|
Take
Action
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You Make A Living
By What You Get,
But You Make A Life By
What You Give!
Winston Churchill |
Friends has been serving Loudoun County residents since 1955 as an all volunteer organization. Volunteers are the lifeblood of Friends and the heart and soul of achieving its mission and goals. People may volunteer in several ways – Board of Directors or as a member of a committee or both, short or long-term projects, on-going routine assignments or as speakers for In Our Own Voice (IOOV).
Follow this link to volunteer position descriptions.
Your leadership, involvement and commitment help strengthen Loudoun communities through Friends programs.
- Your unselfish gifts of time and talent weave a safety net for people disabled by mental illnesses and who are working tirelessly toward recovery.
- Your many talents and skills play a critical role in helping Friends deliver direct services, sustain its programming, and achieve its mission successfully.
- Your dedication and dependability instills quality into your work and into Friends’ programs…..
………these are all priceless gifts!
Volunteerism affects each volunteer in a positive way – that feeling you get when you’re able to give back to your community, to help another person, and to learn from and share with others along the way.
Become a volunteer and help make a significant difference in the lives of many Loudoun residents. Use this link to read more about Friends, what we do and our core programs.
The monetary value, to Loudoun County, of Friends’ total volunteer hours in 2008: $90,000
The following links highlight various volunteer opportunities with Friends.
We welcome all gifts of time and energy……short term, long term and anything in between. You may join Friends as a Board Member, as a Management Committee member or as a Program Committee member, or all three! We draw our team from a wide range of ages, skills, knowledge and competencies. Bring your compassion, your energy and join us in making a significant difference in the lives of our most vulnerable Loudoun neighbors.
Please contact Friends to sign up as a volunteer and for additional information: Volunteer@loudounfriends.org.
|
FRIENDS BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The Board meets the second Wednesday of each month in Leesburg. Strategic Planning Meetings are held bi-annually and replace two of the regularly scheduled monthly meetings. Terms of office run for two consecutive years |
|
Friends’ Board members are mental health advocates who, through Friends’ various initiatives, provide supportive and educational programming as well as activist’s voices to help end discrimination against people living with disabling mental illnesses. The Board of Directors is responsible for the overall administration of Friends and its direct services, educational and advocacy programs. At the current time, Friends’ Board acts both as a governing Board and working board. Friends is an all volunteer, non-profit organization with no paid staff.
There is a difference between what the Board does, acting as a body (governing board), and what Board members do, acting as individuals on various committees (working board). In other words, Friends’ Board members participate in program work, fundraising work, and administrative work along side other committee volunteers striving to achieve Friends’ mission and goals.
Volunteers are also welcomed to join short-term projects and management committees without becoming a Board member. |
FRIENDS MANAGEMENT COMMITTEES
Terms on Management Committees are for one-year and may be renewed. This length of commitment helps maintain oversight and allows for the completion of various management initiatives. Management Committee members meet as required. |
|
|
This committee, working in close concert with the Treasurer, is responsible for:
- providing financial leadership and funds management for Friends of Loudoun Mental Health;
- assisting the treasurer with helping each program (e.g. A Place To Call Home, A Helping Hand, Representative Payee Program, Friends Being Friends, St. Gabriel’s’ Alternative Gift Fair, Hike With Hope) and/or standing committee with the development and preparation of their annual/project budgets;
- working closely with the Fund Raising Committee to identify future fund raising projects and strategies;
- preparing IRS 990 and other financial reports as necessary;
- preparing and mailing thank you notes to donors;
- interacting with the Communications and Public Relations Committee to provide donor and sponsor information for inclusion in the contact data bases.
|
This Committee works closely with the Finance Committee. Additionally, the Committee liaisons with the Special Events and Educational Programs Committee and the Communications and Public Relations Committee. Members are responsible for:
- communicating FLMH’s mission to and forging/sustaining on-going relationships with the business community in Loudoun County and elsewhere are deemed appropriate (e.g. membership in the Chamber of Commerce’s non-profit entity);
- planning and helping execute activities to raise funds for the purpose of supporting Friends’ direct service programs (e.g. A Place To Call Home, Helping Hand and Representative Payee) as well as other operational expenses;
- overseeing, researching, writing and pursuing appropriate grants for programmatic and operational expenses;
- writing, designing and distributing appeal letters three times a year (work in concert with the Finance Committee);
- providing information to the Communications and Public Relations Committee for inclusion on Friends’ website as appropriate.
|
This committee focuses on identifying and selecting candidates whose skills, strengths and interests will benefit Friends’ Board and committees. Members are responsible for:
- recruiting new volunteers for FLMH Board and its committees;
- interviewing and presenting new volunteer candidates to the FLMH Board;
- developing and maintaining the Volunteer Handbook;
- conducting new volunteer orientations;
- mentoring new volunteers;
- working closely with the Communications and Public Relations Committee to help maintain contact mailing lists;
- developing slate of nominees to fill Board officers’ positions as needed;
- developing and maintaining Board of Director’s Handbook;
- assisting with volunteer management and retention (e.g. organizing annual recognition event.
