078 Laura Valentine—Penuel Ridge
Away From It All—Penuel Ridge Retreat Center
Helicopters, sirens, traffic, deadlines, quotas, to-do lists, demanding devices—noise, noise, noise, pressure, pressure, pressure—the hallmarks of everyday life! Where is the escape, the safe space away from it all, a place to simply to be, to renew, to reconnect? Laura Valentine knows.
Laura is the executive director of Penuel Ridge, a small retreat center not far from bustling Nashville, yet nestled in 135 acres of quiet, where individuals and small groups (of no more than 18) can find themselves. Open 365 days a year, Penuel Ridge is a contemplative, interfaith center offering safe, sacred space to be still in a peaceful setting to listen to one's inner voice and for the voice of God (however persons define the divine).
People come to walk the land, to listen to the sounds of nature, to study sacred texts, to journal, to rest, to simply be away and at peace. The retreats are self-directed. Consequently, each experience is unique to the individuals or groups who come. Some may walk the meadow-sized labyrinth; others may seek out the benches by the two-acre lake where the wildlife comes to share a moment. Some will gather by the fire circle, perhaps to listen to and tell stories or simply to savor s'mores and watch the dancing flames.
Others, especially in the extremes of weather, will find sacred space in the welcoming retreat house with its floor-to-ceiling windows. Still others will dip deeply into The Well, a circular, covered structure constructed with straw bales and stucco that invites people to connect with one another and with nature. No where are there TVs or cell phones.
The numbers of individuals and groups who come add up—nearly 2,200 each year. With a staff of only Laura and a part-time assistant, volunteers are essential for making the center a place of gracious hospitality and for being good stewards of the pristine wilderness. Whatever volunteers have interest in is needed—assisting with the administrative tasks, greeting and orienting guests, preparing rooms for the overnight visitors, bush-hogging, mowing, gardening, trail building and maintenance, filling the bird feeders, even checking the light bulbs.
Once a month, volunteers can be part of a cook team and hosts for Penuel Ridge's retreat for homeless persons. The center has as part of its mission to be in solidarity with the poor.
Volunteers are needed and are only limited by their imagination in terms of what they can contribute. As a way of appreciating those people who give their time, Penuel Ridge gives them equal time for their own personal retreat. After all, everyone needs safe, peaceful, sacred space.
For more information, visit the website (penuelridge.org), email Laura (l.valentine@penuelridge.org), or call the landline (615-792-5936).
077 Wayne Schmidt—Special Olympics Coach
Scoring a Strike—Special Olympics
Looking for a way to connect with his son who was learning disabled, Wayne Schmidt remembered the fun he had bowling when he was growing up. He began teaching his son the sport. Soon the son was playing better than the father—and others were noticing. "Who's his coach?" they would ask.
With his answer Wayne's life scored a strike! Soon he was coaching Special Olympic athletes in bowling for his community. As his teaching skill developed and the program grew to more than 60 special bowlers, he began coaching new coaches. Now, as head bowling coach for Team Florida, Wayne coaches on the county, area, state, and national level. At all levels Wayne, a volunteer himself, relies on other volunteers to make the games go smoothly and to help the athletes progress.
In addition to volunteer coaches, other volunteers manage the logistics of getting 60 bowlers to the right place at the right time. Some volunteers participate with the athletes in Unified Partner contests that pair a volunteer with an athlete for the event, and still others cheer all the athletes on, reminding each one that they are Olympians!
The ultimate objective of Special Olympics Florida is to help people with intellectual disabilities participate as productive and respected members of society at large, by offering them a fair opportunity to develop and demonstrate their skills and talents through sports training and competition, and by increasing the public’s awareness of their capabilities and needs. That's a goal that volunteers make possible—and everybody is a winner!
To find out more about Special Olympics in your state, visit specialolympics.org.
076 Jennifer Crews—Desert Sounds
Volunteers and Music—Making a Difference for Students
A 14 year old voluntarily helping a friend has inspired a movement that now reaches nearly 600 students each year and is growing. Jeremy and his friend played in the high school band until the friend’s parents divorced and he no longer had a trumpet to play. In their school district, funds were tight and consequently parents had to provide most of the instruments. Jeremy convinced his friend to switch to a clarinet, which the school did have, but neither the school nor the friend’s dad could afford to buy the reeds for the instrument. Jeremy found a job and dedicated his earnings to his friend so that he could play in the band. His selfless action became the Jeremy Project, which is now Desert Sounds.
The mission of Desert Sounds, based in the Phoenix area, is to provide children and youth access to music education. Research confirms what parents see when their children begin to play an instrument: Because music engages both sides of the brain, students do better in both math and reading. Jeremy knew this phenomenon first hand. He had struggled with a learning disability and did not read until he was in band in the eighth grade.
The organization, now ten years old, provides not only instruments to nearly 600 students but also works with volunteers to create and manage programming that gives students a sense of belonging, the opportunity to learn, and occasions to share their music. Musical Mentors gives one-on-one music lessons but goes a step further to create a mentoring relationship that helps students thrive in life as well as in band. The Mariachi Band goes out into the community to perform, to the delight of the hearers and the performers. The Electric Orchestra brings together technology and music, which appeals to particular students and consequently helps stem the dropout rate from traditional band in the vulnerable early teen years.
Like Jeremy, volunteers make all that possible. Musicians and non-musicians alike are crucial for not only working with the students but also for communicating to the community about the need and the organization. Volunteers also handle the administrative tasks that keep Desert Sounds on track for their stated goal of reaching 1,000 students each year!
To learn more, visit www.desertsounds.org.
075 Mary Katherine Rand—The Mary Parrish Center
From Surviving to Thriving—The Mary Parrish Center
When women and their children arrive at the Mary Parrish Center, they are survivors. Pummeled repeatedly by domestic violence and sexual abuse, wounded emotionally and physically, they have nevertheless found a place of shelter and hope. They have escaped. The beater has been beaten.
But now what? How do these women and their children move from merely surviving to truly thriving? They do so with the help of the Mary Parrish Center and its many volunteers.
Located in a 12-unit apartment building in Nashville, the Center provides rent-free housing for six women with children and for four women alone. One unit is the office and the other is the community gathering space. Being a "cluster site" gives the women the wrap-around services and supportive community that help them stabilize and begin to thrive.
Although those services include up to two years of housing rent free, the average stay is only one year, a testimony to both the strength and desire of the women and to the other services of the Mary Parrish Center, such as individualized case management, housing advocacy, budgeting, employment assistance, and therapy.
Additionally, volunteers share their skills, interests, and caring through art, crafts, cooking, event planning, teaching and playing games, and so on. These enrichment activities bring not only fun and new skills to the residents but also a sense of support for them to continue their journey on to thriving.
Volunteers who have interest in making a difference in the lives of these survivors need only contact the center for a personal conversation with Mary Katherine Rand, the volunteer coordinator. Her focus is on matching the strengths of the individual (or group) with what the residents would find helpful or enjoyable. All ideas are welcome.
When the survivors arrive, they soon learn the story of the ginko-leaf logo of the Mary Parrish Center. The beautiful ginko tree grows upright, reaching for the sky. Also a survivor, the ginko is able to withstand the harshest weather extremes and even a nuclear blast and keep on growing. This gift of nature is a symbol of hope for the women to know that they too can survive and indeed thrive.
To talk with Mary Katherine Rand, the volunteer coordinator, call 615-256-5959 or email marykatherine@maryparrish.org. See more Center details at www.maryparrish.org.