Ginger Katz

In 1997, Virginia “Ginger” Katz founded The Courage to Speak Foundation, a non-profit organization whose mission is “to save lives by inspiring youth to be drug free” through fostering education and open communication about drug and alcohol abuse. After her promising 20-year-old son Ian Eaccarino died of an accidental drug overdose in 1996, Katz vowed to do everything in her power to prevent such a tragedy from devastating other families. She was stunned to discover the pervasiveness of illegal substances in her Connecticut community, even among kids barely into their teens. All children are “at risk.”

For the past five years, at middle-schools and high schools, colleges, churches and civic organizations, and more recently at prestigious national “prevention conclaves, Katz has given more than 300 presentations to thousands of young people and the adults who care about them. In an intensely personal 60-minute presentation about a family shattered by drugs, Ginger exhorts young people to develop “the courage to speak” when they or a friend are in trouble, and to have at least three adults in their lives with whom they are able to share their secrets. Her hard-hitting presentation is enhanced by a professional Power-Point display (funded by a Fleet Bank) providing up-to-the-minute information and statistics on substance abuse and prevention.

Katz’s message emphasizes that substance abuse endangers not only the individual, but also the family and the entire community; where there are illegal drugs, statistics show there are gangs and guns, criminality and violence, murders and suicides. Today leading educators, prevention specialists and government and law enforcement officials in communities nationwide are recognizing Katz’s work.

Perhaps the greatest testament to Ginger’s effectiveness as a mentor and a catalyst for change, are the thousands of communications she receives from young people via e-mail after her presentations, and through the Foundation’s bilingual website www.couragetospeak.org – funded by Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services). Ginger responds to each message personally and immediately, providing confidential referrals to young people and their families in crisis. A “Courage to Speak” workbook is being developed to guide teachers in providing crucial, ongoing follow-up in the classroom. Ginger has also launched The Courage to Speak Support Group, a lifeline for parents who have lost children to drugs.

This support group and a small percentage of Katz’s presentations have been funded by modest grants from government, private and corporate sources, but the vast majority of Ginger’s expenses (“Courage to Speak” video, travel, presentation and follow-up) are barely covered and remain out-of-pocket. Only rarely has she ever received her full honorarium – a fee designed to help the Foundation grow and meet its goals – and many of her presentations are donated. Each year Katz, who in 2000 was named “Connecticut Woman of the Year” by the Connecticut Post, is the driving force behind a star-studded basketball tournament that serves as the Foundation’s annual fundraiser. At age 54, Katz is a Senior Olympic athlete in basketball and running another way she (by example) successfully inspires young people to achieve their dreams.

Consumer Credit Counseling Service

Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Southern Nevada (CCCS) , established in 1974, is a non-profit-United Way organization certified by HUD as a comprehensive housing counseling agency. Three primary services are provided, in English and Spanish, to any member of the community and most services are entirely free of charge: individual financial counseling, debt repayment/consolidation and financial education. CCCS, as the premier credit counseling agency, has partnered with financial institutions to create options for residents that will lead them to financial solvency such as Fresh Start Checking which recently was awarded the 2002 CRA Award by the Federal Home Loan Bank and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

September 11th required CCCS to draw upon all their reserves to assist with the additional financial needs faced by Las Vegas. Unemployment and under-employment exploded overnight. Over 15,000 residents suddenly found themselves unemployed and thousands of others found themselves with shortened workweeks. Many of those affected had never before dealt with financial predicaments and had no idea of resources available, much less how to access them. Families that had never before considered themselves at risk suddenly faced potential homelessness. CCCS, at the request of the United Way, American Red Cross and other organizations associated with Helping Hands I (a program created by over 25 local non-profit and governmental agencies designed to provide a one-stop resource shop for those affected by 9/11) agreed to be the fiscal agent for those disbursing over $525,000 to landlords throughout the valley on behalf of the recipients and meeting the demands for accountability of the money disbursed. This project helped keep 800 families from becoming homeless.

Helping Hands II was established at the Community College of Southern Nevada campus. In addition to providing the resources found at Helping Hands I, CCCS was asked by community members such as the MGM Mirage and Park Place Entertainment to provide individual confidential financial counseling to displaced workers. Assistance with housing issues and prioritizing and controlling expenses were among the services provided. CCCS would serve almost 400 displaced workers and their families through this forum.

