The Volunteer Center Transitions Program. Transition: An instance or process of changing from one form, state, or subject, or place to another (The American Heritage Dictionary).
  Thanks to the Volunteer Center of Marquette County, many people understand what this word means. According to Amy Poirier, Director of the Volunteer Center, one of the center's programs—the Transitions Program—"works to place individuals with physical, mental and/or emotional disabilities as volunteers in the community." This program began in 1995.
  "A lot of the individuals we work with are referred to us by Pathways (Community Mental Health), but we also work closely with individuals without going through Pathways."
  The process of discovering the talents within each person begins with a discussion with the individual or a social worker. "We figure out what their abilities are and what they want to do. Then I call agencies to see if they could use a volunteer. We like to go back to the volunteer with options. We like to have a very positive program. We try to find something that will benefit the individual being placed and the agency he is going to."
  With a slow beginning of one placement each year in 1995 and 1996, the program began to grow steadily. "In 1997 we placed nine individuals, in 1998 we placed twelve, and in 1999 we placed thirty-four."
  The difference between the numbers of placements can be directly related to the increased relationship between the Volunteer Center and Pathways—both realizing how crucial each were for their work.
  And work it is.
  "It's a long process, but in the end it's all worth it," Poirier insists. "The social worker will call and make an appointment to talk about the person [interested in being placed]. We go over their likes, disabilities and their application. It takes about an hour. Once I get all the information, which may take several phone calls, I call different agencies to see about the availability of a position."
  With only one-and-a-half paid employees, and a volunteer Board of Directors Poirier says that, "without the United Way funding, this program would not have happened. We wouldn't have been able to grow the Transitions Program. It takes a lot of time—it's a specialized program." Help from United Way allows them to work closely with the volunteers. And working closely with each individual makes the transition smooth.

Ishpeming Cancer Society
When faced with the diagnosis of cancer, many people feel alone in the world. The Ishpeming Cancer Society is there to help. Formed in the mid-1950s to help people offset the expenses of treating cancer, this all-volunteer organization is funded primarily by the United Way of Marquette County.
  The main purpose of the Ishpeming Cancer Society is to extend a helping hand to cancer patients throughout Marquette County who need financial assistance. This might include cancer-related medications, dressings, nursing-care costs, transportation or other expenses not covered by insurance, Medicare or Medicaid.
  Three patient care advocates juggle work and volunteering around their schedules. David Poirier, Priscilla Tasson, R.N., and Mary Franzcek, R.N., "have a fairly wide knowledge of programs and agencies that can help these patients Dave Poirier explains. "We are contacted by referral sources (hospitals, physician's offices, etc.) when patients need help. We interview the patients and determine what their needs are, from financial to personal needs. We pay for medications related to the disease, medical supplies, travel expenses, even Health Insurance Premiums."
  The United Way provides ninety-five percent of the funding that enables the Ishpeming Cancer Society to continue their work. "We would either cease to exist without them, or we'd have to drastically change what we do. We'd have to go back to the drawing board and focus on funding," Poirier adds.
  Without having to worry about fund-raising, the Ishpeming Cancer Society provides not only patient services, but sponsors cancer prevention programs at Bell Memorial Hospital, Marquette General Hospital and the Marquette County Health Department, and funds special projects for local hospitals like buying equipment for treating patients.
  No money is spent on advertising, and expenses are kept to less than one-percent of their budget. Poirier emphasizes, "We want all that money to go for our programs."
  Dave sums up the striving goal for these members: "It's the satisfaction of helping people. The desperation you see in people and you can help allay those fears in a few minutes. People are extremely grateful for the help we can give. What we see as the little things, the recipient sees as so much more."
—Angela Wennerberg

Retired Senior Volunteer Program.
When Jane first walked through the doors of the R.S.V.P. program, she was depressed, low on energy and racked with aches and pains. She had spent most of her adult life taking care of her husband and children, but now her children were grown and her husband recently had died. Effectively retired, Jane had no idea what to do with her time. A year later, she is revitalized, happy and feeling better than she has in recent memory.
  Jane is a fictionalization, but the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program of Marquette County is real, and every year it helps hundreds of Janes feel fulfilled through meaningful service to their community.
  "Working gives people a sense of purpose," says R.S.V.P. Director Kathy Herrala. "Without it, health and mental ability are affected. Just going out and volunteering for an agency really has changed a lot of lives. I've had more than one person tell me volunteering has literally saved their life."
  Sponsored by the Marquette County Commission on Aging and funded through grants from many local organizations, including the United Way of Marquette County which this year will provide over $8,000 in support of such things as volunteer training, placement, meal and mileage reimbursement, R.S.V.P. is designed to draw from the vast pool of older volunteers in the Marquette area.
  "The program was started because we were looking at a way to keep seniors involved in the community," Herrala says. "It was a way to tap into that area which was growing. A lot of seniors are retiring younger, they're healthy and better educated…they have a lot to offer." But, Herrala says, many seniors don't know where to go to offer their services, and that is where R.S.V.P. comes in.
  "We kind of act as a conduit between seniors and agencies," she says.
  R.S.V.P. participants knit layettes for premature babies, do homework with latchkey kids, provide respite to caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's or other dementia related disorders, visit homebound peers and transport seniors to medical appointments.
  One of the most successful programs at R.S.V.P. is the TRIAD program, which received almost $1,500 in United Way funding this year. In its second year, TRIAD is a partnership between local law enforcement and R.S.V.P., designed to reduce the criminal victimization of seniors and make law enforcement services more easily accessible. Herrala says TRIAD has been extremely successful.
  "The main highlight of TRIAD is the communication which has opened up between seniors and law enforcement," she says. "A real friendship has developed where there was once apprehension."
  But TRIAD is only one aspect of R.S.V.P., an agency whose volunteers have contributed 293,456 hours of service over the last ten years. Its purpose has been, and remains, putting willing seniors in touch with those agencies that need them most. And Herrala stresses that every senior has something to offer and something to get in return—mental and physical health, personal well being and a sense of community.
  "What a difference volunteering can make for people," Herrala says. "It's the power of purpose."

—Michele Darner Thomas

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