RSVP Benefits For Your 55+ Volunteers

Connecting With Children Through Music

High school senior Vanessa Torres began to take piano lessons at Songcatchers After School Music Program when she was just seven years old. This New Rochelle program makes music lessons available to children who cannot otherwise afford them. Thanks to Songcatchers, Vanessa was also able to learn to play the violin and the flute. When she turned fourteen, she was ready to live up to her desire “to give back to the community that gave so much to me,” by becoming a volunteer instructor at Songcatchers.

Vanessa not only gives other children weekly piano and flute lessons, but she organizes group art projects and also teaches others the same persistence and dedication she has applied in her own life. Vanessa is the peer leader for more than seventy high school and college age volunteers and is also a member of the volunteer counselor staff for the one-week sleep-away camp run by Songcatchers. She also performs with the Songcatchers Choir and Ensemble at events throughout Westchester County.

Songcathers' Director Sr. Beth Dowd noted that Vanessa has provided music lessons and experiences over the last four years to more than two hundred children who otherwise never would have had the opportunity to discover and develop their talent. Vanessa added “Growing up through Songcatchers and its life lessons has taught me to be a leader who is aware and gives back to my community.”

Learn more about volunteering with Songcatchers.

Giving a Child a Voice and an Advocate

Monica Gray has been a volunteer for five years in the Mental Health Association (MHA) of Westchester's Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) program, which trains laypeople to be advocates for abused and neglected children.

As an advocate, Monica is dedicated to helping children involved in the Westchester Family Court. In order to make informed decisions, Monica spends time with the child and contacts everyone involved with the case - birth parents, family members, teachers, lawyers, caseworkers, doctors, mental health professionals, foster parents and more. She then determines what problems the child faces and advocates for a safe, permanent solution in the child's best interest. “As a CASA volunteer,” Monica said, “you can be a constant person in a child’s life - a friend and their advocate.”

One of Monica’s notable cases involves a girl who has been moved over the years to a variety of institutional psychiatric settings. While many would have given up on such a difficult case, Monica has visited her every week for the last five years when only a monthly visit is required by CASA. Her dedication helped this young child to not become lost in the impersonal bureaucracy of the court and childcare systems.

“Monica will continue to fight for this child’s rights to be a normal child,” said Jackie Boissonnault, program director for MHA of Westchester County. Thanks to Monica and the other dedicated CASA volunteers, neglected children can find personal guidance and strong advocates, just when they need them most.

Volunteers Help Seniors Arrive Safely at the Doctors

For many seniors living in the rural areas of Putnam County, getting to a medical appointment can be a daunting task. About 60% of Putnam's seniors live in rural areas with no public transportation. Out of those seniors with no public transportation, 12.5% suffer from chronic illnesses and have great difficulty getting to their doctors’ appointments.

Thanks to Putnam County's Demand Response Volunteers program, fifty dedicated volunteers have driven 152 seniors to 822 medical appointments in 2009. Mary White, director of RSVP of Putnam County Office for Aging, said “Public transportation isn’t available or accessible for many seniors, and taxi services are priced too high, but volunteers driving county-provided cars with two-way radios meet the seniors’ needs for dependable and affordable rides for doctor visits.”

“Many caregivers for the elderly say that if it wasn’t for the Putnam County Demand Response Volunteers, they don’t know how they would get their mother or father to medical appointments,” said William Huestis, Director of the Putnam County Office of Aging.

The Demand Response Volunteers have met a critical need in serving some of Putnam’s isolated, homebound, frail elderly. 100% of seniors gave the program top marks because it meets their transportation needs while helping them keep their independence.

Teen Inspires Adults and Peers at Teatown

Chantal Noreika is not your average sixteen-year-old. She is well-known for her enormous commitment to nature and the environment - specifically to Teatown Lake Reservation. Chantal has volunteered more than 250 hours with the Reservation since 2008. It is “more than any other teen who has ever volunteered at Teatown and more than most adult volunteers for this organization,” said Beth Rhines, Volunteer Coordinator for Teatown Lake Reservation.

Since the start of Chantel’s volunteer service at Teatown, she has been contagiously enthusiastic about her volunteer time. She started with little prior knowledge of Teatown, and now she is able to complete six different types of Teatown volunteer jobs: Animal Care, Natural History Education, Trail Maintenance, Summer Camp Counselor In-Training, Clerical Work, and Special Events Assistance. ‘It’s a great experience because you get to try out a lot of new things, and each day is a different chance to learn something new while teaching the public more about animals and nature,” said Chantal.

