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LOCAL INTERFAITH PROGRAM TO RECEIVE NATIONAL RECOGNITION
Thursday, April 13th, 2006 -- 11:13 am
Posted by Riley Hebert-News Director
  Audio - 2:36
Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers of Clark County will receive some national recognition next week for their roll in developing a groundbreaking partnership.
Interfaith Program Director Dixie Schroeder has been asked to be one of only three directors from around the country to speak at an AARP conference near Washington D.C.
Clark County’s Interfaith program is one three in the state chosen for a pilot partnership connecting AARP members with Faith in Action programs.
“We’re putting Clark County on the map. I think there’s not enough good being said about what’s happening in Clark County,” Schroeder says. “Many good things are happening and it’s good to have good things in the news.”
Interfaith programs work on a “bare bones” budget and sometimes have trouble getting their name out to would-be volunteers or clients.
That’s where AARP, which has hundreds-of-thousands of members in Wisconsin, comes in.
Gene Meier serves as the Volunteer Program Leader for Faith in Action’s Partnership with AARP. Through the partnership, AARP Wisconsin educates its thousands of local members about the Faith in Action programs; those members then volunteer - or seek help – from their local programs.
While the collaboration is only about a year old, he says he expects it will eventually become a mutually beneficial statewide effort.
“We have an abundance of members and we have a shortage of actual (volunteer) opportunities. Faith in Action is probably the other way around,” Meier says. “We can really help each other; these organizations should really do a lot better.”
While still in its infancy, Schroeder says the partnership has already helped the local program.
“It’s been going wonderfully,” Schroeder states. “It’s breathed some new life into our program. Recently, we’ve recruited eight new volunteers. Each one of those said they hadn’t heard of Interfaith.”
Schroeder says volunteers also appreciate receiving recognition from AARP Wisconsin.
For more information on volunteering locally, call Dixie toll free at 1-877-743-7843.
On the web:
Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers of Clark County
AARP Wisconsin
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