As a 9/11 Day of Service, 17 Community Paint-A-Thon teams comprised of 290 volunteers painted a total of 20 homes. Forty one were members of Senior Corps-RSVP of Northern Cook and Northern DuPage counties who helped to paint 12 of these homes. Teams that participated came from area corporations, high school youth groups, local church groups, and community groups as well as individuals on September 15 & 16, 2017.
Community Paint-A-Thon is a unique community partnership designed to paint the exterior of homes owned and occupied by persons with limited financial resources who are at least 60 years of age or have a permanent disability making them unable to do the work themselves. The goal of this program is to provide dignity to homeowner and enable them to live independently in their community by restoring the outside of their home. The Steering Committee is comprised of area nonprofits and corporations that meet monthly to plan and execute the program each year.
Each home project entails not only painting the exterior of the home, but also all the prep work; which can take as much or more time than the actual painting. Prep work that can be required: scraping, sanding, caulking, priming and landscaping prior to being able to paint the home, which is all the responsibility of each team assigned to the home. Many teams go above and beyond by planting flowers & bulbs, painting or providing new yard furniture, fixing & painting mail boxes and building planter boxes.
This year there were two new teams – Arlington Heights Countryside Church and WEIS Builders that joined the returning teams – many of them have been participating with the program for over 20 years. WEIS Builders also donated the funds to pay for the 30th Anniversary Community Paint-A-Thon t-shirts for all the volunteers. Many of the participating teams take ownership of their assigned home project and go well above and beyond in helping to make a positive impact for both the homeowner and all the wonderful volunteers.
This year our teams also painted six group homes belonging to an area nonprofit Clearbrook – that provides support and housing for disabled adults and children. All of the residential homes were located within the cities of the ten townships of the Paint-A-Thon program.
In the past 30 years Community Paint-A-Thon volunteers have painted 834 homes, with the help of 17,027 volunteers and using approx. 15,419 gallons of paint. This major accomplishment has been completed by volunteers caring about their communities and neighbors.
Many thanks to all the AWESOME teams who helped to make the 30th Annual Community Paint-A-Thon an OUTSTANDING day of service!
Senior Corps-RSVP member CHiL tutors help at-risk students get ahead
It’s 3:30 in the afternoon on a typical day at a middle school in Wheeling. Most kids are heading for the bus to get home, rummage through the fridge for snacks or flop onto the couch to play video games. Or soccer practice. Or chess club. Few really feel like doing more math or English.
And yet, two afternoons a week, the students who are struggling to keep up in their classes, or feel disconnected from the school population because their English is less than perfect, stay for nearly two more hours.
Rose Johnson
Why? Because Senior Corps-RSVP members like Rose Johnson and Mike Mokhtarian are there. For the next hour and a half, these tutors will guide them through the complexities of math or grammar and later, relax with a board game or hang out and watch their students at soccer or basketball practice. Sometimes they just listen whenever the kids feel the need to talk through issues.
Mike Mokhtarian
Rose and Mike are two of the 15 Senior Corps-RSVP members that are part of CHiL, which stands for Cooper, Holmes and London Middle Schools. Holmes and London are part of Community Consolidated School District 21 based in Wheeling while Cooper is in Buffalo Grove.
CHiL targets academically at-risk students. Although the program mainly serves students from households where English is not the primary language, English-only students also attend and benefit. The concept of an after school program started 22 years ago at Robert Frost Elementary School as a gang preventative. Gregg Crocker, Family Learning Coordinator for District 21, and the school district’s current contact person for CHiL, said the district had looked at research on the reason for gangs in the area.
“One was academic failure,” he explained. “The other-no positive connection with other adults.”
Then, seven years ago, HandsOn Suburban Chicago and Senior Corps-RSVP met with Gregg Crocker and School District 21 staff members and developed the CHiL program to address the issues of academic failure and the need to provide positive adult connection with the students. HOSC staff and Senior Corps-RSVP members have remained an active partner in expanding the program to include the three schools and provide tutors/mentors to fill this vital need.
In fact, School District 21 recently presented an award to HOSC “in recognition of many years of service to students and the Community Consolidated School District 21 Community.”
