Philip O’Leary

Phil has volunteered for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) for six years. As a Metro volunteer he plays two roles. One of O’Leary’s roles is as a character actor for McGruff. He wears a dog costume and travels to elementary schools and safety fairs, taking a bite out of crime. They have recently started a new program in the elementary schools for the kindergarteners and first-graders. Not only do they educate them on Stranger Dangers, but they also introduce them to the McGruff Truck Program. They teach them to look for the picture of McGruff that appears on utility vehicles and how to signal these workers for help. This program is very valuable, because these McGruff truck drivers, whether they are Nevada Power employees, Southwest Gas employees, county or city employees, have been trained in how to assist children in times of crisis.

Even though the McGruff Truck Program has been in existence for over five years, it is not that familiar to our elementary children. When McGruff goes to the elementary schools, he makes a real impression on them. He gives hugs and high-fives as he helps educate them to stranger dangers. The children love him. They deputize the children with Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department sticker police badges and engage them in helping McGruff keep them safe. Every child has an opportunity to come up and hug, high-five, or pet McGruff. They also take a photo of the children with McGruff, which is sent back to the class to reinforce our visit. Even when O’Leary is wearing his hot, confining dog head that impairs his vision, he is always very caring and patient with the children.

O’Leary also writes handicap-parking citations for LVMPD. He uses his own vehicle and buys his own gasoline to patrol the downtown area command. O’Leary is 75 years old and has a handicapped-parking placard issued to him. As a person who is handicapped, he knows how important the availability of these spaces is for the people who truly need them. Even though ensuring these spaces are available for the handicapped population is of utmost importance, it is not the top priority for the police officers. The participation of volunteers like O’Leary enables the police department to better serve the community and allows the police to concentrate on protecting the community.

O’Leary contributes to his community in ways that influence both the old and young and makes life easier for the disabled citizens.

Nobuko Nishimura

Mrs. Nobuko Nishimura has been a valued volunteer at Cartwright Elementary School for many years. For more than four years, Nishimura has been an active part of her children’s education by volunteering her time in the classroom. She spends countless hours helping her children’s teachers prepare materials for the upcoming weeks or completing projects with the children. Her time at Cartwright has been valuable, not only to her children, but all Cartwright Coyotes.

Teachers and staff see Nishimura alike as one of the most responsible and dependable volunteers to the classroom. Each week, Nishimura arrives on time to assist students in the classroom with their reading fluency. She sits with each student as they read their phonics books to her. She then provides positive feedback, as well as constructive criticism to help increase their reading fluency. This task often takes several hours to complete. She has never complained or become discouraged. Nishimura diligently works with each student as if they were her first student of the day. She also works with students by tutoring one-on-one for skill remediation. Nishimura often spends additional time with students to explain or solve a problem. She readily accepts any task asked of her and often stays well over her assigned times to finish those tasks. She has become an important part of the classroom routine and the students look forward to their time with her. The time she spends reading with the students is not only educational, but nurturing as well. For many students, it is the only personal attention they receive while reading to another adult. The joy she brings to each child is priceless and my classroom would not be the same without her.

It is evident that Nishimura enjoys helping the students at Cartwright. Her smile can be seen in the hallways several days each week. Nishimura volunteers her time in three classrooms on a regular basis. It is extraordinary that she continues to volunteer in a second grade classroom, two years after her eldest daughter has been promoted. In addition to her volunteer work in the classroom, she also assists our reading specialist, Ms. Ellis. These are just a few examples of her excellent rapport with the staff. She treats all staff members with respect and in return she is held in the highest regard. Mrs. Nishimura’s presence is well known throughout Cartwright Elementary. Her integrity and trustworthiness make her a great role model for the students whose lives she touches.

Simmone Moe

HELP of Southern Nevada assists families and individuals throughout Southern Nevada to overcome barriers and attain self-sufficiency through direct services, training and referral to community resources. Simmone Moe volunteers on a monthly basis for HELP of Southern Nevada in the Marketing Department.

She assists the staff with special events such as fundraisers and office functions. Her computer skills also enable the marketing staff to work on other projects while she does data input or letter typing. Moe assembles marketing packets such as agency promotional material and works with bulk mail. During November and December, Moe volunteers a considerable amount of her time to help with the holiday programs. During November, she helped with data entry of client information, distribution of turkeys, sorting food, and completion of food boxes to distribute to clients. During December, Moe volunteered every day for 14 days at our toy drive and then continued at HELP of southern Nevada’s offices for the remainder of the month sorting the toys by ages and helping distribute the toys to parents who applied for assistance.

