Skip to content

Senior Corps-RSVP Member plays significant role in the success of Annual Community Paint-A-Thon

2018 October 3
Leave a comment
tags: , , , ,
by HandsOn Suburban Chicago

As each fall arrives hundreds of Paint-A-Thon (PAT) volunteers (including Senior Corps-RSVP members) are ready with brushes, scrapers, and rollers in hand, eager to help restore the exterior of local homes greatly in need of a facelift. Days later, when their work is completed, they are rewarded with smiles and hugs from the homeowners.

The annual PAT is a unique community partnership of HandsOn Suburban Chicago, Catholic Charities, and Habitat for Humanity of Northern Fox Valley. PAT volunteers paint the exterior of homes owned and occupied by persons with limited financial resources and who are physically unable to paint their homes. Yet, like most of us, they still want to stay in the home and neighborhood they’ve known for so many years.

Catholic Charities serves as the intake Agency and is responsible for screening and review of 24-40 applications to verify financial eligibility. HandsOn Suburban Chicago’s Community PAT program coordinator, Donnie Graham, begins early in the year with the recruitment of over 200 individuals and team members willing to participate in PAT.

Craig Powers puts the finishing touches on a home during a recent Paint-A-Thon project.

Come July Senior Corps-RSVP member Craig Powers steps in as PAT home inspector. After mapping out routes to all the homes, he starts the first weekend in July to do his round of inspections. He arrives at the first home around 8 a.m. on Saturday. Then he has a short conversation with the resident, explaining the PAT procedures and finishes checking out the last home by 3 or 4 p.m. The process starts again Sunday. By the end of the weekend, he’s checked out about 24-30 homes in the ten townships that PAT serves. Craig says smiles and hugs are the best payment he knows.

“What really inspires most volunteers is the interaction with the homeowners,” Craig says. “Volunteers don’t have to know how to paint when they sign up to help. We can easily teach some of the basics and get you involved immediately.”

As anyone who has ever tried to upgrade a home knows, refurbishing involves much more than simply slapping on a coat of paint. Craig has developed a check-list that helps him determine what is needed to get the home exterior back in shape. He inspects gutters; fascia (area just below the gutter); soffit (horizontal piece under the gutter); the body of the house; the window frames; and the shutters. Often hedges and overgrown bushes must be trimmed in order to access the outside walls.

When that’s done, he photographs all four sides of the house and measures to establish the amount of paint he’ll need. Craig then prepares a summary report detailing all the work required for each of the homes that will be painted. After all his reports are assembled he meets with Donnie and a Catholic Charities rep to make the final decisions on which homes will be painted and assign the team of volunteers for each project. Habitat works with Lowe’s Home Improvement to handle the paint tinting and arranges to have the Valspar donated paint delivered to Craig’s home.

Craig takes care of obtaining donations for all the additional materials needed (brushes, scrapers, etc.) He writes to major paint equipment suppliers asking for their “seconds” and other items that can’t be sold in stores, but are still quite usable. These donated paint supply items average $8,000 in value per year. He has obtained over $110,000 during the course of the last 13 years. Once all the material arrives in mid-August, leaders arrive at Craig’s home and are instructed on site safety, homeowner sensitivity issues, how to safely lead volunteer teams, and project preparation. Craig also reviews the home inspection report so team leaders are well informed on the degree of difficulty of their assigned home. Then they’re ready for PAT day in September.

What Craig likes best about working with PAT is knowing that he can improve the lives of roughly twenty-four homeowners a year. “The look on their faces when they come out at the end of the day and see their finished house makes everything we do worth the time and effort,” he says.

While he modestly downplays his role in the process, others know that without his leadership the project could take much longer.

As if the PAT project weren’t enough, Craig also contributes his talents to Rolling Meadows Community Events Foundation, WINGS (domestic violence shelter), and Clearbrook. In fact, when applications were low but teams were available, he suggested Clearbrook’s group homes. They house adults with disabilities in the community so it is keeping with the PAT mission.

His motivation is quite simple and can work for all of us: “Be the change you want the world to be.”

This September, 224 PAT workers, including those in the Senior Corps-RSVP program, gave twenty-four homes a fresh coat of paint and a new life. Volunteers are always welcome and as Craig says “The greatest gift you can ever give is of yourself.”

