Meet Susan Raines, Volunteer Manager, Pathfinders and 2017 Wile Volunteer Management Award Winner. In the past four years, Susan built the Pathfinders volunteer program to support every department in the agency. Volunteers provide 21,000 hours of service annually, empowering youth confronted by homelessness, crisis, or trauma to be safe and connected in order to develop a path towards self-sufficiency, healthier families, and a stronger community.
 
NPC: Please describe the organization you work for and the work they do.
Susan: Pathfinders provides an array of services for vulnerable youth from ages 11 through 25.  Our continuum of services includes the Youth Shelter, Drop-In Center, Hand-In-Hand counseling services for young survivors of sexual abuse, and Southeastern Education Center, an MPS behavioral reassignment school. 

NPC: What is your role or title with the organization, how long have you been a volunteer there and what are your responsibilities? ​
Susan: I have been the Volunteer Manager for the past four years and a volunteer at the Drop-In Center for the year prior to that.  My role is to recruit individuals and groups of volunteers, provide an orientation to Pathfinders, and provide support to both staff and the volunteers.
 
NPC: What drives you to be a volunteer manager?
Susan: What drives me to do this job is all the amazing people I get to meet and engaging them with our youth and young adults.  Our volunteers are a diverse group and each has their own talents to share.  It is very rewarding when a volunteer mentor and student or young adult make a connection and you can see the positive impact that connection is having on the student’s or young adult’s life. 

NPC: What has surprised you the most about your work?
Susan: What surprises me the most is the willingness of our youth and young adults to make that connection and how willing some of them are to open themselves up to the relationship. 
 
NPC: What have you learned?
Susan: Being both a volunteer and a Volunteer Manager has allowed me to see the best in people.  I get to see how many people want to become engaged with our youth and just need the right place and support to be successful at it.  I also have the opportunity to see the best of our youth and their talents and needs and see how the two can successfully come together. 
 
NPC: Has volunteering changed your point of view?
Susan: I have been a volunteer for a long time and it has totally changed my life.  It led to a career change and I never looked back.  I have always had an interest in people and in the helping professions, and my volunteer experiences shaped my decision to enter the social work field, which then led to an interest in engaging volunteers. When you volunteer, you have the opportunity to have experiences that you may not ordinarily have.  It can be life changing.
 
NPC: What’s something you are proud to have accomplished as a volunteer manager?
Susan: Four years ago, Pathfinders had about 50 volunteers at the Youth Shelter and no real plan in place to foster volunteer engagement and provide support to all programs.  We now have over 300 volunteers bringing their time and talents to all our programs and are constantly coming up with new volunteer opportunities.  We have become an agency with a strong culture of volunteerism.
 
NPC: Would you recommend volunteering to someone else? If so, why.
Susan: If you want to have new experiences, grow and learn new things, become a volunteer!  

Meet Bill Buehler, a volunteer for Serenity Inns and winner of the 2017 Inspire by Example Adult Award.

NPC: What drives you to be a volunteer?
Bill: When I was 5 years old, we moved from a tiny house in Chicago to the country northwest of Chicago into a summer home. We started to upgrade and rehab the house into a four-season house.  

My Dad, when he was 11, got spinal meningitis and it went to his hips instead of his brain. It left him with fused hips for the rest of his life and his one leg was shorter than the other, so he had to walk with a waddle. He had to use his knees as the hips. He would not let this slow him down or stop him from learning how to repair and upgrade the house.  I learned first-hand what “Inspire by Example” means. I said to myself if he can do it, then I have no excuses not to learn and do things. I became my Dad’s little helper and learned to do a lot.

NPC: Describe the organization you volunteer for and the work they do.
Bill: Serenity Inns is a program for 12 men going through drug and alcohol rehab.  It's a 7-month program and it works at getting to the root cause or causes of the addiction.  It is modeled after a program in Washington DC called Samaritan Inns.

Serenity Inns was started in 2004 by 7 inner city Lutheran pastors and relies entirely on donations and grants.  It does not receive any federal government money. One of the best parts of the program is where a group, church, or individual brings a hot dinner cooked at home and sits down and eats with the 12 men.  There is a question for the residents and one for the guest. You get to hear the men’s stories related to the question and how the program is making them aware of things. You also learn things about yourself when you answer your question.

NPC: What is your role or title with the organization, how long have you been a volunteer there and what are your responsibilities?
Bill: I have been the volunteer handy man for Serenity Inns since 2010, when I was still employed.  I am now retired and usually put in 4 to 6 days a month on the repairs and upgrade of the rooming house on 29th and Brown.  It can be more when bigger projects develop.

In July of last year, Serenity Inns bought a 9-unit apartment building to begin the next stage of the program. After graduating from Serenity Inns' program or coming from other programs, the men can move into an Alumni House unit for an additional 18 months.

I also took up the challenge to be on the Alumni House committee and be the volunteer handy man to perform many of the physical upgrades, using other volunteers to help. We are replacing the kitchen and bathroom cabinets, removing carpet and vinyl flooring for the carpet installer, repairing walls and other items. We then scrape, prime and paint the walls, ceilings, and trim. Currently, I am putting in over 40 hours a week getting the Alumni House ready for residents.  

