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.
Arizona: Debbie Scherer
Arizona: Debbie Scherer
Ambassador for the State of Arizona
Central California: Hilda Zacarias
Ambassador for the State of (Northern) California
Northern California: Robert Fuentes
Ambassador for the State of (Northern) California
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.
Delaware: Robert Hall
Delaware: Robert Hall
Hawaii: Judy Guajardo
Hawaii: Judy Guajardo
Iowa: Michelle Hull
Iowa: Michelle Hull
Illinois: Lisa Brennan
Illinois: Lisa Brennan
Ambassador for the State of Illinois
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.
Maine: Jo Cooper
Maine: Jo Cooper
Michigan: Tracey Holt
Michigan: Tracey Holt
Co-Ambassador of the State of Michigan
tholt@hospiceoftheeup.com
Michigan: Karyn Curro
Michigan: Karyn Curro
Co-Ambassador of the State of Michigan
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.
New Jersey: Amy Raimondi
New Jersey: Amy Raimondi
New Jersey: Larissa Willison
New Jersey: Larissa Willison
Texas: Inez Russell
Texas: April Love
West Pennsylvania: Gregg Brunner
West Pennsylvania: Gregg Brunner
East Pennsylvania: Lynn Heiney
East Pennsylvania: Lynn Heiney
West Virginia: Paula Marrone-Reese (National Lead)
West Virginia: Paula Marrone-Reese
Ambassador for the State of West Virginia
DRAFT: Ambassador Strategic Plan
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
- Ambassadors must be in good standing with NVCN and represent all Volunteer Caregiving Organizations–members and non-members.
- More than one Ambassador can be appointed to serve a State.
- 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.
- Serve as the local Champion, mentor and guide for Volunteer Caregiving in their State.
- 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.
- Communicate to NVCN any relevant activities in your state that could more broadly affect the volunteer caregiving movement
- Budgetary concerns
- Changes in service provision
- Changes in population
- Trends in volunteer caregiving
- Communicate to NVCN any relevant activities in your state that could more broadly affect the volunteer caregiving movement
The Job Description (with sensitivity to the fact that Ambassadors already have significant responsibility in leading their local programs)
- 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.
- 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.
- Make contact with all known programs two to four times per year.
- Serve as a State Lead on the Google Groups
- Encourage participation on the NVCN Facebook Page and in social media, flagging attention to local program successes
- Contribute state highlights to the NVCN newsletter as appropriate
- Update the NVCN Event Calendar as appropriate
- Work with NVCN to participate in statewide, joint grant and meeting/half-day summit opportunities
- Assist the national office in maintaining accurate contact information for stateside programs.
- Update the NVCN Office Team of staff changes to ensure that the central database remains current.
- Encourage participation in upcoming NVCN online workshops and roundtables
- Offer input to the Ambassador Liaison on nationwide programming
- Distribute and encourage applicants for NVCN’s Excellence Awards
- Lead Ambassadors will serve on the selection committee for NVCN’s Excellence Awards
- Monitor use of the NVCN logo and encourage local programs to show their NVCN pride by using the logo on their stationary and website.
- Monitor the use of the Faith in Action logo and encourage proliferation of this long-time brand.
Realistic Annual Goals
- Identify at least one Ambassador for every State
- 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.
- Create minimal and meaningful dialogue on the Ambassadors Google Group.
- Celebrate the commitment of each Ambassador
- Encourage participation at one of the F2F meetings of the Board of Trustees. Build in a special session to address this group.
- Introduce each Ambassador to the Ambassador Group and to the Board of Trustees
Specific Projects Under Consideration
- 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.
- 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:
1765 Goodyear Avenue, Suite 204
Ventura, CA 93003
Email: info@nvcnetwork.org
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