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NVCN State Ambassadors

You may reach any member of the NVCN Ambassadors by emailing Info@nvcnetwork.org, BoardPresident@nvcnetwork.org or ExecutiveDirector@nvcnetwork.org. Feel free to leave a message for us at (512) 582-2197 as well. We’ll return your call at the earliest opportunity.

Minnesota: Katherine Bonine

Arizona: Debbie Scherer

Ambassador for the State of Minnesota

My name is Katherine Bonine and I have lived in Minnesota since 2010. I am originally from Southern CA but moved to Minnesota shortly after getting married. I have two children, a son Harrison who is 12 and a daughter Hannah who just turned 5.  Currently I am the Executive Director of Faith in Action in Red Wing Minnesota. My background however is mainly in education. I went to school for American Sign Language Studies and became an Educational DeafBlind Intervener. This was a wonderful job that I loved but it was an hour commute each way from home. After my daughter was born I wanted a job closer to home and that is when I was hired in my first Director role. I was hired as the director of a preschool 30 minutes away. It was in this role that I discovered I really enjoyed the role of a Director and felt it really called on my natural talents. I grew as a person and as an Administrator. Then in the Spring of 2022 I was feeling burnt out on State Licensing due to the craziness of COVID and all of the changes and challenges a Director of a State Licensed Preschool had to endure. I began looking for a new role and tried to get even closer to home. In May of 2022 I was hired on as the Director of Faith in Action. My commute was now just two blocks! Since then I have learned a great deal about my own community as well as the needs of aging individuals and especially the needs of those in rural areas. I am still growing and learning in this role and I am enjoying every minute of it!

Southern California: Robin Schlosser

Southern California: Robin Schlosser

Ambassador for the State of (Southern) California

Robin Schlosser came to the Morongo Basin in 1994 and has lived in the Twentynine Palms community ever since.

She and her family moved from the small community of Lompico, CA in the Santa Cruz mountains where she was a licensed general contractor and ran a business with her husband for many years. It was there that she began her first work with non-profits when she began volunteering with Valley Churches United, the Red Cross on the disaster assessment team and the Santa Cruz Aids Project performing home safety inspections in the rugged mountain communities in the aftermath of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

In 2006, Robin moved to Victorville, CA where she worked for St. John of God Healthcare Services and was program director of Samaritan’s Helping Hands, a social outreach program which operated the largest food pantry in the Victor Valley; provided utility, emergency shelter, and rental assistance to low income and homeless individuals and served 26,000 people annually.

In September 2011, the opportunity came to join Reach Out Morongo Basin as Executive Director and she moved back to the Twentynine Palms community she called home. She currently lives with her son and grandson and has her elderly father nearby.

director@reachout29.org

Illinois: Lisa Brennan

Illinois: Lisa Brennan

Ambassador for the State of Illinois

lbrennan@fiacollinsville.org

Lisa Ciszczon Brennan serves as the Executive Director of Collinsville Faith in Action located in the St. Louis metro area.  Prior to her work with CFIA, Lisa had a career in education teaching at McKendree University, community colleges, and as an occasional substitute in her local school district.  She holds degrees in English Literature, Secondary Education, and has begun a PhD in Sustainability Education. Lisa was her mother’s primary caregiver for nine years, and during that time, became connected to the area agencies serving older people and their caregivers.  Lisa is the parent of three children, enjoys hiking, traveling, reading, back-yard birding, gardening and volunteering for local organizations within her city such as the Rotary, 4-H, YMCA, and a local conservation center.

 

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Michigan: Tracey Holt

Michigan: Tracey Holt

Co-Ambassador of the State of Michigan

tholt@hospiceoftheeup.com

Tracey is a former NVCN board member, and for the past 20 years has served as the Executive Director of Hospice of the EUP and the Ball Hospice House. She is the President/CEO of Superior Health Support Systems, a non-profit organization operating four state-licensed AFC homes, and a 55 bed Assisted Living facility. She is also co-founder of the Chippewa County Family Project, which just opened a new 5,000 square foot home serving 12 teens in the foster care system. She is an active Rotarian, enjoys being involved in community projects, and looks forward to serving as a State Ambassador.

