaders for our future. She has helped more than 500 young people since she has begun to serve her community.

WAYCROSS KIWANIS CLUB

The Waycross Kiwanis Club is a civic organization that provides service to the community. They are also a networking system for business and professional community members. The club has 60 active members, and the Board of Directors and Committee Chairpersons provide leadership for the community projects that they select.

One of the highly successful programs is the Bring A Book/ Read To A Kid Program. For the past four years, The Young Children: Priority One Committee members have worked with the local Head Start Program in three areas: Bring A Book, Donation of Money and Read Aloud To A Child. Last year, the Club also participated in Christmas in April, they collected trash along their adopted mile of the South Georgia Parkway, and they delivered ice cream and carnations to the local nursing home residents.

The Club has partnered in the Bring A Book Program. The club members have donated more than 823 books for children. The Club has also donated more than $1,500 to the Head Start Reading Is Fundamental Program. This aided the program in meeting its 25% local match required by the federal criteria. This match has allowed 1,144 low-income children to receive three free books to take home. It is intended for the initial three books to become the foundation of what one-day will be the children’s home library. For many of the children, these were their very first books.

In addition to this, The Club partners with the Head Start center and read to the children. Approximately 12 to 15 members schedule volunteer time to donate 20 minutes to read to a child. The Kiwanis Club also partners with Head Start last year, and they participated in the National TV-Turnoff Week from April 24th through the 30th. This effort works to encourage reading and other past-times. Many children now focus on TV as a hobby and lose opportunities to participate in sports, talk, think about other things, and be creative. The purpose of the week is to take an extended break from a medium, which consumes so much of our time.

The Waycross Kiwanis Club has been recognized throughout the State for their work in the community. They serve many groups in the community but particularly work to improve the needs of hundreds of children in the Ware County area. The community is very supportive of the Kiwanis. Many non-profits may have concerns about volunteers; however, they are fortunate in that they get an abundance of volunteer support. They are planning to have a workshop to allow other programs to duplicate this effort.

INTERMOUNTAIN THERAPY ANIMALS

Human beings are beginning to recognize that animals are a significant health tonic. The movement to incorporate animals into healthcare settings has grown rapidly in the last few years, and Intermountain Therapy Animals (ITA) is one of its strongest proponents. ITA trains and certifies volunteers and their pets as Pet Partners©. Once certified, Pet Partner teams go to hospitals, schools, libraries, senior care centers and youth detention facilities to provide animal-assisted therapy (ATT). ITA is affiliated with the Delta Society, an international organization headquartered near Seattle, Washington that provides testing and training standards for animal/handler teams. Today, ITA has more than 250 teams that give more than 12,000 hours of service each year. Most ITA programs are located in Utah, however, they have recently expanded with chapters in Bozeman, Montana, Twin Falls, Idaho and Reno, Nevada.

ITA volunteers reach out to clients in many kinds of health care facilities to assist with their recovery. Adding an animal to the prescription often seems to open the doors that inspire people to decide to heal and to participate in the important therapies that will help them do so. AAT has proven to be a valuable therapeutic tool with physical, speech, occupational and psychotherapies as well as special education. Clients with brain and spinal cord injuries, those in substance abuse rehabilitation, and children who have suffered emotional and sexual abuse are some of the populations that ITA works with. The ITA teams visit clients at Primary Children’s, McKay-Dee Hospitals, Primary Children’s Residential Center and the University of Utah’s Medical Center. At the University of Utah Medical Center, ITA teams see patients in the Rehabilitation Unit, the Burn Unit and the surgical waiting room. ITA volunteers also go to LDS Hospital, Shriner’s Hospital for Children, Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind and Utah Youth Services’ Observations & Assessment facilities. The ITA teams serve more than 75 facilities.

ITA’s clients are people of all ages, from all economic backgrounds, races and ethnic groups. Many are the disadvantaged and abused, physically and emotionally disabled.