A typical schedule for volunteers includes one hour of tutoring and one half-hour of mentoring one or two days a week (Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday) from 3:30 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. Sessions open with snacks, because, as we all know, it’s not easy for students to think clearly on an empty stomach.
Rose, whose background includes twenty-five years in the Youth Services Department at Indian Trails Public Library, works with four or five students at a time at London School, where she finds the staff friendly and welcoming. Students start out by completing homework or other assignments for the first hour. After she checks their work or gives help where they need it-such as reading essays for grammatical errors-she allows time for playing games, reading, talking to friends.
Rose loves the kids and knows many through the library or her neighborhood. She recalls one boy who seemed shy at first and usually came in with a large amount of homework. He was easily distracted, so she kept refocusing him, especially when he’d talk about a video game he played at home. Whenever she redirected him, he appreciated her efforts and even apologized for getting distracted.
“Towards the end of the year, I do see kids coming with less homework,” she said. “Which means they are doing it at home and handing it in on time.”
Generally, tutors work with multiple students. On a good day, it’s one tutor for two students, although CHiL is working toward a one-on-one ratio. The students are shown how to take responsibility for their work. It’s a gradual process, but most important, they need enough motivation to stay in the program. Sessions are set up so students are always actively engaged, meaning there is no movie or TV watching during the post-studying period. Tutors usually will play strategy games with the kids, or in some cases, watch them play soccer or basketball.
While a number of tutors have a history of teaching or working with children, a background in education is not a requirement for the CHiL program. Mike, a retired engineer who has volunteered at London and Holmes schools, has enjoyed connecting with young people while tutoring them in math or playing board games during the “free time.” He acknowledges that it took some effort to keep the students on task. Yet, in his group of three or four students there were those who took their work seriously. He recalled speaking with one boy about his future plans.
“The boy’s father worked in a gas station,” he said. “He thought he would be like his father. I talked to him about college, and he could make more money with a college education. Later, a teacher told me I had succeeded in convincing him to think about college.”
In terms of CHiL’s success, the numbers tell the story. There are a total of 132 students in the CHiL Program in all three schools. On tutoring days, 98 percent of these kids are in attendance.
Gregg Crocker
Gregg cited another example of the program’s value. One student had missed a total of 36 days in the school year, but on the days she was tutored/mentored she had 100 percent attendance.
“That’s strong evidence that this is a good thing,” he said. “Parents see the need for the program as well, since often they may have less education than their children or work two jobs and are unable to help with schoolwork or other school issues.”
The CHiL setting endeavors to be as volunteer-friendly as possible. CHiL always tries to establish the appropriate student/tutor match up. New tutors are given a mandatory two-hour training period as a group and still receive support from a staff member throughout tutoring sessions. A math teacher is available for tutors who need guidance with current mathematics processes. In addition, students from Stevenson High School are there one afternoon a week to help out.
Volunteers do not need to be bi-lingual; all the students do speak English. Rose notes that when a student sees a word or phrase they don’t understand, she helps them look it up. “It’s great when the ‘light bulb’ goes off and they get it,” she said.
Rose offers this advice to new tutors: “Come with an open mind, ability to listen and a sense of humor. Some of these kids are not listened to at home and they want to vent sometimes. So listen, but don’t pass judgments. Leave that to the parents or teachers.”
If you are wanting to know how to help after Hurricane Harvey – check out NationalService.gov/Harvey as a great reference source!
The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), a federal agency that engages Americans in community driven service, has a website, NationalService.gov/Harvey, devoted to providing information for those who want to help the survivors of Hurricane Harvey.
You can sign-up to receive communications about future volunteer opportunities.
There are links to:
-Volunteer Louisiana
-Texas Service Commission
-Disaster Preparedness Resources
-FEMA Resources
There are helpful tips and links about:
-Volunteering and
-Donations to vetted disaster relief organizations
Click here to learn more about the Corporation for National and Community Service.
SeniorCorps is a core program of CNCS and a funder of our local SeniorCorps-RSVP program at HandsOn Suburban Chicago.
