Malcolm A. Meyer
Malcolm A. Meyer volunteers his voice and talent for others.
In his over 500 pro bono hours of legal work and hundreds of hours of community outreach over the last five years, Malcolm has helped to save thousands of homes belonging to some of the poorest citizens in Louisiana.
According to a 2008 story by National Public Radio, as many as 20,000 New Orleanians following Hurricane Katrina could not receive needed federal aid to rebuild their homes, because they could not demonstrate ownership of their property.
Before Katrina, heirship property issues seemed to be largely rural phenomenons. It was common among poor farmers who died without a written will for the children of the deceased to inherit the land. As a result, thousands of people throughout Louisiana live in homes that have been passed down several generations, outside of the legal system.
The lack of property titles hurts many of the world’s poor, blocking them from using their most important asset to build economic power. Without proof of ownership, these people cannot borrow money at low interest rates and invest in new business.
Over the last five years, Malcolm has become one of the most sought after attorneys by Louisiana government representatives and local officials to help resolve these property issues.
Malcolm was also recently asked by Louisiana State Senators to draft new legislation to help people being flooded by the Mississippi River in 2011 to speed access to agencies helping in the repair efforts.
As a result of Malcolm’s work and advocacy, the Louisiana Legislature explored the adverse effects of ownership of heir property Malcolm provided the background, research and recommendations necessary to develop and implement new legislation. New simplifying legislation was passed in Louisiana in 2009.
Brandon Dunman
Personal outreach and demonstrations of support are really important to keeping the spirits of military troops and their families up around the world.
Besides serving as pastor for a church in his community of Eureka, Missouri, Reverend Brandon Dunman wears a number of hats. He is not only a pastor, husband and father, but he is also a H.E.R.O.E.S Care Outpost Coordinator. H.E.R.O.E.S. Care is an affiliation of program partners working together to provide support to military families in the communities where they live.
H.E.R.O.E.S. (Homefront Enabling Relationships, Opportunities, and Empowerment through Support) Care combines the power of national organizations dedicated to providing emergency financial aid, employment opportunities, and mental health care services through a network of specially trained care givers before, during, and after deployment.
Brandon works out of the Missouri Operation Homefront headquarters and is an active liaison between military families and Give an Hour, a nonprofit organization providing free mental health services to U.S. military personnel and their families. As Outpost Coordinator for H.E.R.O.E.S. Care Brandon spends a lot of time on the road traveling around Missouri, Illinois, Ohio and Michigan creating program partnerships to support military families in the communities where they live.
After launching in May 2009, H.E.R.O.E.S. now serves 600 military families and has about 400 volunteers. The organization focuses mostly on Reserve and National Guard service members and tries to connect with them before they deploy so they have a known contact to lean on when they return.
Brandon is incredibly dedicated to giving military men and women and their families the help they need at the times they need it most. He demonstrates that heroes really do care.
Joanne Hickox
This story begins more than 10 years ago with one woman's heart for serving and encouraging others.
Having gained the trust of four of the most disconnected, cantankerous and skeptical senior citizens, Joanne arranged a “special social event” (a simple trip to the ice cream parlor), to give the seniors a chance to get to know one another, build friendships and a sense of community.
Almost to her amazement, these seniors soon wanted to start going out on a monthly basis. With every passing month, those initial seniors became more secure and confident, which empowered them to invite additional friends on their outings and as a result these first four, live-alone-at-home seniors multiplied to 40.
After another year of nurturing this precious group, which numbered nearly 100, they told Joanne that they wanted more than just social gatherings; they desired to have a real "purpose" in their lives again.
Joanne started with age appropriate, team-oriented, monthly community service days. All she had was an old borrowed van, just enough grant money to cover the cost of buying groceries to prepare lunch for the seniors and her determination to make a difference in the lives of seniors in her community.
Today, as Founder and Executive Director of Seniors on a Mission, Joanne Hickox serves more than 400 "Senior Saints" by providing them opportunities for local service trips. "Senior Saints" find meaningful work, purpose, and friendships while lending their helping hands, engaging minds, and seasoned skill-sets to area charities, schools, and ministries.
Together they have had a huge impact. In 2010 alone, over 350 seniors participated in 131 service trips, volunteering slightly more than 13,000 hours of community service and touching the lives of more than 517,00 of the area's most deserving citizens. To date, the “Senior Saints” have served more than 24,000 community service hours and show no indications of slowing down.
Ishan Mandani
Charles Rubio
Give an Hour Lyman Ward Military Academy, a small military boarding school for students from sixth grade through twelve, is twenty minutes away. Charles spends one morning a week seeing cadets for mental health and behavioral issues and is always on call for them. “A good number of these children come from military families and have issues because of moving around so much and having parents deploy more than once. My wife’s father was in the military so she gives me insights that I myself might not have about what they go through.”