Pet Partners are uniquely qualified to serve all of its individual clients. The animals are not prejudiced; they have no language or cultural barriers. They are trained to address the needs of their clients. Research results document the positive benefits of AAT, including lower blood pressure, decreased stress, decreased depression and increased client motivation to participate in the therapy necessary to make progress toward healing.

ITA is a comprised of volunteers who donate their time and energy to provide AAT free of charge to all their clients. Although volunteers do not serve for praise, their dedication and commitment have resulted in considerable recognition. Among awards that have been given to the organization or to individual volunteers are Utah Governor Mike Leavitt’s Point of Light Award, the HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital annual award to the group that did the most to improve the lives of those with disabilities, an award from The University of Utah’s Bennion Center Award for Creative Community Leadership, the Annual Award of the Utah Recreational Therapists Association for Outstanding Program of the Year and the 1999 Utah Animal Organization of the Year Award.

URBAN PEAK

Urban Peak was founded in 1988 by members of the Capitol Hill community, in Denver, Colorado, in response to the growing numbers of homeless youth gathering in the neighborhood. What began as a drop-in center and street outreach program has evolved into a full service agency providing a complete continuum of services to homeless and runaway youth.

Urban Peak is truly unique in that it is the only agency in Colorado providing programs exclusively for homeless and runaway youth, including licensed emergency overnight shelter dedicated to homeless and runaway youth under the age of 21. Urban Peak has many different programs: street outreach, emergency shelter, GED classes, job training and placement, medical care, case management, and housing assistance. Each youth that comes into the shelter is required to commit to a carefully monitored case plan for how he/she will exit life on the streets. The youth are required to follow rules, help with chores, and adhere to their case plan in order to stay at the shelter. For youth under 18, contact is made with the legal guardian within 24 hours to determine if the youth can return to a safe home.

Urban Peak operates an extensive volunteer program. Volunteers help with street outreach, tutor youth in the school and computer lab, help with meals, work in the medical clinic and mentor the youth. In 2000, 647 youth received services through Urban Peak. Forty-eight percent of those youth left the streets permanently.

In 1999 Urban Peak Housing Corporation was established to provide housing for homeless and runaway youth. This corporation owns and operates a 17-unit apartment complex and master leases two additional offsite units. These units provide a permanent housing opportunity for youth with disabilities. In 2000, 33 youth were served, with an average length of stay of nine months.

In December of 2000, Urban Peak Colorado Springs was established after the Colorado Springs community asked for help serving its own homeless youth population. Currently drop-in services such as case management, job training and placement, GED classes, and medical care are provided in this community.

PAMELA J. ATKINSON

For nearly 14 years in her role as Vice President of Mission Services at Intermountain Health Care, Pamela Atkinson was exposed to the dire needs in the community and determined to do something to help. She had a corporate responsibility, which includes assessing and planning to meet the health care needs of the under-served. But Pamela wanted to do more personally and volunteered as a citizen of the community to advocate for the homeless and low- income populations, focus her concerns on the needs of the children in these groups.

The outcome of Atkinson’s work was two-fold. First, she felt that having health care available tin close proximity to the children was primary. So she developed school-based clinics at Lincoln Elementary and Rose Park Elementary in Salt Lake, that serve children and their families from space allocated in the school. Then, in a low-income zip code area of Salt Lake City that has no physician offices or clinics, she established the David E. Salisbury IHC Neighborhood Clinic, a community-based clinic at a multi-cultural center that provides care to children and families at little or no cost. Secondly, Atkinson determined to focus on reaching out to low-income families through health assessment fairs held at local schools.

Atkinson volunteered every Thursday morning on the Volunteers of America Homeless Outreach van, searching through the homeless camps to reach those in need. She filled the van with donations of toiletries, socks, underwear and sleeping bags from IHC employees, Boy Scouts and individuals. She also carried all of these same items in her own car to use when she helped serve dinner at the Salvation Army three times a month. If she found a need to be met, you could be certain to see her with the back of her car open digging through bags and boxes to find just the right item to help.

