Teri's Corner
Year 2002
The past year has been a busy and productive one for RSVP volunteers. A brief summary of RSVP activities highlights the accomplishments of our many volunteers:

• RSVP volunteers that staff the information desk assisted over 4,900 visitors to the Norwalk City Hall.
• Nineteen RSVP volunteers that are Travel Counselors at the Darien Welcome Center offered directions and tourist destinations to 152,000 visitors to Connecticut. RSVP volunteers donated over 2,400 hours to this program.
• The four RSVP volunteers that participated in the Norwalk Tree Inventory helped count 624 trees.
• Norwalk and Wilton mailing teams donated 3,096 hours and processed 222,670 pieces of mail for not for profits in those communities.
• RSVP volunteers made and donated 1,200 hats, mittens, scarves, sweaters, blankets, quilts and bibs to the following agencies; Norwalk Community Health Center, Head Start, Project Linus, DMR Lower Fairfield Regional Center, and Christian Community Action.
• RSVP volunteers donated over 34,000 hours of their time to area non-profit organizations. 

Thanks to everyone for a job well done.

Homeland Security
Our appreciation to the Towns of  Wilton, Westport, Norwalk, New Canaan and Darien for their help in completing the  telephone survey to determine the extent of  the Citizen Corps in their communities. The results have been forwarded to the State of Connecticut, Department of Public Safety, Division of Protective Services. 

 
UpComing Events
Stanley Benham, advisory council member and photographer extraordinaire , is currently producing a  video  program showcasing RSVP community volunteer activities.  Brief selections  of many programs will  be taped. These may include the following: Tourism, Reach out and Read, The Tree Alliance, Head Start, Knitting Programs, and  volunteers from the Mailing Teams.  Interviews with NEON Executive Director Robert Burgess and United Way Norwalk & Wilton CEO David Kennedy will also be included. We are looking forward to the finished production which will be aired on Channel 77.  Time and date to be announced. 

Stan has  been nominated as an American Red Cross Unsung Hero for his many volunteer activities with RSVP and other community organizations.  These  include work at the Norwalk Senior Center, The Wilton-Norwalk AARP Chapter, the Norwalk Camera Club and St. Jerome’s Parish. Stan has produced Newsletters for RSVP, AARP and St. Jerome’s Parish as well as providing consultation for numerous computer activities.  The award will be presented by the American Red Cross on March 3, 2003.    

Congratulations Stan

NEW RSVP OPPORTUNITIES 

Mid-Fairfield Child Guidance Clinic
Help Children  ages 5-10 years old with homework, one afternoon a week.

Neon – Head Start.  Volunteers are needed to read approximately an hour a week to pre-school children either one-on–one or in small groups.  Hours at the Norwalk Head Start Site are flexible – anytime from 8 a.m. to 5.p.m. 

Resident Advocate Program
The Connecticut Office of the State Long Term Care Ombudsman is seeking Volunteer Resident Advocates (VRAs).  Volunteers are matched with nursing homes in or near their community.  VRAs visit residents 4 hours per week and assist them in resolving quality of life and quality of care concerns.  VRAs are trained and receive supervisor support from the State Long Term Care Ombudsman.

 
Mentoring Programs in SW Connecticut
Project Friendship is a community based mentoring program that serves children ages 6 to 14 in the Towns of Norwalk, Wilton, Westport, Weston, New Canaan and Darien.    The program matches children who would benefit from a positive one-to-one relationship with a caring adult. Mentors meet with their “Little Friends” once a week for 3 hours for a minimum of one year. 

The Norwalk Mentor Program, of the Norwalk Public Schools is a school-based , self-esteem building program that matches students with adult mentors.  Mentor volunteers  are matched with identified students in grades K-12.  Mentoring meetings are held at the school site during the school day for one hour a week throughout the school year.  Similar programs take place in  the public schools in the other SW CT school systems. Choose the town that is nearest to you.  

Kidline is an intergenerational telephone mentoring program matching children between the ages of 6-13 with an adult for an after-school or evening telephone relationship.  