HandsOn Suburban Chicago Receives Community Service Award from Community Consolidated School District 21
On August 2, at Community Consolidated School District 21’s (CCSD21) Family Learning Program’s Benefit Golf Outing, HandsOn Suburban Chicago (HOSC) was presented with a plaque “in recognition of many years of service to students and the Community Consolidated School District 21 Community.”
Jordan Friedman, HOSC Executive Director; Tom Gaynor, Steven Zielke, and Jennifer Brennan, HOSC Board Members; Jess Park, School and Youth Project Director, and Aaron Wasserman-Olin, Service Learning Coordinator (pictured) accepted the recognition award.
HOSC has had a long history of serving students in CCSD21. Beginning in September 2010, CCSD21 and volunteer leaders from HOSC began the SAVE for Education consulting evaluation. Working with Gregg Crocker, the Director of Community Service Education, school administrators, principals, assistant principals, and student leaders, HOSC created an after school tutoring/mentoring program for middle school students. This program became known as “CHiL” which incorporates the names of the three middle schools: Cooper, Holmes and London, where the program is in place.
CHiL was designed to focus on keeping students in school and on track to finish high school. The after school program provides a healthy snack, time for the student to work with a volunteer tutor/mentor, and social/emotional support activities. CHiL volunteer tutors include high school students, community volunteers, and members of Senior Corps-RSVP, a Corporation for National and Community Service program sponsored by HOSC.
During the past school year 2016/2017, a total 156 individuals tutored 132 students providing students with 1146 hours of their time.
In addition to after school tutoring, HOSC’s School and Youth program developed Service Learning activities for CHIL students. These included:
- assembling anti-bullying bulletin board displays
- making and donation of 240 scarves to Button & Zipper, a nonprofit that supplies winter clothing to those in need in Chicagoland
- creating 225 holiday cards for residents of an assisted living facility in Wheeling and Meals on Wheels recipients
- producing 320 inserts for the Wheeling Park District’s Earth Day event on how and where to recycle electronics, batteries, household hazardous chemicals
- educating students about homelessness and having students assemble 100 summer essential kits during an afternoon of enrichment activity
HandsOn Suburban Chicago was excited to hear that August 17 is being celebrated as National Nonprofit Day for the first time. It is acknowledged by the National Day Calendar.
National Nonprofit Day recognizes more than nonprofits’ primary altruistic goals (awareness, research, and aid); it also acknowledges the added positive impacts they have on communities and the world. For example, following the recent U.S. recession, in 2012 the nonprofit sector provided 5.4% of the nation’s entire GDP (gross domestic product), or $887.3 billion; continuously employing nurses, web developers, lawyers, computer engineers and more (sources: John Hopkins and Tactical Philanthropy Advisors reports).
What is National Nonprofit Day and why is it being recognized on August 17th.
The Tariff Act of 1894 signed into law on August 17, 123 years ago, imposed the first federal income tax on corporations, which included exemptions for nonprofit corporations and charitable institutions. With a few modifications, nonprofit exemptions remain a solid part of the law and have served significant benefits, both for communities and the economy.
How to Observe
The National Day Calendar suggests observing this day by taking some time to learn more about nonprofits. Understanding that the funding for these organizations often satisfies more than the mission statement will help us see the benefits of supporting nonprofit organizations.
HandsOn Suburban Chicago – 48 years of service to area nonprofits and schools.
Founded in 1969 as a nonprofit, HandsOn Suburban Chicago (HOSC) has a mission of “Connecting people with purpose”. HOSC connects volunteers to area nonprofits and schools to help build their capacity to make positive change in our community. It also provides training for nonprofit staff in volunteer and nonprofit management to help strengthen and sustain their programs. HOSC services volunteers and clients in northern Cook and northern DuPage counties through an array of programs. Its main service area includes 44 towns and villages and 10 townships in the north and northwest suburbs of Chicago, reaching a population of over 1.4 million. View our website www.handsonsuburbanchicago.org to see the extensive services we provide to area nonprofits and how HandsOn interacts with the community.
Please consider supporting a local nonprofit by volunteering through HandsOn Suburban Chicago.