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Michigan: Karyn Curro

Michigan: Karyn Curro

Co-Ambassador of the State of Michigan

karyndcurro@ivcinfo.org

Karyn Dombrowski Curro is the founding Director of the Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers (IVC) program, serving the northern suburbs of Detroit, Michigan. The program was initiated in 1992, and Karyn has seen the program through its initial start-up and incorporation, helped it weather the challenges of its middle years, and continued to help it grow in new ways during its current stage as an established community resource. 

he IVC program serves a large three-county area north of a major urban center. The geographic area is mostly suburban, but also includes outlying rural areas. In a typical year around 600 volunteers provide a variety of supportive services to over 500 older and disabled adults who are struggling to remain safely in their own homes. Typical services include: transportation and errands; shopping and food deliveries; minor home repairs, chores, yard
work and housekeeping; friendly visits and supportive phone calls; and respite breaks for family caregivers. The program also works with a handful local religious congregations to help them develop and manage their own service efforts.

Over the years, Karyn has mentored a number of local IVC initiatives, and also served as the State Representative for Michigan through the National Federation of Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers from 1994-1998, convening regular meetings of over 20 caregiver programs throughout the state during that time. More recently, she accepted the role of State Ambassador with the National Volunteer Caregiver Network in 2015.

Karyn holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Social Research from Michigan State University, and also completed some Masters level work in Public Administration.

Outside of work, Karyn enjoys spending time with her husband and two mostly-grown children, as well as travelling and enjoying nature.

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Wisconsin: Lori Chown

Wisconsin: Lori Chown

Ambassador for the State of Wisconsin

Lori Chown is the Program Director for Jackson County Interfaith Volunteers,
and Director for the Wisconsin Faith in Action Network.

Jackson County Interfaith Volunteers helps volunteers put their faith in
action by using their gifts and talents to serve those living in our area
communities.  Jackson County began in 1989 and was one of the original Faith
in Actions, working with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.  We are proud
of our 30 year history of serving our community.  Our programs range from
transportation, grocery delivery, friendly visits, respite, light household
chores, yardwork and much more.  We offer a group respite program, dementia
support group, Parkinson’s support group, youth mentoring program, and
visually impaired program.   We are located in a rural community in west
central Wisconsin and serve a population of just over 20,000.

Jackson County also coordinates the Wisconsin Interfaith in Action Network
(WIFIAN). WIFIAN represents 15 Faith in Action programs who work together to
share best practices.  As the WIFIAN Director, Lori coordinates trainings,
yearly conferences, virtual meet-ups and assists new programs and directors
in finding resources to develop their programs.  All Wisconsin Volunteer
programs that coordinate volunteers to provide in-home services is
encouraged and welcome to apply for membership.

lchown@jcivc.org

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West Virginia: Paula Marrone-Reese (National Lead)

West Virginia: Paula Marrone-Reese

Ambassador for the State of West Virginia

Paula Marrone-Reese not only serves as NVCN’s Ambassador for the State of West Virginia, she is one of the Lead Ambassadors for the country helping to represent the Volunteer Caregiving movement at the national level.  A veteran director with more than 20 years of experience and a specialty in grant writing, Paula’s local program was recently honored as one of the top non-profits in West Virginia.  She enjoys sharing Best Practices with Volunteer Caregiving Program Directors across the country.

paula@gsivc.org

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DRAFT: Ambassador Strategic Plan

AMBASSADOR PROGRAM

S T R A T E G I C    P L A N

▲  Establish Goals

▲  Define Planning Objectives

▲  Develop Implementation Activities

NVCN’s Ambassador Program is a strategic piece of the membership plan.  Not only does this help NVCN identify and develop future leadership for the Board of Trustees, the Ambassadors aid in developing and stewarding the heart of the network: Membership.