Moe’s contribution to HELP of Southern Nevada is extremely critical, as volunteers are always in demand. She is familiar with how the agency runs and is very reliable. Her assistance is critical for the marketing department because her skills and abilities enable the staff to be more efficient. Because she volunteers frequently, she has a good understanding of tasks that need to be completed. She does not need to be retrained when something is to be completed.

Moe’s level of involvement is extremely high. Most of the staff at HELP of Southern Nevada knows her on a first-name basis and are aware of her responsibilities. She works directly with staff and other departments besides Marketing if a need for abilities arises. She is on the “front line” and deals with their clients directly.

While working at the toy drive, Moe acted as a HELP of southern Nevada employee and was not afraid to speak for the agency. Even though she is a volunteer, she was still representing the agency verbally and physically. She also supervised other volunteers that were helping with the toy drive and kept track of their hours and the check-in sheet. She worked closely with the radio station that sponsored the toy drive, and gave accurate information when a bike count or toy count was needed.

Simmone Moe’s contributions make a huge difference in her community. With her help and dedication, HELP of Southern Nevada’s clients receive food, toys, and other resources that would not be available to them. HELP of Southern Nevada relies on volunteers such as Moe to reach and provide as many services as possible to people who need them during a critical time in their lives. Moe’s contribution is critical and she is an integral part of HELP of Southern Nevada.

Lois Johns

Lois Johns has been a volunteer with the Retired & Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) since 1993, but her volunteer service goes back much farther! RSVP is a part of Senior Corps, under the Corporation for National & Community Service. The mission of RSVP is to identify the needs of our community, and address them by recruiting and placing senior volunteers in over 150 nonprofit and service agencies throughout southern Nevada.

Johns has been contributing to her community for over 30 years. She started volunteering at University Medical Center (UMC) in 1976. Suzanne Poisson, Volunteer Coordinator at UMC, stated that “Lois’s parents were hospitalized at UMC and because of the good care they received; she made a commitment to give back to the hospital by donating her time through volunteering.”

Johns volunteered in the Family Birth Care Unit, where the new mothers and the staff just loved and adored her. At UMC, Johns helped the staff in a variety of ways, from filling pitchers of water for the mothers to helping set up the baby cribs. She was always very considerate to the patients and staff.

In 2005, Johns decided to step down from volunteering at UMC, citing that her reason was not because she wanted to, but because the traffic and parking situation at the hospital was becoming too much of a problem for her, and taking her safety into consideration. There were several times when she had driven to UMC to volunteer but was unable to find a parking place, so she would have to turn around and head back home. After having several major surgeries, it was difficult for Johns to walk long distances.

The staff at UMC was sad to see Johns leave. However, Johns, at age 82, was not finished with her contribution to the community. She called up the RSVP office and offered her services wherever she was needed, and fortunately for the RSVP staff, a volunteer was actually needed in the office.

For the past several months now, Johns has been a tremendous asset to the office and to RSVP. Johns spends three days a week in the office, and her time spent volunteering is of immeasurable value. She is always willing to step in and do anything that is asked of her. Her ability to complete tasks in a timely and accurate manner always astonishes the RSVP staff; they even joke with Johns is that sometimes she can run circles around them! The tasks that Johns completes may seem minor to many, but they allow staff to focus on much larger issues and on the program as a whole. John’s disposition and bright smile really help to brighten up the office and make the workday much more enjoyable. Johns is the consummate example of an RSVP volunteer.

George Houtchens

George Houtchens joined the Senior Center in August of 2001. He became a life member in December of 2003. In 4 short years, George has become an invaluable member of their essential group of regular volunteers.

Houtchens began his involvement with the Senior Center by donating jams, jellies and home canned fruits to our annual Homecoming fundraiser. Next he started coming to the Center to visit, share an occasional lunch and play pinochle and bridge. Then he agreed to begin working on the Wednesday Kitchen Crew and make the “from scratch” vegetable beef soup served on that day. The final step was when Houtchens agreed to substitute for the volunteer who coordinated and purchased all of the food supplies for the kitchen. This is an enormous job. The kitchen serves at least 60-80 people each lunchtime and is staffed by 5 different crews of 4-5 volunteers each. All of whom have varying opinions about almost everything. This position requires diplomacy, organization, attention to detail – and a crystal ball. The vacationing volunteer decided he would not return to the purchasing position and Houtchens graciously said he would “give it a try”. Since that time his involvement has grown and grown – as has his importance to the Senior Center.

