Volunteer Profiles
Featured Volunteer Stories
Phil Friesen
A New Job, A New Outlook on Life
REACH volunteer Phil Friesen recently had the opportunity to experience first-hand Henry David Thoreau’s oft-quoted adage, “All misfortune is but a stepping stone to fortune.”
Phil got involved as a REACH volunteer after being laid-off from a long-time electrical job, a misfortune that left him wondering, in such a tight economy and with such a long line ahead of him for union work, how long he’d have to wait to feel he was being useful again. Fortune didn’t wait long to knock. Phil happened to be at a picnic with his daughter early this past spring where he met Barrett Karnes, REACH’s Community Builders Program (CBP) Coordinator. Once Barrett started talking about REACH and the work CBP was doing in the community, Phil knew exactly what he’d do while waiting for the next job to arrive.
This past spring, Phil jumped right in, volunteering in the much-needed and important role of electrician. He’s worked on eight projects already thi s year, and while he definitely enjoyed the electrical work, he loved meeting the homeowners even more. “I got to meet all but one homeowner, and that’s part of what made it really fun for me. They were so appreciative of our help. Several families feed our whole group of volunteers in thanks.”
REACH is fortunate to have Phil volunteer for the first time at our 2010 Paint & Repair-a-thon this August. Schedule-providing, that is. For Phil and REACH, fortune knocked twice. He’s now back at work, and volunteering with REACH as he can.
Thanks for all of your support, Phil!
Ed Reilly
Helping People Understand Technology
Ritzdorf Court apartment residents who attend computer classes in their building are doubly fortunate. Not only do they get to build technology skills in the Ritzdorf’s free computer lab – they get to learn from Ed Reilly.
Ed’s background in software training makes him a natural to lead REACH’s no-fee computer classes for residents. But he’s not just teaching. “It’s been a real education for me, too,” said Ed. “My picture of what people need from technology has really broadened.”
Ed has trained students from many backgrounds, from CEO’s to manufacturing workers learning English as a second language. “I thought I’d kind of seen it all,” said Ed. But while his other students usually had specific business needs or were looking to take that next step in their careers, “the people I was training at the Ritzdorf were just looking to connect and to understand the world around them.”
Ed estimates that only about 30% of his students at the Ritzdorf, which is a REACH property for formerly homeless individuals, have had any previous experience with computers. Still, they’re eager to reconnect online with people with whom they’ve lost touch.
Ed has stepped in to form remarkably successful partnerships with his students. “How I taught and what I taught changed based on what they needed,” he said. Another key to their success? “Lots of repetition!” And many of Ed’s students pay him the ultimate compliment, returning to repeat classes in order to keep their skills sharp.
Ed is encouraged by how readily his students have applied their new skills. “Some of them are on Facebook now,” he said, and have reconnected with children, family and friends. Ed’s students even find him online to chat from time to time. He’s well aware that individuals with low incomes such as the residents of the Ritzdorf are often stuck on the wrong side of the digital divide, so he’s all the more pleased to see how fully they’ve embraced the online world. “It’s so pervasive in our culture now, and they want to get it,” he said.
Ed grew up volunteering with his family and has been drawn to REACH and its mission. Now he’s looking to expand his computer curriculum to other REACH properties, too. Thanks to you, Ed, now even more of REACH’s residents can look forward to building a better future on the other side of the digital divide.