Kidline mentors may be homebound, blind or live in isolation and lack the connection with children, yet want to help a child over the telephone.  Mentors make weekly telephone calls to a child during the school year.  Training and on-going support is provided.  

The Connecticut Renaissance Adolescent program serves a diverse group of adolescents between the ages of 12-16. Each individual pair decides how mentoring time is spent. Program staff provide guidance as needed.  Mentoring sessions take place one hour per week at the Connecticut Renaissance site in Norwalk or Stamford between the hours of 3-5 P.M Monday through Thursday. 

Environmental Opportunities
Earth Place
(Formerly the Nature Center for Environmental Activities)
Wildlife Care and Rehabilitation Program: Provide treatment and supportive care to injured or orphaned wild creatures with the goal of returning these animals to their natural habitat.  Harbor Watch/River Watch Program: Assist with monitoring the rivers, harbors and watershed areas in lower Fairfield County.  Help analyze the data at the Earth Place laboratory.  Attendance at up-coming training sessions is a pre-requisite for volunteering in each of the programs.

Save the Sound  is dedicated to the restoration, protection and appreciation of Long Island Sound and its watershed through advocacy, education and research.  A variety of volunteer opportunities include:  Administrative support, Advocacy, Legislative Alerts and Water Quality Monitoring Program.

Judicial Volunteers
The Court Support Services Division is looking for volunteers to assist in the daily operations of our Courthouses in Stamford and Norwalk.  Volunteers will assist clients through the judicial process.  The volunteers will be contacting and interviewing clients, explaining the programs to clients and making referrals to different agencies as needed.  You may even assist the judge in the courtroom!  This is a regular once a week commitment. 

 
CONTINUING RSVP OPPORTUNITIES 

Norwalk Tree Alliance
Help inventory street trees in Norwalk. Volunteers work in teams of three and trainings are provided at the volunteer’s convenience.  This project will assist the city with implementing a more effective and efficient management of Norwalk’s “urban forest”.  Groups are already meeting every other Saturday at the Tree Alliance office at 2 Maple Street.  Call us for the dates 899-2442!

 
Reach Out and Read
The Norwalk Community Health Center is seeking volunteers to read to children ages 6 months to 5 years in the pediatric waiting rooms at the Norwalk Community Health Center on Water Street or the Health Department on East Avenue.  The volunteers will be demonstrating reading aloud skills to the parents that show both children and parents that reading is fun for kids.  This is a twice a month commitment for at least one hour. Bi-lingual volunteers welcome!

 
Tourism
The Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development and RSVP offer those fifty-five and over the opportunity to volunteer as travel counselors.  This is a four-hour a week commitment at either the Darien or Greenwich Welcome Centers.  Darien is open year round and the Greenwich site is seasonal (May-October).  There is a generous mileage reimbursement offered.  The Darien Welcome Center is the busiest in the nation boasting four thousand visitors a week during the summer vacation season.

 
Norwalk City Hall
Meet the Mayor!!  This position may be of particular interest to the RSVP members that reside in Norwalk.  RSVP volunteers staff the information desk at Norwalk City Hall.  The volunteers will offer directions to visitors to City Hall as well as pointing out some of Norwalk’s heritage through the lovely murals that are throughout the building. 

 
Meals-on-Wheels
A program of the Norwalk Senior Center, Meals-on-Wheels is looking for volunteers  to deliver meals  and   have a quick visit with a person who is unable to prepare their own meals.  Volunteers serve two hours a day one day a week.  The weekend volunteers serve two hours every other week. 

Mailing Teams
If you like to socialize and meet new people while helping out a local not for profit this may be just the placement for you!  RSVP volunteers stuff, label, seal and zip code bulk mailings.  The sites change so it’s not the same old thing.  Go as often as your schedule permits.  Lunch is provided if you stay until three.  Teams are based in Norwalk and Wilton. 

Norwalk Housing Authority
NHA is looking for dedicated volunteers to assist in their learning centers. Specifically; Homework Heroes.    Children need help with homework, reading, math, and other subjects. Tutoring time is available after school hours.