Houtchens has become one of their most active members. He is the Vice President of their Board of Directors, a member of the Finance, Program and the Homecoming Fund Raising committees, is a member of the Wednesday kitchen crew, an ad hoc member of several other day’s kitchen crews and he is still the chief coordination and purchasing agent for their lunch program. During the last year he has volunteered an average of 90 hours each month –not including his coming in before dawn to put the roast on because the meat needs to be cooked slowly to be tender by 11:30 a.m.; or the time he spends making the strawberry syrup and the fresh applesauce for the pancake supper night or the hours spent selling raffle tickets at local stores. These are just three examples of the many “extras” Houtchens routinely performs.

Houtchens willingly shares his time, his energy, and his humor. He is unfailingly supportive and devoted to the Center, its goals and its members. Without him they would be diminished because he has added so much in so many ways to the Center.

Nick Hoover

Solari Hospice Care helps people and their loved ones, during a special time of caring, to live with dignity and comfort through professional hospice care. Nick Hoover has been an incredibly selfless volunteer for hospice since he presented to the Solari Hospice Care in February of 2002.

As a hospice, their mission is to provide end-of-life care to patients who have a life-limiting disease process. Medicare requires that hospice match 5% of paid staff patient care hours with volunteer hours, so even though they are a for-profit agency, their volunteer staff is vital so they can meet Medicare’s requirements for participation.

Hoover has been a consistent volunteer with Solari Hospice Care since he began serving. In the last four years, Hoover has given more than 500 hours of his time caring for the patients and their family members. Hoover is a massage therapy volunteer while currently working at Northwest Health Institute. He holds a job with an erratic schedule where he may not know his work schedule form one week to the next. What makes Hoover so special is that he is legally blind and relies mostly on public transportation to get around. He will often go into facilities and homes that his is unfamiliar with, and relies on others to help him navigate his way around. He does so with good humor and a purposeful stride. About six months ago, Hoover took a sabbatical for about eight weeks while he underwent surgery for kidney cancer. As soon as he was released by his doctor, he was back to providing that special touch to patients who so enjoy his visits. Hoover’s ability to keep upbeat and provide service to others remains a top priority no matter what he has to personally work through.

Hoover is assigned to see several patients on a regular schedule; he is there to provide a wonderful massage to help ease pain and offer relaxation. He socializes with patients who are no longer able to leave their homes; he listens to their life stories, shares their dreams and helps to alleviate their discomfort. Hoover provides a special skill to make sure their lives are made easier during this extraordinarily stressful time.

Hoover has a caring personality and every patient assigned to him is passionate in their praise about how much they love him and how much they look forward to his next visit. He is always in high demand as a volunteer. His capacity to care, to soothe, to listen and to help has been called upon many times in the course of his time with Solari Hospice Care. Hoover is always ready to lend a hand, and he truly loves the relationships he develops with his patients and families. The staff is very proud of Hoover and honored to call him a member of the Solari Hospice Care Team.

Henderson Justice Court Volunteer Mediators

The Neighborhood Justice Center (NJC) offers a no-cost, confidential alternative dispute resolution method to Clark County residents. The NJC has fifteen staff members and approximately 150 volunteer mediators who have gone through extensive training. They believe in mediation over litigation and make continuous efforts to avail their services to the community and the justice courts.

The Clark County Neighborhood Justice Center court program for performing outstanding service in the community respects the Henderson Justice Court volunteer mediators. Team members include Fran Evans, Jack Terry, and Chuck Gates. They are both efficient and proficient in their service and especially because of their knowledge, their skills, and their dependability. Fran began her service with the Neighborhood Justice Center in 1994, Jack in 1999, and Chuck in 2002. They have a combined total of 23 years of volunteer service. The majority of that service has been at Henderson Justice Court, where they mediate small claims cases for Judge Burr and Judge George.

Henderson Justice Court meets twice weekly. The NJC team has averaged 185 mediations yearly over the last four years, and their agreement rate is around 90%. Fran, Jack and Chuck exemplify “pride of ownership” as they provide outstanding, consistent, mediation services at “their” court.

Both Judge Burr and Judge George have expressed their gratitude for these top-notch mediators on numerous occasions. There is clearly a need for their expertise and their commitment. Their expertise and their initiative in consistently covering court calendars significantly impacts the system by reducing the number of cases going forward in court. It also gives parties the option of keeping the decision-making power in their own hands and gives them the ability to avoid judgments as long as agreements are kept.