To make a donation to keep HOSC’s vital community programs going click here.
History of National Nonprofit Day
Sherita J. Herring, a renowned speaker, best-selling author and business strategist, founded National Nonprofit Day to educate, enlighten and empower others to make a difference, while acknowledging those that are in the trenches, impacting lives every day – the Change-Makers of the World! Visit www.kifoundation.org to find out more. #NationalNonprofitDay and #NND
Studies show that volunteering can be beneficial to volunteers as well as to those served but ensuring a positive experience is as much the responsibility of the volunteer as it is the organization. The volunteer need to be diligent in researching the organization and its environment to find the right fit.
In our first installment, we highlighted the rights you have as a volunteer to ensure a positive volunteer experience. Along with these rights, you also:
As a Volunteer You Have the Responsibility
- To make clear during the initial interview your interests, skills, expectations, preferences and availability.
- To be aware of the general purpose of the agency and what’s expected of you before accepting the assignment.
- To accept the assignment with the intention of following through in a dependable manner.
- To notify your designated supervisor of necessary absences as much in advance as possible.
- To participate in any training required by the agency.
- To accept supervision and guidance and comply with the regulations of the agency.
- To respect the confidentiality of agency and/or client information.
- To discuss satisfactions, dissatisfaction and suggestions for upgrading or changing your assignment with your supervisor.
- To be willing to respect the competencies of others and work as part of a team with all staff and other volunteers.
In an upcoming blog post, we will cover 1 more key topics that should help both prospective and current volunteers improve their service experience: How to Get the Answers You Need.
Do you know anyone who has said, “Yay, tax time is here! What fun!”
Of course not. Tax laws can be mind-boggling and change from year to year. For seniors, filing taxes can be especially costly and stressful-IRA distributions, interest income, withholdings-the list goes on. And using a professional accountant for even the simplest 1040 often strains a limited budget.
That’s where the AARP Tax Aide Program comes in. For seniors in the Northwest Suburbs the program keeps the headache and stress to a minimum, thanks to Senior Corps-RSVP members, Marilyn and Chuck Neuman and their team at AARP’s District 11 (three sites in Arlington Heights, two sites in Des Plaines and one site each in Elk Grove Village, Buffalo Grove, Mount Prospect and Palatine). This year alone district volunteers helped more than 2,800 seniors wade through seemingly endless schedules, deductions, and receipts saving them over $700,000 in filing fees.
Marilyn and Chuck Neuman are lining up volunteers for the 2018 Tax Aide program
Marilyn has been volunteering since 2004; Chuck started four years later. She’s a retired high school math teacher who always prepared her own taxes, so when she saw an article in AARP magazine calling for people to assist seniors in filing, she called. Helping seniors has always appealed to her, and this area of volunteering was the perfect fit. One of the reasons she continues to do it is the satisfaction of seeing the relief on a senior’s face after the taxes are in order, receipts sorted and appropriate lines filled in.
She tells the story of a widow whose husband had always prepared their taxes. “She was very nervous; didn’t know what documents to bring so she had a brown Jewel grocery bag full of all kinds of documents. We up-ended the bag on the table and sorted through. After finishing her taxes, she was really relieved and happy, and knew what to bring the next season.”
Marilyn and Chuck Neuman are lining up volunteers for the 2018 Tax Aide program
Marilyn serves as the Coordinator for District 11, managing nine sites. There are a total of 104 volunteers and many, about 36, are Senior Corps-RSVP members. She’s responsible for training, processing all prospective volunteers and certification reporting to AARP and the IRS. She also holds a state-level position as part of the Management Team for all of Illinois north of I-80, and handles the volunteer data base information for over 700 volunteers, 134 sites and 24 districts.
Chuck is District Technology Coordinator. He takes care of the equipment loaned by AARP and the IRS. There are a total of fifteen AARP laptops and 35 IRS laptops used in the district in addition to printers and routers at each of the nine sites. Keeping them all up and running from January through April can be nearly a full-time job.
Eighty-nine of the 104 volunteers in the district handle the actual tax preparation. There are five positions involved at each center.