Not only did Pamela serve the human homeless population – she did not forget the animals of her homeless friends. As she was often known to comment, “Sometimes a homeless person’s dog or cat is their only source of love and companionship.” IN an effort to help this specific animal population, Atkinson carried dog food in her car just to make sure these pets had food to eat. If one of the pets became ill, she would refer her homeless friend to a local veterinarian and pay for the treatment out of her own pocket.

Even though Atkinson retired from IHC in January of 2002, she continues to serve on the boards of several community health centers and homeless clinics; on planning committees and boards of agencies that serve the homeless; and enlists the help of those within the community to help others. Her deeply personal desire to serve those who are the most in need of help will continue through her personal volunteer efforts for years to come.

AARP

In 1958, retired California educator, Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus founded the American Association of Retired persons (AARP). It is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization for people 50 and over. They provide information and resources, advocate on legislative, consumer and legal issues, assist members to sere their communities, and offer a wide range of unique benefits, products and services for its members. Today AARP has over 34 million members, and they celebrate the attitude that age is not just a number but it is about how you live your life.

AARP’s business is serving people, and on December 6, 2001 they announced a Call to Service to all of its members. They wanted to aid their members in renewing their commitment to volunteer service in their neighborhoods and communities. The Call was issued to a broad audience that included national newspapers and AARP national publications. AARP invited members to ignite their commitment by calling their national toll-free number and creating member response kits to support people by informing them on what is available and how to best use their time and energy to address serious community issues. They joined with other national organizations and their local affiliates to offer a wider range of volunteer opportunities.

As a result of the Call to Service, an excess of 2,000 staff members, 50 chapters and hundreds of volunteers gave more than 6,000 hours of volunteer service. An excess of 20 schools nationwide received aid in reading, tutoring, mentoring and beautification or cleaning projects. Ketchum Elementary School in Washington, DC even received a visit from AARP President Tess Canja after losing a star student and dedicated teacher in the Pentagon crash. Due to the Call, thousands of meals were prepared and delivered to homebound persons, more than three tons of food was collected, sorted and packed for local food banks and pantries and hundreds of nursing home residents were visited and provided with entertainment. In addition, tens of thousands of articles of clothing, books and toys were collected, sorted, tagged and organized. A former crack house was transformed into a women’s shelter, an excess of 20 home building or modification projects were completed and 250 flag pins were made and delivered to veterans on the anniversary of Pearl Harbor.

AARP members are continuing to make a difference. They launched a new AARP/US Department of Navy project in Norfolk, Virginia to mobilize naval personnel to repair homes so that older persons can continue to maintain independence. In the wake of the September 11 tragedy, AARP also expanded its Grief and Loss Programs to help victim’s families. AARP is still working to update and share their program materials and expand their capacity to deliver peer support through trained outreach volunteers.

The December 6th Call to Service was a rebirth for AARP’s members but only the beginning of future community service opportunities. They are realizing the broader need of supporting nonprofit organization in communities across the nation because they face shortages of volunteers, supplies and funding. AARP will continue to inspire and motivate their members to participate throughout the year in efforts to continue to improve community life. AARP is daily living their motto: “To serve, not to be served.”

CAL STATE FULLERTON VOLUNTEER AND SERVICE CENTER

The mission of the Cal State Fullerton Volunteer & Service Center is to build partnerships with the surrounding community, develop civic minded individuals by providing community volunteer opportunities and cultivate leadership skills in students, faculty, staff and students so that they continue to broaden their knowledge and serve their communities. This past year a record number of Cal State Fullerton students volunteered in the Orange County community. More than 600 students performed approximately 20,000 hours of service to 5,000 community members through the Volunteer & Service Center community-based programs. This does not include the thousands of hours committed to service by hundreds of individual clubs, Greek organizations or outside partnerships.