The above requests came on top of an incredible increase in the normal workload of CCCS. The agency regularly provides services in Southern Nevada over 90 hours each week to more than 1,000 individuals/families. October 2001 saw an increase of over 60% in direct requests for assistance. Incorporating the over 1,200 families/individuals helped through the special programs listed above meant CCCS’ requests for assistance increased almost 300%. Even with limited staff, all needs were met. Helping Hands II took advantage of CCCS staff and local volunteers, trained in a very short time period. The devoted staff of CCCS, working six days per week and most working 10-12 hours each day, met all other needs. The agency and staff realized the services they provided were imperative (and offered by no other agency) and any and all effort needed to meet the needs of the community were expended.

Volunteer Program of The Children’s Shelter

Volunteers are part of what is best about The Children’s Shelter. The Shelter is a private, nonprofit, nationally accredited agency that has provided emergency shelter and adoption services to San Antonio and Bexar County children since 1901. Today, the Shelter also offers foster care, child development services, abuse prevention programs, and nationally recognized teen pregnancy programs. Its mission is to effect positive change in the lives of children through advocacy and quality serviced focused on protection, intervention and prevention.

To frightened children who are brought to the door, the Shelter provides love, safety and volunteers hugging and telling them how special they are.

Volunteers—160 individuals and 70 groups—give more than 14,000 hours a year to abused, abandoned and neglected children who are in the care of The Children’s Shelter. They hold and rock infants, read stories, play games, and help with meals. They teach preschoolers, parents/caregivers and teachers about personal safety and abuse prevention. They work in administrative offices and on special projects such as golf tournaments, school supply drives and radio-thons. When there are foster parent meetings, volunteers are there to take care of the children.

The Shelter continually works to build relationships with community, corporate and civic groups throughout the area. Every week, they participate in children’s activities that include field trips, parties and game nights.

Volunteer screening is rigorous, and the program requires eight hours of orientation and training. Volunteer ages range from 18 to 77. The Volunteer Council facilitates dialogue to address the strengths, weaknesses and growth of the volunteer program. Council members represent each Shelter program and serve as a source of communication between volunteers and the agency. The Council Chair sits on the agency-wide Continuous Quality Improvement Committee. A monthly newsletter fosters a sense of community and gives volunteers the opportunity to learn about one another. This year, 150 volunteers representing individuals and groups attended the Shelter’s Annual Recognition Banquet to receive thanks for their dedication.

During April’s Volunteer Appreciation Week, the staff wear a “We Love Our Volunteers” sticker. If a volunteer does something special, staff will present him/her with a certificate stating, “I caught you in the act of caring.” Quarterly socials hosted by the Council for all volunteers are held at different locations around the city.

Recently, one of the Shelter’s long-time volunteers, Gordon Wing, received the health and human services “Volunteer of the Year” award from the United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County. The city’s largest awards program recognizes those who have dedicated their time and talents in service to others.

Jerry Hawver

Jerry Hawver has been a mentor to a boy at Alexander Children’s Center since January 2002. A retired professional with grown children and a wife in the social services field, Hawver wanted to devote some of his spare time to making a difference in a child’s life. Staff at Alexander Children’s Center truly feel that he has accomplished that goal during the past year.

Although the Children’s Center only require visits once per week, Hawver spends time with his mentee 2-3 days per week for 2-5 hours each time. A case manager commented, “Jerry has made such a difference in (child’s) life. (Child) really looks at Jerry as family. Jerry not only does fun things with (child), but also helps him with his reading and math skills.” He bought educational computer software to use that tool, among others, to tutor the child during some of their visits.

Hawver is extremely generous to his mentee, while supporting the staff’s behavior management guidelines–trying not to reward him with gifts at inappropriate times. He puts the needs of the child first. He has attended the child’s treatment reviews and understands and accepts the goals that the child is working on. One staff member said that Hawver has given the child “something to work toward (their off-campus visits.)” He has also learned unconditional love from Jerry when he realized that he would keep coming back to visit him even when his behavior was less than perfect.

The child has made great progress in his behaviors during the past year and has moved to a less restrictive living environment. Staff feel that this “relationship is very important to him and has affected him tremendously in a positive way.” In fact, the following is excerpted from a conversation that the child had with a therapist in a group session: Therapist – What are you getting out of you relationship with your volunteer? Child – He gives me a lot of things. Therapist – Besides things. . .what does he give you or what does the relationship give you? Child – Love. Therapist – What does that feel like? Child – Home.

