PROJECT ID
Meet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Project ID. Read the story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light.
Note: Project ID is an outreach service of Highlands United Methodist Church in Birmingham, Alabama that was recognized with the Daily Point of Light Award in 2004. The program is not affiliated with Points of Light.
Project ID is an outreach service of Highlands United Methodist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. This twice-weekly ministry assists at least 30 men, women, and children a week in need of state identification. Qualified clients are guided through the process, assisted in filling out appropriate forms and are provided financial assistance for obtaining their birth certificate and state issued identification or driver’s license.
Many of Project ID’s clients are homeless men, women, and children who must prove their identity to stay in shelters. Many of Project ID’s clients are young people who must have positive ID to be a part of drug treatment programs. Many of Project ID’s clients are men and women who have just been released from prison and need assistance in finding the means to reestablish them in society. Many of Project ID’s clients wish to work and must have a state-issued identification card to do so. Project ID, in providing birth certificated enables to children to start school and low-income families to obtain affordable housing.
Through a relationship with the State Department of Public Safety, the Jefferson County License Office as well as the State and County Department of Health, the volunteers of Project ID are able to assist people who need their birth certificate, social security cards, and other forms of identification, so that they may receive a state ID card or driver’s license.
Project ID has in a very short period of time developed a reputation for giving people one of the basic tools they need to connect to the larger community, to seek gainful employment, to further their education and to become more productive members of our society.
A team of 15 dedicated volunteers work to raise funds for Project ID, assists clients in understanding the process of receiving an ID and fills out the necessary paper work. Project ID assists 1,600 people each year in obtaining ID’s with a budget of $45,000.00.
Clients of the Project ID program are referred by the Salvation Army, United Way Agencies, communities of faith, area shelters, local schools, and substance abuse programs.
Do you want to make a difference in your community? Find local volunteer opportunities.
KASIE BETH ECKMAN
Kasie Beth Eckman, 17, a member of the Girl Scout Council of Middle Mississippi in Jackson and a junior at McComb High School, designed an abduction-prevention program that has taught thousands of kids in her area how to react when approached by strangers.
In the summer of 2002, Kasie Beth was struck by the number of news reports she saw about child abductions – not only in big cities, but in small towns like hers as well. “I was sure that if we gave children the knowledge to protect themselves, they could avoid being abducted,” she said.
After a lot of brainstorming with friends, Kasie Beth began developing a series of lessons, including materials, a program song and a mascot. She sought permission from school administrators to recruit and train 29 high school students to be instructors, and raised more than $3,000 to cover costs. Kasie Beth’s course, called STICK (for “Smart Thinking in Courageous Kids”) was delivered to more than 2,000 elementary school students the first year, and was so successful that Kasie Beth is hoping to expand it throughout Mississippi.
AARON MEANS
Aaron Means is a full-time employee of IBM. As a corporate volunteer, he donated 20% of his time (over 400 hours) over the past year toward facilitating IBM’s wide-ranging support for education in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS).
IBM currently supports at least 15 key initiatives. In particular, Means has been instrumental in the launch and growth of the Computer Access to Neighborhood (CAN) program, which provides computers, technology tutoring and safe after school space for students in Charlotte’s most fragile and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. Through the CAN program, students isolated by poverty gain connection to technology skills and to a wider world trough the Internet, two powerful abilities unavailable to them without CAN’s assistance.
Means has been an essential part of setting up IBM-donated computer equipment in the 43 community-hosted CAN sites. IBM has renewed its continued commitment to CAN because of its measurable impact: 3,300 hours of usage at CAN sites, up 32% over the year before; a nearly double pass rate on the mandatory NC Test of Computer Skills for CAN participants compared to non-CAN students; service to over 1,400 unique individuals through CAN since the program’s inception; and a CAN participant expected growth rate of 12%.
In addition to CAN, Means has led IBM’s participation in innovative applications of technology to education initiatives. For example, IBM provided a $2 million grant in 2004 to foster collaboration between teachers and IBM software engineers. The result was an application to increase teacher-parent-student communication. Another IBM-led initiative was the creation of a “Learning Village” that enables teachers to work together online to develop lessons, share practices, and provide professional development opportunities. The Learning Village grew through IBM grants to partner two universities with CMS to train pre-service and lateral entry teachers. An outgrowth of that technology led to the “Mentor Place”, which used IBM-created virtual space to link corporate volunteers and government leaders to CMS students in need of mentors.