To volunteer as a PAT worker for next September’s Paint-A-Thon contact: donnie@handsonsuburbanchicago.org

By Janet Souter, Senior Corps-RSVP Member

from → Community Paint a thon, Paint-A-Thon, Senior Volunteer, SeniorCorps - RSVP, Volunteer Impact, Volunteer Recognition, Volunteerism

The Top 5 Reasons to Become a Poll Worker

2018 August 30
Leave a comment
tags: , , , ,
by HandsOn Suburban Chicago

It’s hard to believe it but the November elections are right around the corner! Did you know there is a shortage of poll workers in suburban Cook County? That’s why we need you!

HandsOn Suburban Chicago is partnering with the Cook County Clerk’s Office to sign up both adults and high school students to become poll workers.

When you sign up at https://www.handsonsuburbanchicago.org/electionday not only are you helping the election process go smoothly, but you are also helping HandsOn Suburban Chicago raise much-needed funds to support our Schools and Youth programs that serve at-risk youth in our community. For every poll worker recruited that works on Election Day, HandsOn Suburban Chicago gets $25 to help our kids!

If you ever wondered what the benefits of being a poll worker are, here are our top 5:

5.  Getting to know your neighbors and meeting new people!

4.  Engaging directly in the democratic process!

3.  Helping your community!

2.  Assisting people in performing an important civic responsibility!

1.  Getting paid for doing the right thing and have fun at the same time!

Sign up today and share this with your friends and family!

from → Donations & Charitable Giving, Fundraising

Decades of volunteering still bring joy and satisfaction for Senior Corps-RSVP Members

2018 August 2
Leave a comment
tags: , , ,
by HandsOn Suburban Chicago

There are several reasons people continue to volunteer at a facility for over twenty-five years: They love the place. They love the staff. And, most of all, they love the people they support.

Senior Corps-RSVP members Marilyn Hermann (left) and June Wulfert are still going strong after more than 25 years volunteering at Lutheran Home in Arlington Heights.

Just ask Senior Corps-RSVP volunteers Marilyn Hermann and June Wulfert who have a combined 50-plus years of serving at the Lutheran Home for senior living in Arlington Heights. Both have found so many ways to contribute-by engaging with residents through one-on-one visits, setting up group chat sessions, or assisting with entertainment events. They even create crochet and quilt items for the gift shop.

Inspired by her grandmother and mother, both of whom had volunteered at the Lutheran Home when it was known as the Altenheim Home, Marilyn began serving the home in 1982. She started with redesigning flower arrangements leftover from events, which were then redistributed throughout the building. When her mother became a resident in 1994, Marilyn visited regularly, and before long she made friends with others in the home as well. Now, she brightens the days for residents in assisted living, skilled nursing, adult day services and memory loss sections. They all see her as a friend and some consider her a member of the family.

From Tuesday through Saturday, Marilyn leads many of them in activities such as quilting, conversation groups and mind bender games. For conversation groups, she’ll arrive with an agenda-usually subjects related to recent newspaper stories, but avoiding politics-and finds that after a few minutes, the participants often go off on another tangent. Yet, as she says, “It’s so neat when you get them chatting.”

She gears all activities according to residents’ interests and abilities, but those in the memory loss section give her a special joy as they smile up at her when she brings food, introduces games, shows up in costume or plays music.

It doesn’t stop there. Marilyn is often on hand to host events such as the Advent Tea, ice cream socials and fashion shows. At Christmas time, she takes on the role of Mrs. Santa Claus and helps “Santa” when he makes his rounds handing out goodies for the residents and the children at Shepherd’s Flock, the Home’s child day-care facility. When she’s not at the Home, she works behind the scenes, making dish towels (the kind with a quilted top for hanging over handles) for sale in the Lutheran Home Gift Shop. So far, she’s created over 2,300 of them.

What does she enjoy most about her time spent with residents at the Lutheran Home? “I love how they smile when they see me,” Marilyn says. “When I leave, they ask ‘When are you coming back?’ When I arrive home in the late afternoon I’ll often tell my husband, ‘I’ve had the best day.'”