Hawver has taken his outreach even further by joining the Client Rights & Ethics Committee, communicating gift-in-kind and volunteer needs at his church and enlisting his friends to donate holiday gifts for the children in his mentee’s residence. Hawver certainly demonstrates a sense of caring and responsibility, devotion to the child, teamwork with the staff and he consistently goes above and beyond all expectations we have for mentors at Alexander Children’s Center.

Buddy Taylor Middle School Students

S.A.V.E.D. (Students Against Violence…Especially Domestic) is a group of sixteen 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students participating in an activity called Community Problem Solving at Buddy Taylor Middle School. In Community Problem Solving, students go out in their community and work hard to solve a problem. The group of students who make up S.A.V.E.D. chose to do a project on domestic violence, and work with Flagler County’s Family Life Center. Flagler County is the fastest growing county in the state of Florida, which translates into an increasing domestic violence rate. S.A.V.E.D. wanted to make Flagler County citizens aware of domestic violence so that residents will be committed to meeting the needs of the victims/survivors of domestic violence. They developed a multi-media action plan for their educational outreach campaign, which included the creation and community-wide distribution of a three-panel brochure, fliers, domestic violence skit performances, Flagler County’s School marquee announcements, book marks with a domestic violence message for all Flagler County students, school morning announcements via TV, a video created by the students to show at other Flagler County schools, etc.

The statistics demonstrate that the serviced provided by the Family Life Center have almost doubled from the previous year. This has been attributed to S.A.V.E.D. The quality of life in the community has also improved due to the impact of services offered. During the summer, some of the students contacted the Family Life Center to see if the center could utilize them as volunteers. Together with Family Life Center they brainstormed to come up with ideas to meet the needs of victims and survivors of domestic violence. The students then developed a long-term plan that has been ongoing since August 2001 that creates community awareness regarding the issue of domestic violence. The team meets weekly with a staff member of the Center. In addition, they convene on weekends and evenings to implement their plan of action to distribute materials regarding the services from the Center and perform the domestic violence skit at community events.

These 11, 12 and 13-year olds are taking an active role to break a cycle of violence in their community that will positively impact future generations. They sought grants, asked businesses for in-kind and monetary donations and received an outpouring of community support. Since the project’s inception, the team has collectively volunteered 1819 hours of service for the clients of the Family Life Center. These students not only contributed to a need in service, but they helped to create a solution that produced change and an impact on our community. They met their personal challenges by overcoming limited resources. They also overcame the challenges of the United Way of Volusia, facing the fight against domestic violence, by helping to educate the community and change the public perception of the problem. They are very dedicated to the cause and have accomplished more than the desired results initially anticipated. They have devoted a large amount of time and effort in implementing their plan of action and are yet committed to continuing to help in the United Way campaign in the future.

Fran Miller-2

Fran Miller became active as a volunteer with the Volusia Literacy Council (VLC) in 1993. Her first student was involved in a workplace literacy program, in which the employer allowed the student to remain “on the clock” while spending some time each workday learning to read and write. Miller went to the factory everyday from 1993- 1998. During this time, the student progressed from a pre-kindergarten level to about a fifth grade reading level.

In 1996, Miller became aware of the problems facing the non-English speaking residents of West Volusia County, specifically the Pierson, Seville and Barberville areas. She approached the VLC about volunteering to teach English to these individuals and the program was launched. Initially, she would hold one three-hour class on Monday evening and would maybe have one or two students.

With the growth and need for the program, Miller realized she could not do it by herself, and has recruited several volunteers to assist her with one on one and small group instruction.

Because of her love to teach and her awareness of a need, she continues today, to drive from her home in Ormond Beach to Pierson twice weekly, including holidays. To quote Miller, “Even if just one student shows up, it’s worth the drive.” Rarely, however, is that the case these days. Through her devotion and generosity towards the non-English speaking students, her class enrollment has gone from 1-2 students to 14-16.

Through Miller’s dedication, the residents of West Volusia who have participated in her program have become more involved in their children’s school, developed better parenting skills, raised their self-esteem. Several have even gone on to obtain their U. S. Citizenship.

Miller has proved to be tireless in her desire to keep the program going. She saw a need, asked if she could help, and “ran with the ball”.