The Cal State Fullerton Volunteer and Service Center serves as a vehicle for placing volunteers in a variety of sponsored community-based programs and volunteer opportunities. The placement serves to address issues such as illiteracy, hunger and homelessness, the environment, health and mentoring. The Volunteer & Service Center is that galvanizing force, bringing these partners together to take a proactive stance in building and sustaining the local community.

Adopting the mantra, “It’s your world, change it!” the Volunteer & Service Center is comprised of a dozen student-initiated, student-run community-based programs. Cal State Fullerton students sought out and identified partnerships with local schools, homeless shelter/resources, environmental organizations, and national and local nonprofit grassroots organizations to identify resources and both community and student needs. These actions resulted in a myriad of projects. They provided 14,000 hours of after-school tutoring with children that are considered ‘high risk,’ coordinated weekly college motivational workshops by volunteer ‘Buddies’ for more than 350 fourth graders for a all-day campus visit which included classes taught by faculty volunteers and visits to student services departments and they engaged international college students with elementary schools to share about their cultures and issues of diversity to more than 700 youth in Anaheim.

The Volunteer & Service Center has also provided in excess of 650 hours reading and mentoring children at a local homeless shelter, assisted in computer lab with low-income children as mentors at a local elementary school who expressed their desperate need and provided one-on-one weekly mentoring to junior high school students whom are struggling socially and academically. They coordinate a campus campaign on raising awareness and funds for victims of domestic violence also.

Cal State Fullerton students are making a difference and understanding that it only takes one to change the world. This indeed has been a positive example of students committing to the idea of utilizing their information learned in the classroom and developing leadership skills for the benefit of serving others.

HOWARD WATKIN

C. Howard Watkin retired in 1985, after 40 years as Court Reporter of the 6th Judicial District Court. He was the last court reporter of his kind that actually recorded court proceedings in shorthand and transcribed them himself. He is now 81 years old and continues to help the court out in emergencies today.

Watkin has been a volunteer with the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) for 16 years and has been involved with volunteer efforts in Sevier County all of his adult life. He served as secretary of the Richfield Chamber of Commerce in excess of 20 years and won the Distinguished Service Award in 1951. Watkin has been president of both the Rotary Club and Junior Chamber of Commerce, secretary of the Junior Livestock Show for 15 years and chairman of his Neighborhood Watch for seven years. He is very active in local community theater activities and sings in his Ward Choir.

During the past 13 years, Watkin has been helping to provide the Five Fundamental Resources for more than 400 students at Pahvant Elementary in Richfield, Utah, and he has touched the lives of hundreds of other youth in Sevier. Watkin has provided the children in Sevier County with an ongoing relationship with an adult that cares for them, safe places to congregate, a healthy start, an effective education and marketable skills and allowed them to participate in activities that provide service to others.

Some of Watkin’s service has been working in Mrs. Ames’ 4th and 5th grade classrooms. He does theater in the round, puppet shows, reader’s theater and nursery rhymes. He works diligently with the students in reading, teaching them to speak properly and to have respect for others. Watkin also takes the students on field trips to the Sevier County Jail, the 6th District Court and to the local Radio Station annually.

Watkin has worked on Character Education Topics with the students, he teaches them responsibility and the importance of it, and he gives the children an opportunity to report on live radio all they have learned in their classroom. In addition, Watkin has participated in the Safe at Home program through the Sevier County Sheriff’s Office. He handles the Halloween Safety Play and the students are able to perform at each elementary school in their county’s school district. Watkin is proud to know that since the children have been taking the play to the elementary schools, no one has been hit by a car or sustained other trick-or-treat related accidents.

Watkin has developed a relationship with the children. By his example, he has proven to them that they are special and he cares for them. He is consistent in his service and the children feel important that he chooses to spend so much time with them. Watkin is not only working to educate the children and help them with their schooling, but he works even harder at teaching them life-skills.