The staff members deem it a privilege to work with Fran, Jack and Chuck, who are true professionals in every sense of the word. Not only do they mediate, but also they maintain continuing education in the field and mentor new mediators. They are exemplary mediators and a true credit to the Neighborhood Justice Center.

Kimberly Coats

Kim Coats began volunteering as a CASA in Kansas City, MO in 1993, after hearing about the murder of a child in Kansas City at the hands of her abuser. The Division of Family Services had returned the child back to the home knowing the dangers and risks. She wanted to be a part of an organization that could protect children from events such as that. In Missouri she went on to advocate for 17 children, and was also the President of the statewide CASA organization.

Coats moved to Las Vegas in 2003, and immediately volunteered her time to the CASA Program there. She was assigned to a high profile case that involved a young girl whose sister had been killed as a result of a “drug deal gone wrong.” As part of her advocacy for that child, Coats also acted as a guardian ad litem in a related civil lawsuit, protecting the girl’s financial interests from the avarice of those around her. She continues to advocate for that child, in situations that tax her professional communication skills. She has participated in supervised visitations between the parent, relatives and child. She often has to negotiate in adversarial situations. She is a respected member of the child-and-family team, and tries to remain the neutral voice advocating for the best interest of that child. This case has been time-consuming at times, and has required many court hearings. Coats has had to juggle many balls in the air, and to balance her priorities between work and her commitment to her CASA child. There have been discouraging times for Coats in her CASA work, but she is persevering and continues to honor her commitment to her CASA child. Coats has recently taken on a second case. She has volunteered for the CASA Foundation and is also working on the committee that will give Southern Nevada siblings separated in foster care a “Camp To Belong” during summer 2006.

Sometimes a child can remain adrift in foster care for months, even years. That’s where the CASA comes in. CASAs are Court Appointed Special Advocates—trained community volunteers. They are appointed by a judge to speak up for abused and neglected children. As an independent voice outside of any system, and without any personal agenda, the CASA’s unique position fulfills a need not met elsewhere. Additionally, CASAs improve the quality of life the children experience by ensuring that day-to-day needs are also met, such as the need for relationships with siblings. Children in foster care are assigned to social workers with caseloads too large to do anything but fight fires. Resources for counseling and other basic needs of children in trauma are few and far between. Children in large sibling groups are usually separated due to lack of placements available. Law reviews the permanency plan for foster children reviewed every six months in court. Six months is a long time in a young child’s life. CASAs fill in the many gaps that occur in a foster child’s life, and push the system to meet their needs and find permanency as quickly as is feasible.

Coats is extremely efficient, responsible and tenacious. When she gets a case, she gets to know all the parties involved and develops working relationships with them. She has a clear understanding of her role and becomes a key player in negotiations outside the courtroom. She relates well to children, builds relationships with her CASA children, and becomes a consistent presence in their lives that they can depend upon.

Coats is a creative problem-solver; she is quick to call looking for resources when any problem occurs. She is a successful businesswoman and a good decision-maker. She does not shy away from confronting difficult issues, yet she is professional and a team builder. Her work as a guardian ad litem for her CASA child led her to a conference room full of attorneys with divergent interests, from which she emerged with a joint decision in her child’s favor. In Missouri, and now Nevada, Coats has persevered for 13 years as a CASA in work that has a high potential for burnout: the kids are victims of horrendous actions; the system is a cumbersome, impersonal, frustrating vehicle; and resources and support systems are few and far between. Coats is still serving, exhibiting a positive energy and can-do attitude.

Coats is committed to children and knows they are the key to the future of this community. Her work with each individual child helps to improve the quality of life for all children—and thus for the community. The more positive experiences we provide for troubled children, the more likely they are to become productive citizens. Coats values the children she serves. They sense their importance to her and thereby understand their own value; they are not throwaways.

Robert Santos

Robert “Bob” Santos is the most publicly recognized spokesperson and leader of the movement that began in the 1970s to preserve Seattle’s Chinatown/International District (ID).

Santos is the son of Filipino immigrant Sammy Santos and in Indipino (Native American/Filipino) mother, Virginia Nicol. He was born in Seattle in 1934 and grew up in the city’s Chinatown. He served in the US Marines after high school in the early 1950s, and returned to Seattle in 1955 to work for Boeing. In the 1960s, Santos became involved in civil rights struggles through his involvement with the Catholic Church and the encouragement of Catholic Interracial Council co-founder Walt Hubbard. While working at the Catholic-run St. Peter Claver Center in the late 1960s, Santos was able to provide free meeting space to some of the most radical civil rights groups in the city, thereby helping facilitate a multiracial civil rights sensibility among Seattle activists by making the Center what he called “the Heart of the Struggle.” In 1969, he was elected President of Seattle’s Catholic Interracial Council.

