1. Community Heroes Nominated From Village Volunteer Corps
2. Those Who Serve Our 10,000 Volunteers
3. Volunteerism of 300 Celebrated at 2003 Appreciation Dinner

Volunteer staff members (from left) Patricia LaDouceur and Ann Pohlers

Those Who Serve Our 10,000 Volunteers
By Emilie Bromet-Bauer – St. Vincent de Paul Village

  Each year over 10,000 people volunteer their time and talent to St. Vincent de Paul Village so that thousands of people in our neighborhood are fed and provided with other necessities and services. This amounts to close to 100,000 hours of
service, valued at over $1.5 million.

  All this work doesn’t just happen, though. It takes the cooperation and support of hundreds of staff persons throughout the Village and the leadership, dedication and hard work of a particularly committed team of employees who make up the volunteer services programs of Father Joe’s Villages®.

  This small enthusiastic team includes a program manager, four coordinators and an administrative assistant. They embody the CREED – Compassion, Respect, Empathy, Empowerment, and Dignity – in their every action. After all, they share the same goals, to support our staff and agency, to facilitate the volunteers’ ability to provide services to our clients and residents and, at the same time and very importantly, to ensure that each volunteer’s experience is always positive and rewarding.

  Meet the team. Laura Kojima is the volunteer coordinator for support services at St. Vincent de Paul Village. She is responsible for the thousands of people who volunteer in the two kitchens, maintenance and technology departments, thrift stores, warehouses, administration, fundraising and special events department.

 Laura’s other responsibilities include off-site projects, such as collection drives and donations; managing the Court-orderedvolunteer program; and arranging tours of the Village, which are led by our excellent group of Ladies Guild volunteer docents.
Laura’s dedication to St. Vincent’s is evidenced by her constant presence and longevity – she’s been here six years, the longest of anyone in the department. On any given weekend you will likely bump into Laura, accepting a donation or welcoming a new group of volunteers to work in one of the kitchens.

  Ann Pohlers coordinated our residential and social services until this July. We were sorry to see her go, but the volunteers and staff she worked with will always appreciate the positive impact she had on their lives and the Village’s programs.

  Patricia LaDouceur has the challenging role of coordinating and working with the many professional and support volunteers who make the Village medical and dental clinics so effective. Think "office manager" of a busy, public health clinic. Patricia conducts much of the department’s administrative functions as well as carries on her primary responsibilities of orienting, scheduling, supporting and recognizing hundreds of doctors, nurses, medical assistants, dentists, dental hygienists, and medical clerks. Since over 90 percent of the actual care to clients in our medical clinic – San Diego County’s only "free clinic" – is provided by volunteers, Patricia’s role is integral to the success of the clinic. In spite of challenges, she is always smiling and has an endless supply of energy.

  Sandra Gonzalez, volunteer services administrative assistant, is the newest
member of the team. She is the "Voice of Volunteer Services" as hers is the first voice you’ll hear when you call for information about our programs or to schedule a
volunteer experience in the kitchens. In addition, Sandra keeps the rest of the team organized, providing administrative support for all the volunteer coordinators and the program manager. In the short time Sandra’s been with us, she has shown
herself to be enthusiastic, flexible, and competent with a great sense of humor.

   Kimberly Durkin is our newest coordinator. Literally a one-woman show, Kimberly manages the entire volunteer program for Martha’s Village & Kitchen in Indio, Calif. She is charged with recruiting, placing, coordinating and recognizing all the volunteers at Martha’s. From assisting the fundraising volunteers to kitchen volunteers and everyone in between, Kimberly does it all.

  Hers is an especially challenging job because the population from which she recruits is spread out over an enormous geographical area and many are "snow birds," living in the Coachella Valley only during the winter months. Yet Kimberly is clearly up to the challenge, having already shown herself to be the epitome of grace under pressure.

This staff really makes things happen. Father Joe’s Villages® couldn’t do the work it does if it weren’t for the volunteers, and the volunteers couldn’t do what they do if it weren’t for the hard work of the volunteer staff members. Be sure to smile and say "hello" when you see one of them; and be assured that they will always smile back.