|
This committee prepares position statements, educational and informational materials as well as other communication media. Members are responsible for:
- supporting the Fund Raising Committee Chair in the execution of his/her communication duties;
- developing and maintaining active relationships with the media;
- developing, implementing and maintaining information on Friends’ website;
- developing and maintaining an electronic contact data base of supporters, sponsors, and community organizations (e.g. Access and Constant Contact);
- preparing and distributing advertisements and press releases for informational purposes, activities and events;
- identifying Between Friends (newsletter) content, writing, producing and emailing the newsletter through Constant Contact on a quarterly basis;
- composing and designing other collateral materials such as brochures, flyers or posters as needed;
- helping produce the Annual Report for distribution to the community and for posting on Friends’ website;
- being the official photographer and historian for FLMH.
|
This committee will focus on one-time as well as on-going educational and public information events. Members are responsible for:
- planning, managing and executing such programs as:
- Hike With Hope
- Andrew McKnight Concert
- St. Gabriel’s’ Alternative Gift Fair
- In Our Own Voice
- Working with the Fund Raising Committee and the Communications and Public Relations Committee to ensure continuity and “same-focus” of efforts;
- Coordinating with the Volunteer Relations Committee to secure needed volunteers for each event.
|
This committee focuses on FLMH supportive and educational programming. Members are responsible for:
- annual evaluation of FLMH programs to assure efficacy and sustainability;
- A Place To Call Home
- A Helping Hand
- Representative Payee
- Friends Being Friends
- In Our Own Voice
- reporting results of annual evaluation to the Board of Directors;
- identifying new programs and service opportunities to answer Loudoun’s mental health needs;
- working closely with the Finance Committee, Fund Raising Committee, and the Communications and Public Relations Committee during the development phase of new programming to assess viability and potential funding requirements.
|
This committee focuses on community-wide relationship building. Members are responsible for:
- working closely with the Fund Raising Committee and the Communications and Public Relations Committee to identify potential community partners and sponsors; establishing and maintaining interrelationships and cooperation with the non-profit community, human service organizations and agencies, faith community, etc.
- encouraging community commitment and participation I FLMH activities and programs; representing FLMH at various community and state level functions.
|
FRIENDS PROGRAM COMMITTEES
Each program committee needs volunteers to help with a variety of tasks and assignments. Some commitments are short term, or occur only once a year, while others are on-going over a longer period of time. Organizers, leaders, behind the scene workers, people with energy and can do spirit are essential. Program Committee members meet as required. |
|
|
| Volunteers manage the finances of consumers of Loudoun County Supported Living Services who are not able to handle their own money due to being disabled by mental illnesses or who are required by the Social Security Administration to have a representative payee in order to receive their monthly allocations. |
| People disabled by mental illnesses are often times discriminated against. This stigma can cause them to become isolated within their own families, neighborhoods, and places of employment. Like any one of us, people who are working to recover from mental illnesses need social support and friendships as part of their daily lives. Friends Being Friends is just such an outreach program. Volunteers join Loudoun residents, who are striving to recover from mental illnesses, for bowling nights, movies, picnics, musical concerts, or trips to regional meetings for consumers about recovery and current federal and state legislation. Volunteers even prepare holiday meals for consumers living in group homes throughout Loudoun County. In other words, volunteers are Friends Being Friends. |
| In Our Own Voice is a unique public education program developed by NAMI, in which two trained mental health consumers share compelling personal stories about living with mental illnesses and achieving recovery. Friends sponsors and coordinates IOOV presenters in Loudoun County. Understanding recovery as having several dimensions makes its uneven course easier to accept. Much as we dont blame the cancer patient for dying of invasive tumors, we cant condemn a consumer whose symptoms overtake his or her best efforts to manage illness. Presentations are given to consumer groups, students, law enforcement officials, educators, providers, faith community members, politicians, professionals, inmates, and interested civic groups. All presentations are offered free of charge. |
| Each October Friends organizes a hike in the Loudoun countryside for consumers of mental health services, friends, family and the public. This outreach program provides a fun filled day of hiking and picnicking. It helps affirm the importance of knowing about and understanding mental illnesses as well as embracing and supporting the recovery process. The Hike is open to the public. |
| Andrew McKnight is a nationally known singer, guitarist, song writer and poet. Andrew and his quartet, Beyond Borders, will hold a second annual fund raising concert to benefit Friends direct service programs. Please plan to join us for a wonderful evening of music and fun. |
| Friends is fortunate to be one of the participants in this unique alternative gift fair each December. The Fair raises money for local, non-profit charities. More importantly organizers say, is that the community’s spirits have been raised a thousand fold. While it is undeniable that funding is important, enhancing the gift giving season is the true goal of the event. The two day Fair provides a fun and festive venue for shoppers to purchase donations to local charities in honor of fiends and colleagues. It’s a family friendly environment that emphasizes the true meaning of giving while bringing people together to help Loudoun neighbors in need. The AGF also raises awareness for local charities and has become a key outreach event for the non-profit community. See Friends’ website for dates and times. |
|
| Home |
About Friends | Ways to Give | Contact Us | Site Map |
|