Criteria for appointment as Ambassador  

  1. Ambassadors must be in good standing with NVCN  and represent all Volunteer Caregiving Organizations–members and non-members.
  2. More than one Ambassador can be appointed to serve a State.
  3. Ambassadors are encouraged to attend 1-2 remote or in-person meetings per year in conjunction with the F2F meetings of the Board of Trustees.  Remote links will always be offered.
  4. Serve as the local Champion, mentor and guide for Volunteer Caregiving in their State.
  5. The Lead Ambassadors are ad hoc members of the Board of Trustees, serving as National Liaisons.  The goal is to identify three leads: West (….), Central (Hannah Loppnow is considering) and East (Paula Marrone-Reese) as a start.
    1. Communicate to NVCN any relevant activities in your state that could more broadly affect the volunteer caregiving movement
      1. Budgetary concerns
      2. Changes in service provision
      3. Changes in population
      4. Trends in volunteer caregiving

 

The Job Description (with sensitivity to the fact that Ambassadors already have significant responsibility in leading their local programs)

 

  1. Serve as the State Champion of Volunteer Caregiving for member and non-member programs.  Prime the pump for new and renewed membership and keep the Membership Director updated.
  2. In states where Volunteer Caregiving has a large presence, help identify additional Ambassadors to ensure ample communication.  A ratio of one ambassador to approx. 12 -15 programs is considered reasonable.
  3. Make contact with all known programs two to four times per year.  
  4. Serve as a State Lead on the Google Groups
  5. Encourage participation on the NVCN Facebook Page and in social media, flagging attention to local program successes
  6. Contribute state highlights to the NVCN newsletter as appropriate
  7. Update the NVCN Event Calendar as appropriate
  8. Work with NVCN to participate in statewide, joint grant and meeting/half-day summit opportunities
  9. Assist the national office in maintaining accurate contact information for stateside programs.
    1. Update the NVCN Office Team of staff changes to ensure that the central database remains current.
  10. Encourage participation in upcoming NVCN online workshops and roundtables
  11. Offer input to the Ambassador Liaison on nationwide programming
  12. Distribute and encourage applicants for NVCN’s Excellence Awards
  13. Lead Ambassadors will serve on the selection committee for NVCN’s Excellence Awards
  14. Monitor use of the NVCN logo and encourage local programs to show their NVCN pride by using the logo on their stationary and website.  
  15. Monitor the use of the Faith in Action logo and encourage proliferation of this long-time brand.

 

Realistic Annual Goals

  1. Identify at least one Ambassador for every State
  2. Work with the NVCN Office Team to maintain a State-by-State contact list of members and non-members, reflected on the website’s Locator Map.
  3. Create minimal and meaningful dialogue on the Ambassadors Google Group.  
  4. Celebrate the commitment of each Ambassador
  5. Encourage participation at one of the F2F meetings of the Board of Trustees.  Build in a special session to address this group.
  6. Introduce each Ambassador to the Ambassador Group and to the Board of Trustees

 

Specific Projects Under Consideration

  1. Michigan fundraiser. Explore the possibility of a fundraising program at the ark, http://theark.org/  If we focus on one major State fundraiser, we may be able to gather significant traction from area programs.
  2. Carol Brown and Ambassador Robin Schlosser are exploring a SoCal mini-conference/half day with a panel and visit by NVCN board members.

 

Survey Outreach

 

Hi, my name is __________________ and I am an Ambassador for the National Volunteer Caregiving Network.  I direct a local program out of <city>, <state>.

 

I’m calling today because we are working on a survey to help us get an accurate picture of the national landscape.  

 

For example, my program serves _______ seniors and we have _______ volunteers.  Transportation is one of the biggest requests we have. We believe that if we work together with a more united voice, a rising tide will lift all ships.

 

Would you be willing to take our online survey?  I’d be pleased to email a link to you. The email address I have is  _________________.

Here’s the survey link:

https://goo.gl/forms/viCrobacuTuIn0Kl2

 

Contact:
National Volunteer Caregiving Network
1765 Goodyear Avenue, Suite 204
Ventura, CA 93003
Phone: 512-582-2197
Email: info@nvcnetwork.org

 

 

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