C. ALLEN HARPINE, ESQ.

C. Allen Harpine, Esquire is a volunteer attorney for AARP Legal Counsel for the Elderly (LCE). He has volunteered two to three days a week for 20 years (since 1980). In fact, he has worked there longer than most LCE staff members!

In his capacity as a retired attorney volunteer, Harpine has worked on a variety of types of cases while at Legal Counsel for the Elderly, but his work on Social Security cases is most notable. He has dedicated hundreds of hours of volunteer service in researching Social Security issues and writing memoranda for presentation to the appellate level. The contributions of Harpine are paramount to the successful representation of clients who are faced with adverse findings by the Social Security Administration and Administrative Law Judges. These cases are time consuming cases that involve complex federal administrative agency issues dealing with the Social Security Administration’s application of the sequential evaluation process to determine disability status, vocational assessments, assessment of pain and interpretation of medical reports, among other issues. A significant number of these cases have been won on appeal as a direct result of the many long hours, extraordinary effort, and skillful advocacy of Attorney Harpine.

One of his cases involved a 79-year-old widow who had supposedly received an overpayment of more than $50,000 in Social Security benefits. Unfortunately, the widow contacted Legal Counsel for the Elderly after the deadline to file the appropriate paperwork to appeal the overpayment. Harpine researched the regulations and case law and constructed a concise argument that persuaded the Social Security Administration to re-open the woman’s case. Harpine also proved to the Social Security Administration that the overpayment was incorrect and that the widow was entitled to Social Security benefits.

Prior to his retirement, Harpine worked as an attorney with the Department of the Interior. In that capacity, he worked on projects to secure lands for the National Park System. While the specific area of law differed considerably from the work that he performs at LCE, his skills and expertise in the law, specifically his legal research and writing capability and his knowledge of administrative law (the law governing how government agencies operate) have proved invaluable to many clients of LCE.

The work of C. Allen Harpine has empowered the low-income older residents of the District in their struggle against the Social Security Administration. This work is a lifeline to the residents in that many of the residents depend on their Social Security check as a primary means of financial support. He continues to be active with LCE in this type of work.

Aurelia Richardson

Aurelia Richardson contributes many hours to Safenest, a domestic violence shelter for women and children. There are no tasks that escape Aurelia’ s grasp. Even when she is hindered by her own physical health, she accomplishes everything that she can in a day to aid the women and children at the shelter.

She finds clothing for the residents who have nothing, she cooks, offers advice, she plays with the children and best of all, she listens to them. No matter what the problem is, everyone always feels so much better after talking to Richardson. She possesses infinite wisdom, which she imparts in a manner that is always well received. She contributes so much to the lives of the residents at the shelter that everyone refers to her as “Grandma.” That title exemplifies what an enormous impact she has on everyone she meets.

Richardson is desperately needed at the shelter. Her wisdom, experience, and words of encouragement are absolutely priceless. Most women or children that leave the shelter have been blessed by her services in some way. Without her help, there would be a gigantic missing component at the shelter. Richardson truly makes the program complete.

Richardson is involved in the program more than ever believed possible. There are days when she is so ill that she should not even leave her house. Instead, she drives almost 45 minutes to be at the shelter each and every weekday. She is completely selfless, and puts aside all of her own problems to serve others.

Richardson helps the women and children with her own methodology. She provides a part of the healing process that the residents cannot get elsewhere. Her mix of wisdom and tough love has worked miracles with many individuals who have participated in the program. In addition, Richardson does volunteer work for others outside of the shelter. She provides food and clothing to those at her apartment complex who have a need, and she also helps the needy wherever she goes.

While at lunch at a fast food restaurant, Richardson spotted a woman seated in a booth by herself. She believed the woman was hungry, so with the heart of a saint she walked over and gave the woman her own lunch. The woman was so touched tears began to stream down her face. Richardson made that woman’s day, which for her is not an unusual occurrence.

Richardson is a priceless component to her community. She makes an enormous difference every single day, and that is truly a spectacular feat. Without her, many would be lost.

Thomas Smith Jr.

Thomas Smith Jr. is a mentor with the Clermont Lupus Support group. This organization works to help men and women living with Lupus cope with the disease as live as productively as they can. Smith is one of the leaders of the group and is in distress himself. However, he will continue to lead as long as there is at least one person. He believes even one may need support and he will be there to help them through because everyone is important.