Means works closely with CMS’s Office of Strategic Partnership to understand the areas of need within CMS schools. Using his 30-year background with IBM, Aaron then recommends opportunities for partnership based on CMS’s need and IBM’s strengths. Means is also able to use his network of contacts within IBM’s vast organization to help CMS connect with the right people for the task. Whether by advocating grants and funding, by working hands-on at CAN sites to set up workstations in fragile and disadvantaged neighborhoods, or by connecting IBM experts with visionary educators at CMS, Means enables initiative to happen that would be unlikely without his intervention.
MERCY LEARNING CENTER TUTORIAL PROGRAM
Mercy Learning Center, founded in 1987, is a non-sectarian, basic literacy and life skills training program for low-income women (primarily mothers) who read at a level between 0 and 8th grade. The Center operates two core programs during the year from September to June, a full time Intensive Study Program and a part time one-on-one tutoring program, at no cost to the student.
With the help of over 140 trained volunteer reading and/or math tutors, the Center reaches over 250 women from the greater Bridgeport, Connecticut area. Each dedicated volunteer meets with his/her student(s) twice weekly for two-hour sessions. The program curriculum consists of reading, writing, speaking, spelling, math and map skills taught in a one-on-one or small group setting. Instruction is conducted with the goal of preparing students to enter Mercy Learning Center’s GED program and/or develop employability skills that will allow them to enter a job market to which they have previously had only a marginal attachment.
The students enrolled in Mercy Learning Center’s tutoring program come from over 43 countries and speak over 23 different languages. Many of them have come to the United States to escape dangers in their country of origin or in search of a better life for their children.
Bridgeport, Connecticut, is a 16-square-mile urban city located in Fairfield County with a population of 139,529. Of the women who enter this program, many of them exist at or below the poverty level. Those who are employed hold jobs such as housekeepers, home health aides, or waitresses. Because of the success and confidence gained in this tutoring program, many students have earned U.S. citizenship status, become better advocates for their children’s need in school, received their GED and pursued higher education at the local community college and beyond, or taken on roles as neighborhood leaders.
From retired schoolteachers to homemakers to business professionals, the Center’s volunteer tutors are people of varied backgrounds and ages. Ed is a local executive who has a desire to give back to the community. Marlene, a young university professor, delights in teaching two classes of 15 students who are just learning to speak English. Jan, a retired school administrator, is a cancer survivor who vowed to help others when she regained her health. Edna, who has served the Center for over 17 years, faithfully arrives on Tuesday and Friday mornings, even though she is in her mid-eighties.
These are only a sampling of the many devoted volunteers who enthusiastically motivate the adult learners educated in the tutoring program. Their common interest is a conviction to support Mercy Learning Center’s mission to live its motto, “Educate a woman, educate a family.” It is their collective desire to give of their time and energy in an effort to break the cycle of poverty by promoting literacy in the community. Such a fine group of generous individuals are living examples of good citizenship and are a tribute to promoting diversity in our country.
ARCHBISHOP RUMMEL OPERATION HEAD START
Archbishop Rummel Operation Head Start is a service learning organization of approximately 80 young men that follow the motto, “Loving people so much that we work to change the structures that violate their dignity,” and carry this out by developing several service projects for at-risk groups in the area.
For the past 11 years, this Head Start program has helped at-risks groups overcome various obstacles. The volunteers interact with this group throughout the year to provide attention to their specific situations. Some of the activities may include bringing books to Head Start children as Christmas presents, reading to the children and planning a Christmas party. The volunteers also help terminally ill children and their families and work with Alzheimer and stroke patients.
The group arranges sportsmanship clinics to help play a sport for enjoyment and not only for the competition. At the end of the year, they hold a Recognition Ceremony to celebrate all the accomplishments from the past year. Members plan all activities including selecting books to read to the children as well as follow up activities like presentations or visits from costumed characters.
The impact can be seen in the longevity of the program and the reflections of the members. The volunteers use innovative ways to reach out to a group who is so often left behind. Helping to give these children a successful head start will result in solving the specific social problems. The activities are not only fun, but they also stimulate their intellect and personal growth.
WALT ROOT
“Leave no stone unturned,” is Walt Root’s motto. Root is retired and spends every weekday trying to secure dental and other health related resources for low-income and poverty level children. Once he gets a program started in one community, he is off working to bring that program to other areas. Diapers, eyeglasses and teeth are his focus. When Root learns of a need related to assisting children with health issues, that becomes his next project. “There are just so many children that need this kind of assistance,” Root is prone to say, and “We simply need to get them the services.” Root is constantly moving forward with new ideas to help children.