From 1972 to 1989, Santos served as Executive Director of Inter*Im (the International District Improvement Community Development Association). In this position, he was a pivotal liaison between community activists, private businesses, and government agencies in developing and overseeing ID preservation plans. The group’s agenda included increasing the ID’s affordable housing stock; preserving its culturally distinct small businesses; and providing the neighborhood a range of culturally appropriate social services, particularly for its Asian elderly. Through Santos’s leadership in the ID, he helped mentor a generation of young Asian activists in Seattle, earning him the nickname “Uncle Bob.”

Our ability to get the property owners and businesses to accept low-income housing was probably the greatest thing we could have done…Together we could bring vacant buildings back to life.

In 1982—along with leaders representing other communities of color Bernie Whitebear (Native American), Larry Gossett African-American), and Roberto Maestas (Latino)—Bob Santos co-founded the Minority Executive Director’s Coalition (MEDC). MEDC is a coalition of people of color dedicated to achieving equity and social justice in partnership with communities of color through advocacy, education and membership development. It is a rare organization that unifies people of color rather than divides them.

Santos also helped start many other community-based organizations such as the Denise Louie child Care Center, the Danny Woo Community Garden, and the International District Community Health Center. From 1989 to 1993, he oversaw the Seattle Chinatown/ International District Preservation Authority.

On April 14, 1994, US President Bill Clinton appointed Santos as the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) secretary’s representative for the Northwest-Alaska area, Region X. His sense of the power of “we” determined his decision to accept the position. When an outdoor encampment was closed down by the city, Santos created the Federal Building Shelter.

As he tells the story, he called the regional administrator for GSA. “Jay,” I said, “could we, uh, house some homeless people in the Federal Building?” Jay Pearson said what any sensible administrator would say, “Bob, you know all the security issues and Oklahoma, and…” Bob replied, “Yeah, I know all that stuff. But Jay, could you come down to the Federal Building? Let’s look at it.”

Jay came, and together they found a space that could meet the security issues. Bob set about selling the plan to the other building tenants. “I decided to do that first, before I tried to get an okay from headquarters. And it was a little tough. But finally they said, “Let’s try it.”

All that was left was to get federal approval. Bob told Secretary Cisneros: “We have a chance to do a very innovative program, to shelter some folks in our federal building. Who do I work with?”

There was a long pause. “Well, Uncle Bob, why don’t you work with Marilyn Davis?” I knew I had it. He didn’t say no, and he didn’t say we had to [jump through the Appropriations hoop]. Twenty spots. That isn’t much. But more important we’ve set a precedent for other federal office buildings to shelter homeless people.

In 2002, Santos published an autobiography—Humbows, not Hotdogs!: Memoirs of a Savvy Asian American Activist—which is also an important source of information about the multiracial coalitions that comprised Seattle’s civil rights movements in the late 1960s and 1970s. Soon after the book’s publication, he returned to his position as Executive Director of Inter*Im. In spring 2006 he will step down from the nonprofit group that he led to revitalize the International District.

Barb O’Neil

For the past 35 years on both the day before Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, Barb O’Neill has been preparing meals for the poor, homeless and lonely in Olympia, Washington. This effort started in the kitchen of her home in 1970 with 60 people showing up the first year. O’Neill continued serving dinners at her home for ten years, but when the crowd grew to more than 400 she was forced to move to a new location.

Under Ms. O’Neill’s leadership this grassroots effort grew into a nonprofit organization—Barb’s Family and Friends. Through the nonprofit, Barb was able to accept donations from community residents and local business to help support this important community need which had grown far beyond her personal financial contributions. “This is no longer my problem; this is the community’s problem,” said O’Neill.

Barb’s Family and Friends not only prepares meals for more than 2,000, but also engages 200 volunteers to serve meals and deliver dinner to those who cannot attend due to illness, infirmity or even lack of transportation. Over the years Barb has added new services to help those less fortunate. In conjunction with the annual Christmas Eve dinner, Barb’s Family and Friends operates Santa’s shop and a kids’ boutique to give low-income families an opportunity to select free gifts and warm clothing.

O’Neill is a dedicated and compassionate volunteer who develops solutions to serious community problems such as hunger, homelessness and loneliness.