June Wulfert modestly refers to herself as “Marilyn’s sidekick,” but it’s clear that her contributions over the years have been invaluable to the Lutheran Home’s purpose as well. Over the past 25 years, she’s worked with the residents on crafts, quilting and even record keeping and updating bulletin boards. Most of her time is spent setting up and serving for Marilyn’s weekly chat groups. For the residents who may enjoy crocheting or knitting, but have limited skills, June assists them and sees herself as a “set of hands for those whose hands don’t work as well anymore.” Her crocheting and knitting talents are also evident in the Lutheran Home Gift Shop. As with Marilyn, she also creates many of the quilted-top dish towels with the crocheted handles. June enjoys interacting with the Home’s residents, and finds that friendships evolve over the years. Residents who may have started in one section may be transferred to a different nursing area but June is still there for them. “There’s always a need for people like us,” she said.

Lutheran Home volunteer manager Beth Gauthier says of both ladies, “Their years of service to our residents has been a blessing.  Everything they do here is wrapped up in kindness…Both have been a wonderful resource for me and have been able to answer any question I have.”

For those who might consider volunteering at the Lutheran Home or similar facilities, both ladies advise, “Come with an open mind and heart and be ready to feel special.”

Written by Janet Souter, Senior Corps-RSVP Member

If interested in volunteering at Lutheran Home, here are two of the many opportunities available for you: 

The General Store

Resident Transportation Companion

from → Senior Volunteer, SeniorCorps - RSVP, Volunteerism

HandsOn Suburban Chicago Helps Wheeling Middle Schoolers Give Back to Homebound Seniors

2018 July 2
Leave a comment
by HandsOn Suburban Chicago

HandsOn Suburban Chicago (HOSC) led a service learning project for seventh and eighth grade students at London Middle School in May. The students learned about the issues of senior isolation and then created jars filled with candy and positive messages that were donated to homebound seniors that can be opened and read every day.

The jars were donated to recipients of Meals on Wheels programs in Wheeling and Maine townships through Catholic Charities Community Development and in Des Plaines through the Des Plaines Frisbie Senior Center, an HOSC community partner. Over 400 sixth and seventh graders at London created 121 jars filled with 3800 pieces of candy and 1380 handwritten messages of encouragement and kindness.

The jars were well received by the staff and seniors with one recipient writing back, “Many thanks to all the students at Jack London Middle School sending the jars of candy with all the with the cheerful wishes wrapped around each piece. It was fun to open each candy and read the notes. It brought a smile to my face and the candy brought a smile to my tummy. Thank You!”

HOSC is excited to team up with the school again next year to complete four more service learning projects that benefit surrounding communities.

from → RSVP, Schools and Youth, SeniorCorps - RSVP, Volunteer Impact, Youth, Youth Volunteering

Senior Corps-RSVP Member providing hope to children through international and intergenerational programs

2018 June 26
Leave a comment
by HandsOn Suburban Chicago
Once a year Senior Corps-RSVP member, Walt Riesing, travels with doctors, nurses and related medical personnel to remote and poverty-stricken areas in Haiti. There they set up relief centers to treat injuries, distribute food packs, fill prescriptions and organize games for the children.
A few months ago he used this experience as a way to connect with students in the Intergenerational Pen Pal Program of Senior Corps-RSVP of Northern Cook and Northern DuPage Counties. Participating Senior Corps-RSVP members exchange letters with students in the third to fifth grades. It’s a way for children to have another adult in their lives and an opportunity for adults to learn what children are experiencing in today’s world.
Walt, who prefers to be called Corky, corresponds with a fifth grader at Tarkington School in Wheeling, Illinois. In connection with Black History Month, Corky saw an opportunity to give the student a short history lesson in his letter. He mentioned how the Haitians centuries ago had been slaves of the French but overthrew the government and became the first nation established by slaves. To make the student aware of the poverty and living conditions in other parts of the world, Corky went on to describe how most people on that small island lack proper medical care and live in dirt-floor huts with no plumbing or electricity.

Senior Corps-RSVP member Walt Riesing (left) with Haitian team

Corky is also a tutor with Lunch Buddies, a tutoring program of HandsOn Suburban Chicago and Senior Corps-RSVP. Corky works with students at two other elementary schools during their lunch hour. He helps them with their studies but more often serves as a mentor, listening to what is happening in their lives and sometimes providing guidance. “Boys need a male in their lives,” he said, “so it may involve nothing more than talking, playing games or going outside and playing soccer.”