​NPC: What has surprised you the most about your work as a volunteer?
Bill: I discovered I was able to inspire some of the men at the house by all the time I spend in repairing the Serenity Inns boarding house and the Alumni House.  Once there was a resident who was a little on the cocky side and thought I got paid for all the work I did.  When I told him I did not get paid and I do it to help people with addiction issues, the director of the program said he changed his attitude after that.

NPC: How is volunteering the same or different to you from paid work?
Bill: Now that I'm retired, I have no more constant pressure, constant deadlines and responsibility to keep aircraft safe to fly.  I have the tools, talent, time and desire to help people, and I do that by keeping the Inn in good shape and updating the units at the Alumni House.  I can work at the pace I like and feel good by helping in this way. It puts some responsibility and structure into your day, just like my previous job did.  You also interact with people, such as the residents. 

NPC: Name something new you have learned as a volunteer for your organization.
Bill: In volunteering when you finally feel the joy in truly giving, in helping others less fortunate. You finally realize that “you have to give to receive”.  

NPC: Has volunteering changed your point of view or the way you view your community and its people?
Bill: Yes, I get to meet other people of different races, religions, and education levels who want to help make a difference in the community and volunteer their time, talent and money. It’s a side we do not see from the media presenting the latest bad news or the small world we can get stuck in. 

NPC: What are the benefits of volunteering? Has it helped you in any way?
Bill: Helping your fellow man or women to see that there are people who care about them.

NPC: Name something you are proud to have accomplished as a volunteer.
Bill: I am proud to be able to use my tools, talent, and time to help people who need a helping hand in getting their lives back in order.  Serenity Inns is not just a handout but a program that teaches the residents new ways to look at themselves and help them change their attitudes about themselves and others. There is a famous saying: If a person is hungry and you give him a fish, then you feed him for a day, but if you teach a person to fish, then he can learn to feed himself. 

The first Serenity Inns graduate to move into the Alumni House said that when he enters his unit, he feels safe from all the daily temptations and can relax a bit. This is the goal we set out to give them and we accomplished it.
​
NPC: Would you recommend volunteering to someone else? If so, why.
Bill: Yes.  Volunteering gives you a chance to help your fellow man in achieving his or her dreams - even if it is just staying sober for another day. It is a way to give back to society.  

Meet Devon Ellis, a senior at Rufus King High School. He was nominated by his school counselor for his four years of extraordinary service with the Lead2Change organization.

NPC: What drives you to be a volunteer?
Devon: I volunteer because I believe that there is a symbiotic relationship between oneself and their community. If we choose to neglect our communities, they will neglect us. Therefore I see it as my duty to give back all that my community has given me and then some.

NPC: Describe the organization you volunteer for and the work they do.
Devon: Lead2Change is a community organization that helps students become career ready and strives to develop active and engaged members of their communities.

NPC: What is your role or title with the organization, how long have you been a volunteer there and what are your responsibilities?
Devon: I have been with Lead2Change for 3 years. In that time I have served as a Junior Program Officer and Finance Chair on Lead2Change's Youth Advisory Council. The Youth Advisory Council dedicates itself to developing lifelong community servants through philanthropy and more recently through hands-on community service. I was responsible for heading Council fundraising efforts and balancing the Council budget as well as regularly participating in all Council activities. 

NPC: What has surprised you the most about your work as a volunteer?
Devon: What surprised me the most about volunteering was how rewarding it all was. Even the smallest of actions have enormous implications, and I'm able to see myself making a difference in my community, making a brighter future for myself as well as those around me. 

NPC: How is volunteering the same or different to you from paid work?
Devon: The difference between volunteering and paid work for me has been that volunteer "work" doesn't feel like work. The activities are fun and the compensation I get comes from self-fulfillment.

NPC: Has volunteering changed your point of view or the way you view your community and its people?
Devon: Working with Lead2Change has broadened my perspective and understanding on how people live in Milwaukee. The socioeconomic disparity is huge and that's something often overlooked. As a result of this disparity, we develop assumptions of who people are as a direct function of their socioeconomic status. The exposure I've gotten through Lead2Change has broken these assumptions down. 

NPC: What are the benefits of volunteering? Has it helped you in any way?
Devon: There are numerous benefits to volunteering whether they be personal or otherwise. The exposure that volunteering has given me has eradicated some of the ignorance that I've had on various subjects, and has made me, in my opinion, a better member of society. 

NPC: Name something you are proud to have accomplished as a volunteer.
Devon: The Youth Issue Forum was a program that the Youth Advisory Council had put on where we spoke on the top five issues (taken from a survey) facing youth in Milwaukee. The ability to speak to my peers about things we go through together was an incredible experience, one I am extremely proud of. 

NPC: Would you recommend volunteering to someone else?
Devon: I would definitely recommend volunteering to someone else. My reasoning is two-fold. First, in order to get the most out of your environment you have to nurture it. Second, it truly is a fulfilling experience. Volunteering makes you feel good, you're participating in something bigger than yourself and that's a truly great experience.