Dr. Charles Rubio is a clinical psychologist who has spent years serving the military community in and around Auburn, Alabama and Fort Bening where more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve component soldiers, retirees, and civilian employees live and work. “I came here in the 80’s to enter private practice and never left because I liked the area so much, “Charles says. One of his many services to veterans is working with Auburn University to help veterans returning to school. “A colleague of mine has created a bridge program for student veterans so that they can get to know each other and better prepare for their entry or return to academia. It’s critical to get these soldiers off to a strong start.”
Charles heard of Give an Hour, a nonprofit organization that provides free mental health services for U.S. military personnel and families affected by the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, through email over three years ago and immediately signed up to offer pro bono support. “I often charge a sliding scale anyway for these guys and gals, and always keep time open for my Give an Hour work,” he shares. He often gets to know the military families in the community through wives of soldiers who come to him with anger management issues. “At first I see the spouse and then if all goes well, we progress to couples therapy. The adjustments post deployment can be huge for these young couples.”
Most of Charles’ clients are young people, including high school and college aged students but he has also counseled the occasional older veteran. “I worked with a Vietnam Veteran in his sixties. He contacted me because I had worked with his daughter in the past. It seems he was at a bank one day and the teller was giving him the runaround, and suddenly he felt an overwhelming rage. Then he began to have flashbacks. The veteran said, “I had no idea that I would remember half this awful stuff.”
Charles is an ardent supporter of Give an Hour. He commits to sharing his time and talent with others with the belief: “These folks do so much for us, at the very least we should give them the help they need.”
First United Methodist Church of Bunnell
One Sunday in the winter of 2008-2009, Carla Traister walked into church and noticed the evidence of a few homeless people sleeping on the steps. Filled with compassion for them, she began to leave food for them. She also went to the church’s Reverend Beth Gardner who encouraged Carla to develop a plan to help the less fortunate. Carla grew a case to start a shelter and argued it before the church’s leadership. Her work resulted in the church opening a shelter on nights where the temperatures dropped below 40 degrees.
Since then First United Methodist Church of Bunnell (FUMCB) and it’s partnering neighborhood and faith-based organizations have created more than a shelter – they have engaged their community in a constant flow of events to impact the homeless in Flagler/Volusia counties.
Out of the community’s effort a nonprofit coalition of individuals, faith-based communities and service organizations has grown. The Flagler County Family Assistance Center, Inc. (FCFAC) is dedicated to feeding the hungry and providing shelter to the homeless while helping them transition to permanent affordable housing and preventing at-risk individuals from becoming homeless. FCFAC, Inc. believes all individuals deserve to be treated with dignity and respect and provides a doorway through which their clients can find the support they need to move forward in rebuilding their lives.
Laura Zublonis, the Volunteer Center Director of United Way of Volusia/Flagler Counties had this to say of FUMCB and its role in FCFAC, “Their impact on the homeless is beyond measure, helping them access needed health care, transportation, extra food amongst many other needs. However, First United Methodist Church of Bunnell’s greatest impact is creating a vehicle whereby so many who live comfortable existences in our community—some of whom deny that there is a homeless problem—come in contact with people in genuine need—and those comfortable people become educated, learning that the homeless are not so different than the rest of us, not so smelly, dirty, not mentally ill, but rather articulate people genuinely trying to make a go of life in 21st century Flagler and Volusia Counties. It is amazing how central FUMCB has become.”
Alayna Charpentier
Lana Whitehead
Throughout her life, today’s Daily Point of Light has connected her passion and skills with her community’s needs. Not only did SWIMkids USA President and Owner, Lana Whitehead, start an organization in 1971 that has trained over 50,000 children in water safety she has continued a life of service outside of her profession.
SWIMkids USA is the result of Lana's Master's thesis which included four research projects tested at Arizona State University. SWIMkids USA instructors equip their students with an immediate method of survival in an emergency situation by teaching them to roll on their backs where they can breathe and rest for an indefinite amount of time. After a short rest period, they are then taught to roll back onto their stomachs and continue to swim to safety.
Since the 1980’s, Lana’s focus on teaching water safety has grown and includes emphasizing the developmental benefits of swimming. Research indicates a connection between a child’s learning and his or her level of physical activity and her program encourages an active, healthy, physical education for all.
Outside of swimming, Lana and her family started Blake Miracle Foundation after the loss of her 23-month-old grandson to leukemia in 2006. The Foundation hosts an annual swim- and float-a-thon to benefit drowning prevention programs and pediatric pain management such as music and pet therapy. The previous five events have collectively raised over $165,000 and truckloads of toys for Cardon Children’s Medical Center.
These donations are special because SWIMkids USA’s swimmers raise this money for others in need. A record number of over 200 swimmers swam in 2011, pushing themselves to raise funds for others by swimming. Lana’s nominator said of the events, “It was heartwarming and awesome to see children swimming for other youngsters who could not swim themselves. Because they wanted to help ill children, participants pushed themselves far beyond their own and their parents’ expectations to raise as much money as they could, swimming farther than they ever had before.”
Lana’s nominator also had this to say of Lana: “She touches everyone she meets: her students, her staff, other swim school owners, her community.”