Rhines says that in the past Teatown was hesitant about re-starting its Teens In Teatown (TNT) volunteer program. Because of Chantal's efforts, she was singlehandedly able to show the staff that teenagers can be responsible and committed volunteers who can make a vital and energizing contribution. “With her positive attitude and hard work, she is a role-model for her peers.”

Delivering Meals and a Smile to Homebound Seniors

For three hours every Saturday, you can find three young men from Fordham Preparatory School doing something unusual - knocking on the doors of homebound seniors to deliver hot meals and a little bit of friendly conversation.

Meals on Wheels 10708 in Bronxville is proud to acknowledge three dedicated teen volunteers - Michael Alba, Matthew Arana and Matthew Bernacchia. These teens put together food packages and deliver meals on weekends and on days off from school - including holidays and summer break.

“We seek and encourage youth participation” said Patricia Weinheimer, Director for Meals on Wheels 10708. “The involvement of young people in our program offers the seniors an ongoing connection to a very basic service through interaction, attention and an almost extended family approach that is very important to the seniors’ emotional well being,” said Ms. Weinheimer.

Director of the Fordham Christian Service Program, Paul Homer, believes that the program “challenges our young men to be ‘men for others,’ awakening them to the needs in the neighborhood…developing their social and intellectual skills to work directly with people in need.”

Matthew Bernacchia, 17, says that he never had much contact with seniors before this volunteer experience. He now understands what it is like for seniors to grow older and how much they enjoy the interaction they get from the visits. “They thank me so many times - each visit is just a few minutes, but the attention makes a difference.”

Preparing Young People for College and Life

After guiding her children through college applications with the help of the White Plains Youth Bureau, Terry Keith decided to use her experience by volunteering for the same group that had helped her family. Terry, through the White Plains Youth Bureau, now takes on the role of “surrogate guidance counselor” for six middle and high school students.

Terry keeps the students busy writing essays, creating resumes, joining extracurricular activities and becoming involved in community service as they prepare for college applications. She contacts teachers to check on the students’ progress and even goes to open house events at colleges when parents are not able to attend.

Terry works with students because she “genuinely wants these kids to succeed and have the best opportunities available to them,” says Sheila Foley, Mentor Program Coordinator for the White Plains Youth Bureau. One of Terry's biggest successes was taking one young woman - the first in her family to have the chance to go to college - from a C average to an A/B average.

Ms. Keith understands from experience how hard it is for parents to be aware of what is important for college admission and what resources are available to their children. “Terry has found a way of taking care of things for the students - whether it is getting a family a free computer or offering to drive students to interviews,” says Foley. As Terry puts it, “I want the children to set impressive goals, and I can help them with life issues, problem solving and making the right decisions.”

Volunteer Has Snowball Effect on Composting and Recycling in County

Jennifer Jensen is passionate about many things, including improving the environment, gardening, composting, recycling, yard and food waste, and helping others reuse construction materials. She has followed her passions at Sheldrake Environmental Center, where she created and runs a Master Composter and Recycler’s Training Program.

Over 25 students have now taken Jennifer’s free course. In return, graduates promise to volunteer 30 hours “giving back the training” to people in their local community and to pursue other environmental initiatives that benefit their area. The program has had a snowball effect, with graduates doing everything from setting up information booths at local farmer’s markets, to teaching children in schools about composting.

“I wanted to take my interests in composting and recycling and use my volunteer time to make an impact in Westchester County that is meaningful and lasting,” said Jennifer. “Reduce, reuse and recycle are the foundation of what I teach at Sheldrake Environment Center - the goal is to reduce waste in landfill.”

Maria R. Venezia, Executive Director of the Sheldrake Environmental Center, says that Jennifer shows “professionalism, initiative and integrity - personal qualities that matched with her knowledge and time commitment which exemplify the spirit of volunteerism that this small not-for-profit depends on to have a broad environmental reach.”

Jennifer’s ambition led her multiple times to the University of Rhode Island to gain the most comprehensive information about composting and recycling. She also has created an International Master Composter blog that brings together people from all over the world to communicate and share best practices.