I love the wonderful things Greene County volunteers have been doing, even as the COVID-19 pandemic changes the way we live but not the things that need done. This month I’m giving a shout out to three groups of friends and neighbors who are volunteering to do the work that really counts – for seniors, for at-risk kids and even for the birds.
I’m a Meals on Wheels volunteer so I know that bringing nutritious daily meals to shut-ins can be a life saver. The hardy souls who keep the county’s senior centers open to prepare and deliver fresh cooked and sometimes frozen meals deserve a big round of applause. Needs have increased dramatically during the shut down. ”Last year we distributed 66,702 home delivered meals, an increase of 12,423 from last year,” Blueprints director Stacy Stroman notes. There are now new delivery routes into 17 underserved areas of the county and a grab-n-go meal option for seniors while the centers remain closed. Since last March, 133 new clients have signed up for delivered meals. Seniors who once came to centers to eat, socialize, exercise and do fundraising projects to help cover operational costs are a lost asset. At Waynesburg Center, this is an economic blow because volunteer quilting projects, craft sales and big cash bash events are what help pay the rent. As relief funds dwindled, some creative volunteers stepped up their game at home and kept their handiwork coming to their center.
Thanks to some crafty ladies who love to make things, Waynesburg Center’s “corner store by the front door” is open for business. Delivering meals three days a week (hint – we need more volunteer drivers! Call Blueprints!) has turned me into their best customer. My to–die-for repeat purchase is Bonnie Shough’s awesome crocheted rugs, made from a rainbow palette of plastic shopping bags, which she folds, cuts then crochets into rectangles, circles and stars. I now walk on stars to get to the dishes in the sink!
The Center is open weekdays until early afternoon and has plenty of inventory on hand – Bonnie’s rugs, full dress bunnies by Lee Dains and custom bears by Vicki Antill. There’s also totes and bowl cozies, picnic kits, smart phone pillows, cute critters, quilts, wall hangings and more. Call 724-627-6366 to make an appointment, then mask up and pop in to pick out your new coolest thing. The prices are more than reasonable, so don’t forget to tip your appreciation dollars to their cause.
Throughout this most unusual year, bird loving citizen scientists have been taking to the back roads and checking their feeders to gauge the health of the planet by the variety of avian species to be found. They turned out for the National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count in December, then spent Valentine’s Day weekend tracking the goings on at their birdfeeders for Audubon’s Great Backyard Bird Count. The Ralph K. Bell Bird Club is encouraging the next generation of citizen scientists with scholarships. Students are asked to submit essays on the winter birds of Greene County. This year there will be two scholarships offered for $1000 and $500. Details are posted on the club Facebook page and entries are due March 31.
When I first covered CASA – Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children – last June, as COVID had all schools teaching remotely, I was left feeling a little worried about the 120 some kids who were in the legal system. They are the county’s most vulnerable cases and can be found in every school district. When schools closed in March and CASA advocates and children could no longer meet face to face, director Aaron Houser went to work to fill the gaps in their lives that Zoom meetings and telephone calls could not quite fulfill. Now I’m back, eight months later to see how things are going.
Aaron’s big smile tells me where there’s a networking will there’s a way. “By pooling resources and working together, the nonprofit and social services communities can move some pretty big mountains!” he is happy to report.
CASA’s collaboration with nine other agencies and nonprofits, including Loved Again Charities of SWPA, Greene County United Way, Domestic Violence Services, Big Brothers Big Sisters, FFA, Safe Parenting, Salvation Army and First Assembly Church added up to some big services rendered to the at-risk kids needing advocacy. As winter and the holiday season arrived, this collaboration of agencies was able to work together to bring joy to 96 children on Light Up Night Waynesburg on December 6, with winter outfits, including coats, hats gloves and boots. Families did individual walkthroughs of CASA’s spacious cluster of offices on Church Street to get their winter gear and enjoy hot chocolate to celebrate the season. Aaron tells me a random conversation last November about advocates giving books as Christmas presents to their appointed children turned into “a blessing as that individual offered to buy all of the CASA books as long as that individual remained anonymous.”
The extra office space is slated to become a visitation area for CASA families, offering a comfortable place to talk as well as providing a neutral visitation site to the court across the street. One room will become a kid’s corner with murals on the walls and games, books and other activities to engage them during court visits.
Another future plan is coming right up – CASA is offering its next volunteer training program starting April 7 and running for 4 weeks. Aaron tells me that 16 volunteer advocates were active in 2020, serving 38 children in 18 different cases. “My dream team is to have 25 to 30 volunteers which would allow us to serve half the dependency cases, the ones with the most need.”
After being trained, advocates are assigned by the court to individual children to track the legal aspects of their case while offering that important one on one relationship – even if only on Zoom – with the child. They monitor health needs and meet with teachers, coaches and foster families to advocate in the child’s best interests.
“I was familiar with the program when I worked for the Observer-Reporter in Washington. They have a strong program there. When I retired I knew I wanted to volunteer in my county,” CASA’s newest advocate Bridget Vilenica tells me when I call. “I always think positive and I believe in giving back to my community. I saw the class advertised on social media and called CASA.”
Classes started in September and Bridget was sworn in by president judge Louis Dayich on December 2, 2020. Now she has two children, a boy and a girl, and is doing telephone calls and Zoom with the boy and doing the research and visits involved for her newest case. “He calls whenever he needs to talk. We haven’t met face to face yet, but we’ve Zoomed. I submit a report on every conversation so if I’m not available Aaron can step in. I feel comfortable because we have such a good team.”
How does advocacy fit into a busy schedule that includes master gardening and serving on community boards? “It doesn’t take much time – two or three hours a week at best. I’m not one to sit at home, you can ask my husband! I do Meals on Wheels on Friday at Jefferson and help with the Jefferson Food Pantry and am a nursery attendant at Jefferson Baptist church. I didn’t have any formal training for this kind of work but if I can do it anyone can. All you need is a good heart.”
Great article! Uplifting to read how good works continue .