Poor children have five times the dental diseases of children not living in low-income families. With this knowledge, Root began “Good Neighbor Children’s Medical & Dental Charity” to provide free dental services for underserved students in the Salt Lake City School District who do not have access to dental care. Root arranges dental screening s in schools where 60 – 70 percent of the students are living in poverty. Many of these students are refugees and illegal immigrants.
When Root first started his dental program, he would drive students, in a van he donated, to their dental appointments. Since then, Root has worked with the school district to get an in-school clinic set up, complete with donated equipment and manned by local dentists who donate their time. The clinic always has more children needing dental services than they can accommodate – dental disease is the most common chronic health problem among children in Utah. 3,000 children receive a dental screening each year through Root’s efforts. Since he started the program in 1996 over 20,000 children have received dental care they otherwise would not have access to. Root also helps get eyeglasses for children in need, and has recently started a program giving diapers to low-income families.
JULIA MYRICK
Studies reveal that children with involved parents are more likely to succeed academically and have increased social skills. They also indicate that parents do not always know how to help their children. With this as a platform Julia Myrick created a study skills program, Read, Organize, Study Skills (ROSS) a little more than two years ago. ROSS is a tool that enables parents to help their children with homework.
Myrick has presented ROSS to parents, teachers and students throughout the state of Virginia strictly as a volunteer. Whenever she receives monetary donations or gifts, she donates them to the national PTA of which she is a member. In addition to presenting ROSS to these entities, Myrick has made the program available through her website: www.juliamyrick.com. She also shares her personal story as a struggling student and tells of her success in graduating from college with an education degree.
Myrick has continued her work with parents as a partner for Virginia Governor Warner’s Partnership for Successful Schools (PASS) Program. PASS is an educational initiative in Virginia that focuses on three specific areas: healthcare for children, alignment of businesses with education and parental involvement in education. PASS Partner volunteers support the program through one of the core areas. Myrick worked with parents through motivational speaking and giving ROSS seminars. This led to her selection one year later to the Governor’s Fellows Program where she worked for two months in the Governor’s Office in Richmond, Virginia as a PASS spokesperson and volunteer. She helped to orchestrate a parent incentives program in Richmond and is presently assisting the Governor’s Office with parent rallies and a parent’s day in Virginia.
Myrick is an advocate for parents in education. In 2004, she lobbied in Richmond, the Committee on Commerce and Labor, in favor of Senate Bill 27, a parental leave time from work bill. That bill passed.
Myrick has made great strides in meeting critical needs in her community. Her work focuses on schools not meeting the No Child Left Behind law and realizes she is only one piece of the puzzle; however, it takes all the pieces to complete the puzzle. Myrick also volunteers with the Reading Enhances All Children (REACH) organization where she reads once a month to children in homeless shelters.
DAVID AND CAROL MARQUARDT
David and Carol Marquardt have volunteered at Wyalusing State Park since fall of 2002. They began by questioning why one of their favorite hiking trails (Flint Ledge) had been closed for over two years. The answer was that heavy rains had washed out and over the trail, budget cuts prevented having manpower to clean up and reopen the trail. Fall of 2002 and spring of 2003 were spent reconstructing Flint Ledge Trail, supporting the downhill side of the trail with 2×8’s and re-bar and digging out the up side to create a level trail surface.
In fall of 2003, the Marquardts began working on the Sugar Maple Nature Trail which suffered from erosion and years of neglect. They inserted water bars at a 45-degree angle across the trail every 25 to 40 feet as needed to divert water off the trail, leveled the hiking surface and finished the trail with a layer of gravel. When they arrived in April 2004, the Park Superintendent asked if they would mind working on areas more visible and utilized by the elderly and handicapped visitors.
The Park is high on the bluff and has three significant viewing areas over the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers that were built by the CCC many years ago. Years of budget cuts and lack of personnel left the blacktop walkways and rock stairways and to these viewing areas in sad shape and made it difficult for less agile visitors to the Park to get from the parking lots to these look out points. The rock stairway to Treasure Cave, one of the Park’s most visited areas, was almost dangerous. The Marquardts repaired walkways with either cold patch or field stone, removed the dangerous portion of the rock stairway to Treasure Cave, stabilized that base and re-cemented the stairs, and created railroad tie stairs on the return trail from Treasure Cave to Point Lookout.
Since the summers are too hot for this type of physical labor for the couple, they are looking forward to returning to Wyalusing after Labor Day for six to eight weeks (weather permitting) of trail work.
David is an active member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Burns Post #388 and Honor Guard participating at military funerals, helping as needed for Bingo and the monthly Steak Fry, preparing the VFW Burns Post # 388 quarterly newsletter, operating the food stand for the VFW for the Wausau Kayak and Canoe events and helping operate the food stand for the week of the Wisconsin Valley Fair. He is also on the Board of Directors for the Wausau Kayak and Canoe Association and Wausau Youth Baseball helping both organizations as needed.