Corky doesn’t stop there. He finds great joy in all his volunteer efforts, but one of his favorites is working with Rainbow Hospice engaging in comfort care-offering solace to a dying patient-or respite care-giving relief to 24-hour caregivers.
In all these areas-aiding the disaster victims in Haiti, establishing mentoring relationships with students who need guidance and comforting hospice clients and their families-he finds that the “more time you spend with all these people, the more hope you have. What I do is no big deal. I’ve been truly blessed in my life.”
Written by Janet Souter, Senior Corps-RSVP Member

from → Senior Volunteer, SeniorCorps - RSVP, Volunteerism

Senior Corps-RSVP of HandsOn Suburban Chicago Honors Local Volunteers at Annual Member Recognition Brunch

2018 May 16
Leave a comment
tags: , ,
by HandsOn Suburban Chicago

For Immediate Release:

Arlington Heights, IL, May 16, 2018 – One hundred seventy volunteers representing 62 local agencies will gather at the Metropolis Ballroom in Arlington Heights on Thursday, May 16, 2018 to be recognized for outstanding service in their communities. The First Bank of Highland Park, the Corporation for National and Community Service, the Korean Cultural Center of Chicago, the Sion Club, and the HandsOn Suburban Chicago Board of Directors are sponsoring the brunch.

The volunteers are largely members of Senior Corps-RSVP of Northern Cook and Northern DuPage counties which is sponsored by HandsOn Suburban Chicago. Senior Corps-RSVP one of the largest volunteer networks in the nation for people 55 and over and has been engaged in this area for 46 years.

Local Senior Corps-RSVP members, including those not in attendance, have given 75,000 hours of volunteer service this past year to nonprofits, schools, and local governments. The members provided assistance with transportation, meal delivery, healthcare, tax preparation, home repair, and adult and youth education in addition to fulfilling many other community needs.

“This is an event that all of us at HandsOn Suburban Chicago look forward to each year. It’s a time to recognize and thank all of you that give so much back to our communities by volunteering.” said Jordan Friedman, Executive Director of HandsOn Suburban Chicago.

About HandsOn Suburban Chicago

HandsOn Suburban Chicago (HOSC) positively impacts communities by connecting people to enriching volunteer experiences. It serves over 150 nonprofits in 44 communities, making over 6,500 volunteer connections over the past year. HOSC sponsors Senior Corps-RSVP of Northern Cook and Northern DuPage counties and also runs a number of school tutoring and mentoring programs, utilizing the power of volunteers to help keep disadvantaged youth on track to graduate high school.

 

Two hundred people attended this year’s annual Senior Corps-RSVP Member recognition brunch in Arlington Heights.

 

Press Contacts:

Jordan Friedman
Executive Director
HandsOn Suburban Chicago
847-228-1320 X 111
jordan@handsonsuburbanchicago.org

Carolyn Roberts
Project Director, Senior Corps-RSVP
HandsOn Suburban Chicago
847-228-1006 X 114
carolyn@handsonsuburbanchicago.org

from → Press Release, RSVP, SeniorCorps - RSVP

Senior Corps Week Spotlight on Service: RSVP member brings Pen Pals program to Wheeling elementary school

2018 May 2
Leave a comment
tags: , , , ,
by HandsOn Suburban Chicago

When Janet Isaacman, a Senior Corps-RSVP volunteer tutor at Tarkington Elementary School in Wheeling, learned about the new Senior Corps-RSVP Pen Pals Program, she saw an opportunity for the school’s fourth and fifth graders to improve their writing skills as well as their grades.

Janet Isaacman, a Senior Corps-RSVP member who volunteers as a Pen Pal and tutor.

Pen Pals volunteers write to third-, fourth- or fifth-grade students (one school in Palatine, the other in Des Plaines) and the children write back. It’s a way for children to have another adult in their lives through letters, and an opportunity for adults to learn what children are experiencing in today’s world. Janet became so engaged in Pen Pals, that she suggested the program to the Tarkington School principal and fifth grade teacher. Because she had a long-time positive relationship with them they were open to hearing about it. The main selling point-kids would actually gain experience in writing letters.

Janet didn’t stop there. She recruited adult volunteers for the program and they in turn found other letter writers. One of the main selling points is that the Pen Pals only commit to about an hour or two a month. At the end of the school year the “pals” meet face-to-face for the first time to work on a project together, or have lunch.