“The Client Facilitator (greeter) is the first face the taxpayer sees,” Marilyn said. “He/she confirms the accuracy of the appointment, begins the intake process, helps the taxpayer complete the intake sheet and arranges the taxpayers’ forms.” This is a position perfect for those who don’t feel comfortable with crunching numbers. Facilitators are not required to certify in tax law, so those positions are open to anyone who likes to work with people and is detail-oriented.
The Tax Preparer interviews the client to learn what is needed to prepare the return and enters it into the IRS software, reminding the client that information on the return is the taxpayer’s responsibility. The Quality Reviewer is a more experienced volunteer and as the name implies, this person reviews the return for accuracy. The Electronic Return Originator transmits the information to the IRS. And finally, the Site Coordinator makes sure everything runs smoothly, arranging with the site host for appointment and volunteer scheduling, and is the go-to person if a taxpayer has questions.
Incidentally, for those who can easily navigate codes, apps installations, etc., Chuck can always use assistance in the technical department.
The tax preparation volunteers can give themselves a solid pat on the back for all the returns they helped file this year-specifically, 2,874 returns in all for an approximate taxpayer savings of $720,000, based at $250 per return. To qualify for the free tax return preparation service, taxpayers do not have to be seniors or AARP members. There are no minimum age limits or even income limits at this time, although the program is designed to serve low to middle income seniors. Tax Aide personnel will prepare taxes for anyone with an uncomplicated return. This year the average income for tax clients was $30,000.
Marilyn Neuman (left) participated in the recent Volunteer Fair at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library. Senior Corps-RSVP member Carol Spitz (right) is the library’s Tax Aide site coordinator.
Marilyn Neuman (left) participated in the recent Volunteer Fair at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library. Senior Corps-RSVP member Carol Spitz (right) is the library’s Tax Aide site coordinator.
These who are interested in volunteering for the program should keep in mind that tax law training will be held in January. New volunteers are trained for six days; returning volunteers for two days, plus one morning for policy training for all. New volunteers with a busy schedule can use a combination of online training, self-study and classroom learning. Certification and tax preparation tests are open-book. Volunteers are not subject to liability since all are protected by the Volunteer Protection Act.
Marilyn says that those who are detail-oriented with good computer skills and a desire to help others, would make perfect candidates for the AARP Tax Aide volunteer program. The best part-no experience needed. Training materials are provided. For 2018, the Tax Aide District 11 anticipates needing additional tax prep volunteers.
AARP Tax Aide District 9 will need additional volunteers to prepare tax returns at the Bloomingdale Senior Center and Glendale Heights Senior Center. Training for these two locations is for three days.
Written by:
Janet Souter
Senior Corps-RSVP Member
Volunteering is a wonderful life-lengthening experience. Studies show that volunteering can be beneficial to those served as well as to volunteers. Volunteers help organizations reach critical goals while sharing or learning new skills increasing their socialization
Volunteering can be a very positive experience, but ensuring that happens is as much the responsibility of the volunteer as it is the organization. In fact, the burden is on the volunteer to be diligent in researching the organization and its environment to find the right fit.
As a Volunteer You Have the Right
- To have a prompt, personal interview with the director or coordinator of volunteers.
- To be assigned a job that is worthwhile and challenging and that will use your skills or help you develop new ones.
- To have a clear understanding of the job, including requirements, responsibilities, time commitment, training, and supervisory structure.
- To be given a copy of the volunteer job description for your own file.
- To receive orientation to familiarize you with the staff, facilities, and program.
- To have periodic evaluations of your volunteer service with upgrading or change of assignment when feasible or desirable.
- To be informed of agency benefits, such as reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses and insurance, and of tax deductions allowable for volunteer expenses.
- To receive regular recognition both formally and informally.
- To be kept informed of what is going on in the agency through newsletters, staff meetings, etc.
- To ask for a new assignment or return to HandsOn Suburban Chicago to explore other volunteer opportunities.
In upcoming blog posts, we will cover 2 more key topics that should help both prospective and current volunteers improve their service experience: Volunteer Responsibilities, and How to Get the Answers You Need.
