First Parish Unitarian UniversalistVolunteering — Enriching Our Lives
A sermon preached by Bernard Redmont
First Parish Unitarian Universalist - Canton, MA
November 25, 2007
Some years ago, Joan and I had the privilege of spending a weekend with a person who was then called “The Greatest Man in the World.” His name was Dr. Albert Schweitzer.
You know him as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate — medical doctor, theologian, philosopher, musician, minister, and organist.
We’ll always remember what he told us: “You must give some time to your fellow humans. For we don’t live in a world all our own. Your brothers and sisters are here, too. Even if it’s a little. Do something for those who have need of a person’s help-- something for which you get no pay but the privilege of doing it.”
I thought of Dr. Schweitzer when I was invited to give this sermon on volunteering. Because he was, I guess, the greatest volunteer of all . Building a hospital in the jungle-forest of Gabon in Africa, and dedicating his life for many decades to healing the sick .
I thought also of our covenant, when we say: Service is Our Prayer.
And I thought about how volunteering can be a rewarding way of enriching our lives, even if we can’t do exactly what Dr. Schweitzer did. Many of us understand this secret. I did, after a life of gainful employment as a wage earner, as a journalist, foreign correspondent, and professor.
Many of you may already do volunteering in your spare time, if any. In fact, almost every member of this parish volunteers to participate in some way in its work. Many of us find the signposts toward service to others in their sunset years, as I did.
Volunteering is an old American custom. Over 150 years ago, a perceptive French observer of American democracy, Alexis de Tocquevile, noted with admiration our tradition of volunteerism--helping one another . He wrote: “I must say that I have often seen Americans make great and real sacrifices to the public welfare, and I have remarked a hundred instances in which they hardly ever failed to lend faithful support to each other. The free institutions which the inhabitants of the United States possess, and the political rights of which they make so much use, remind every citizen, and in a thousand ways, that he (and she) lives in society. They every instant impress upon his (and her) mind the notion that it is the duty, as well as the interest, of men (and women) to make themselves useful to their fellow creatures.” (End of quote)
More than one third of the US population are discovering the joys and benefits of volunteering, according to a survey by the Gallup organization.
Why do people volunteer? Motivations vary.
Those polled give various reasons: To make a change in society. Because they saw someone in the family helping others, Or because they grew up in poverty. Some say they want to give something back to society. Many of us have a need to feel useful and want to remain active after “retirement.”
Younger generations are also volunteering more than ever. They’re joining Teach for America, the Peace Corps and similar programs. More are giving their time to tutor underprivileged children, to volunteer in soup kitchens or start neighborhood programs, at home or abroad. Getting involved in issues of poverty, hunger, lack of opportunity, or the environment.
As all of us know, cutbacks in funding-- federal, state and local-- are drastically squeezing and downsizing not-for-profit groups and their paid staffs. So volunteers are especially needed and appreciated. Non profit groups can use the talents, knowledge, experience and human resources of seniors.
National surveys show that the average time donated by volunteers is 4.2 hours a week. Many give more. Without counting schools and government entities, the Commonwealth has about 18 thousand non-profit groups, and about three thousand are in the Greater Boston area.
Let me share with you my own experience. Volunteering enriches my life. I learn so much. I ‘m a volunteer consultant for the Executive Service Corps of New England. One of about 150 consultants who don’t believe in retirement. This organization helps non-profit groups-- charitable, educational, cultural and human service agencies --to do their valuable work more effectively.
I had begun as a volunteer for the International Executive Service Corps. They sent me and Joan to Bulgaria, to develop programming and news for the first independent radio station in Sofia. Then they sent us to what was then the most backward and isolated country in the world, Albania, to help the only television station there to become a pluralistic, democratic minded TV news broadcaster. Those were unforgettable experiences.
I turned then to domestic activities. My first assignment was to help an institution for wayward girls-- the Germaine Lawrence School in Arlington--with its public relations. Before long, I was working with the Freedom from Chemical Dependency Foundation in Needham, helping druggies and alcoholics.
I assisted the Boston Chamber Music Society as well as the Mansfield Music and Arts Center with their communications and public relations. The variety of agencies I worked with was vast: Boston Children’s Services, Dare Family Services in Somerville, the New England Aquarium, the Christian Economic Coalition in Dorchester, Community Catalyst and Health Care for All, the Spellman Stamp and Postal Museum in Weston, Mass Halfway Houses, the Essex County Ecology Center which runs a bookstore in Rockport that donates all its profits to bettering the environment, the Fellowship in Israel for Arab-Jewish Youth, and more. My task was mainly improving communications and public visibility, and PR.
For five years or so, I was a facilitator for Boston Public Schools Leadership Seminars. I’d been a professor and dean myself, so I enjoyed exchanging ideas with principals on dealing with violence and ethnic and racial tensions in the classroom, improving leadership skills, and developing creative management techniques.