Carol is member of the VFW Auxiliary but her participation is directly related to David, working at the food stand for the Kayak and Canoe events and for the Fair, helping at the Steak Fry when needed and helping with the newsletter. Carol also volunteers with Comfort Care and Hospice Services in Wausau.
KATHLEEN OVERHOLT
Kathleen Overholt has been an important part of getting the Elkhart County Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) up and running. She found out about the MRC back in 2003 at a Homeland Security Conference in Michigan. She then brought the idea back to Elkhart County and pursued the idea until it became a reality in March 2004. She helped to recruit an advisory board and promote the idea in the community to get support.
She has helped to coordinate the pilot school physical program for the Elkhart County MRC and assisted in one of the clinics doing immunizations provided by the Elkhart County Health Department. She doesn’t receive any extra pay for her volunteering. She also is working at coordinating volunteers to go to different health fairs to promote the Elkhart County MRC and the different programs that they will be offering.
She serves on the local EMA for the county as well as TRIAD/SALT committee as the liaison to Citizen Corps for the Medical Reserve Corps. She also serves on the AED committee that is working on getting AED units into more public places with in Elkhart County. She is also quite active in 4-H in the county as well as in her church functions as well.
For the EMA she serves as a liaison for the Elkhart County Health Department to help address issues that would come up in times of disaters as well as in developing the Health Department’s Emergency Response plan. She helps with getting supplies that would be needed for emergency responses as well.
She is certified CPR/First Aid instructor. She participated in health fairs that help prepare adults to respond to infants that are choking or need CPR. She does this at no charge. She has trained the staff at the health department for their certifications.
Overholt is also active in her church. She teaches junior church every other month. She also teaches a Sunday evening children’s program so that there is something that children can do during every service. She assists in the nursery occasionally. She has also served as the camp cook for a week at the district church camp in Hastings, MI. She serves as the project chairman for the Women’s Missionary Fellowship in her church.
She is the co-organizational leader for the Cheyenne’s 4-H club. She helps to plan activities and crafts for the children to do during meetings. She also assists the children with their projects. She volunteers to help unload geraniums to be picked up at the fairgrounds for the big annual fundraiser for the county program.
HAROLD WARREN
The economy of Aberdeen WA has been in a 34-year depression from the collapse of the logging industry in 1970. Aberdeen is a community in dire need of economic development and the caring help of volunteers.
Harold Warren is a 70- year-old semi-retired public accountant who has been volunteering for 40 years. He was born in Missouri, but grew up in Aberdeen. He has spent much of his adult life giving back to the community and it is estimated that he has completed over 20,000 hours of community service.
Mr. Warren volunteers extensively with Habitat for Humanity and participated in the experimental building of straw bale houses in Mexico. He was the catalyst for the creation of the Grays Harbor chapter of Habitat for Humanity, and now serves on the board. Harold administers, collects funds, and has recently celebrated the fourth Habitat house completed in Aberdeen.
Mr. Warren received part of his education from Grays Harbor College and is now an active board member and Treasurer, who presides over the collection of capital to fund scholarship.
Mr. Warren is treasurer of the Aberdeen public library and is heavily involved in fundraising for the renovation of the library. He is extremely active in his church where he is Treasurer, Sunday school teacher, usher, scripture reader and landscaper. He recently helped rebuild the church roof, and served on the Lutheran governing council for one term.
In 1966 Mr. Warren joined the Lions club and has been an active fundraiser for childhood sight conservation, and has continually been involved in the purchasing of eyeglasses for improvised youth. Through the Lions club he has also volunteered for Rebuilding Together, a home refurbishing organization for poverty stricken senior citizens. In the mid 60’s he was responsible for getting Evergreen Counseling a local mental health organization off the ground.
Mr. Warren currently collects old newspapers from the Aberdeen paper for recycling; he receives a small fee that is converted into scholarship money for the Aberdeen community. Mr. Warren’s most recent examples of volunteerism include being the Treasurer for the Driftwood Theater, a non-profit community theater group, and serving as Treasurer for The Friends of the Aberdeen Museum. Most notable, is his recent volunteer service in ADAPT (Alzheimer’s Disease Anti-inflammatory Prevention Trail), volunteers must be at least 70 years old and have had relative with the disease. They are given non-steroidal medications to see if they will delay Alzheimer’s onset by a year or more. ADAPT is one of the largest studies done by the National Institute on Aging.