In both tutoring and the Pen Pals program, Janet enjoys children’s honesty and their willingness to share their true feelings. “No games,” she says. “Nobody is trying to impress anyone…What they think is what they say.”

She often challenges the students to reach a higher level of thinking than merely giving simple answers on the material they’ve read, by posing thought-provoking questions.

“We have book discussions,” she explained. “I ask questions such as ‘What would you ask the author if you met them?’ or ‘If you could change the title of the book what title would you give it?'”

She’s been tutoring second and fourth grade students for the past eight years, four hours a day, two days a week. It’s the rewards that keep her going. She has students with autism, extreme shyness or difficult home situations. Yet through her efforts to guide and focus on their fears and anxieties, she has managed to help improve their grades and also builds up close relationships with them. She sees herself more as a mentor than a tutor.

Carolyn Roberts, Senior Corps-RSVP Project Director says of Janet: “She takes a very prominent leadership position behind those things for which she has tremendous passion…Janet’s passion for the overall welfare and education of children is evident. As a Senior Corps-RSVP member volunteering in the Pen Pals program, Janet’s focus is on broadening the exposure of her student Pen Pals by encouraging them to read more and learn about far-away places.”

Janet advises those interested in the Pen Pals program to remember it doesn’t take a lot of time, or even skill, but volunteers know that students will see the value of written communications. In simple and often delightful sentences, children tell about their holiday celebrations, their families and favorite subject in school. They’re interested in the lives of their adult pals too. Along the way, friendships are forged.

The best part is when Pen Pals meet in the spring, before school ends. As volunteers enter the classroom, children jump up from their seats shouting “Yay! The Pen Pals are here!” Then come greetings and hugs all around.

That’s an incentive in itself.

Click here for more information on Pen Pals.

Spotlight written by Janet Souter, Senior Corps-RSVP Member

from → RSVP, Senior Volunteer, SeniorCorps - RSVP, Volunteer Impact

Senior Corps Week Celebrates Senior Volunteers

2018 May 1
Leave a comment
by HandsOn Suburban Chicago

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), the federal agency that oversees Senior Corps, will celebrate the valuable contributions made by older volunteers during the eighth annual Senior Corps Week, taking place April 29 – May 5 during Older Americans Month.

Today, Senior Corps engages approximately 220,000 Americans at 25,000 locations across the nation through its Foster Grandparent, Senior Companion, and RSVP programs. For more than five decades, Senior Corps volunteers have used their skills and experience to mentor and tutor youth, help other adults maintain independence in their homes, connect veterans and military families to services, and more.

“Americans are living longer and achieving even more,” said Deborah Cox-Roush, director of Senior Corps. “Through service, older adults are transforming society and addressing some of the toughest problems facing our nation such as fighting the opioid epidemic and rebuilding communities following disasters. I salute the Senior Corps volunteers leading these efforts and thank them for their commitment to serve their community and country,”
From administering the Senior Corps pledge to issuing proclamations, elected officials, community leaders, and organizations will honor Senior Corps volunteers at recognition events and service projects throughout the week.  

A growing body of research points to mental and physical health benefits associated with volunteering and a new study from Senior Corps builds upon this research. Preliminary findings released last summer show that after just one year of service, Senior Corps volunteers reported improved health after, including decreased anxiety and depression, loneliness and social isolation, enhanced physical capacity, and higher life satisfaction. The final study will be released in the summer of 2018.

The dedicated Senior Corps volunteers join the more than 21 million Americans 55+ who contribute more than 3.3 billion hours of service in their communities according to the annual Volunteering and Civic Life in America report by CNCS.  Their collective service provides a yearly economic benefit with an estimated value of $78 billion.

To learn more about how to become a Senior Corps volunteer or find a program in your community, visit nationalservice.gov.

###

The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that engages millions of Americans in service through its AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and Volunteer Generation Fund programs, and leads the nation’s volunteering and service efforts. For more information, visit NationalService.gov.

Re-posted from https://www.nationalservice.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2018/senior-corps-week-celebrates-senior-volunteers

Proclamation issued by Governor Bruce Rauner of the State of Illinois recognizing Senior Corps Week and the positive impact Senior Corps volunteers have on their communities throughout the state.

from → Volunteer Impact

« Older Entries