What I didn’t know in needed background, I learned as I went along. The Executive Service Corps has an ongoing program for training volunteer consultants in strategic planning, board development, fund raising strategies, business planning and mentoring.
For the past year or two, I’ve been a member of a team of ESC volunteers working in Rhode Island with a remarkable social service group known as Tides Family Services.
Tides was founded in 1983. It’s run by a man I consider a present-day saint-- Brother Michael Reis and a group of De La Salle Christian Brothers, a Catholic order. They’re completely ecumenical and non-sectarian in their approach to helping a rainbow constituency of at-risk youngsters. And they don’t proselitize.
“At risk” is a euphemism. They’re more than “at risk”. They’re often in deep trouble. They’ve been in Truancy Court for skipping school. They’ve been in Family Court for behavior problems. They’ve gotten into drugs, vandalism, theft.
Tides provides these youths, boys and girls of about 9 to 21, with comprehensive preventive services that promote personal growth , and better connect them with their families and communities.
Tides promotes family preservation and maintenance of youths within their communities. They do this through individual, family and group counseling, home visitations, educational and court advocacy as well as networking of social services. This means saving kids who drop out of school or get involved with drugs or crime. They’re successfully guided so they can avoid being subjected to the criminal justice system.
Tides has a staff of dedicated social workers who work in the streets where the young people are. It operates three learning centers, alternative schools in West Warwick, Providence and Pawtucket. It provides seamless, wrap around programs for youths and their families with home-based therapeutic services . It provides children with severe behavioral and or developmental disorders with individualized services that take place within the family homes. What’s remarkable is that Tides has better than an 80 percent success rate. Which means means it’s not losing many children to recidivism, going back to the trouble they were in . That’s unique in such agencies.
Our team helps Tides in public communication, fund raising, and board development. We helped them to expand the board to include lay people, not just Christian Brothers . We’re on our way to completing a four million dollar capital campaign.
The children Tides cares for have almost burned all their bridges. They’re on the brink of disaster. Tides throws them a life line. It never gives up.
Let me tell you about a few case histories. One could say that “trouble” was Darren’s middle name. His mother was routinely called in to the principal’s office to discuss his disruptive behavior. At Tides, the staff learned that Darren could barely read. After diagnostic testing and patient teaching by Tides mentors, Darren was soon reading out loud, and best of all, he looked forward to school. His mother said, “I used to fight with him every day, and now he’s happy to go to school.”
Another story. While defending his sister, Roberto was arrested on assault charges. He was referred to Tides, where he received counseling and tender loving care. Today Roberto is a straight A student at a Providence high school.
Still another case: Arrested and imprisoned on drug charges, Susan was referred to Tides outreach and tracking program. Case workers met with her three times a day. She’s currently a senior at a Providence high school. She’s an honor roll student and is taking double courses so she can graduate this year. She plans on attending college and is looking forward to a career in business.
Another story: Craig came to Tides from a residential placement. Without a copy of his birth certificate, Craig was unable to get a social security card, apply for a job, open a credit account, or even rent an apartment. With the help of Tides staff and a circuitous route through state bureaucracy, Craig is now the proud owner of a birth certificate and a social security number.
And just one more: Jonathan recently returned home to Central Falls after spending two years in a locked facility. He was sent there because when he was 12, he tried to set his mother on fire. He was charged with attempted murder, arson and assault with a deadly weapon. He’s now back home with his parents, brother and sister. A tracker from Tides looks after him regularly He’s a freshman at Central Falls High School. He’s had therapy amd underwent classes in anger management. Though he and his mother still fight, he knows what to do now when he finds his temper bubbling. He calls Tides.
The stories of Tides trackers are most heartening. I do what I can to help them tell these stories and that helps in fund raising. The trackers see their clients sometimes three times a day or even more, check on their schools, their homes, help them run errands. They start work at about 8:15 am and aren’t done until about 8:30 pm.
As some of you may know, my darling wife Joan has also filled her life with service to others. Usually more than I. She was a tutor and then chair of the board of Odwin Learning Center in Dorchester. Odwin stands for Open Doors Wider in Nursing. It’s an organization founded about 35 years ago to enable adults--mainly people of color-- to upgrade their education and to qualify them to advance farther in the health professions and allied fields. In addition, Joan has taught English to Russian immigrants. She’s helped out as a volunteer in Canton schools. And she volunteers work at our retirement community, Orchard Cove.
So, the message about all this is, if you have time or can arrange your life to find the time, why not offer your help somewhere? I’ve found that people who volunteer are happy to help advance good causes. If you have problems, you often forget ailments for a while and replace them with a feeling of being useful to others. It’s good for self-esteem. In any case, your contribution will always be greatly appreciated, and you’ll find it personally rewarding.
Joan sums it up this way: “We who are more favored have the responsibility to help others, because it’s really helping ourselves.”