Editor's note: This is the final part in our series profiling the nominees for the inaugural Awards of Excellence for Sunshine Coast Women. There were 22 nominations and nine finalists, which Coast Reporter has profiled in the last three weeks.
Karen Archer employs her greatest strength behind the scenes, leading groups to articulate their visions, then putting processes in place to make them happen. She is as busy now with her volunteer work as she was before retirement.
After leaving her career in Human Resources at the North Shore Credit Union in 1995, she served on the board of the Sunshine Coast Credit Union where she worked on Success by Six, a collaborative effort between the United Way, the province and the Credit Union to support early childhood development. Archer is one of those who constantly ensured that the Coast was not forgotten when it came time for funding distribution. Her nominators say that she is a pioneer in restructuring policies within organizations to create these new partnerships. The end result builds valuable community programs.
When it looked as if the Women's Resource Centre in Sechelt would be closed for lack of funding, she turned her attention to that project.
"In order to serve women we needed a wider net," she said.
The Community Resource Society opened up to all people to offer programs within a drop-in centre. "The programs are open and accessible," she said. "You can come in, sit down and have a chat about how we might help you. We're a front door for all agencies." The nature of her volunteer commitment at the Centre means that she might spend time in the board room and also spend time cleaning out a closet.
Archer has been a chair of the St. Mary's Hospital Health Care Auxiliary and is a representative to the B.C. Association of Health Care Auxiliaries. As chair, she has worked with all six branches of the auxiliary on the Coast assisting the many hundreds of volunteers. She once hosted a candy striper and junior volunteer provincial conference that welcomed 150 young people to the Coast.
Diane Giles took on a big challenge that she regards as hugely rewarding. She volunteers with the Sunshine Coast Hospice Society, and in that role co-ordinates over 40 volunteers, training them during a 30-hour program to provide a contact with clients who have life threatening illnesses or those who are grieving a loss. It's a service that is entirely volunteer-run and is greatly needed.
"We feel we are doing so little, yet people are so grateful," Giles said. The trained volunteers give a friendly ear in a time of need to those who are referred to their services by home care nurses, hospital or community.
Years ago, when Giles had a serious accident, it gave her a new perspective on those who must stay in hospital under medication. "It really changed my life. I realized how we do so little for people who are dying," she said.She enrolled in counsellor training and began her work with hospice in White Rock. After moving to the Coast, she continued to work with the local hospice that was formerly under the umbrella of Home Support. After cutbacks to that organization, the palliative care component was taken over by the society.
Her nominators say Giles is respected by leaders in the community for her passion and her contribution. She has frequently met with local and provincial politicians to promote Hospice on the Coast, has attended conferences on the subject and has shared her knowledge with trainees. "Hospice has been healing for me. Almost every volunteer has a story to tell from their life and the volunteers are very dedicated," she said.
Nominators say Elise Rudland is currently involved with at least seven organizations - all on a volunteer basis - not to mention the 10 other organizations she has worked with in the past. These include her current participation in the community advisory committee for the Community Forest project, an active group that has dealt with some contentious issues.
She has always been a champion of trails and parks. As an elected Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) director during the years 1996 to 1999, she was active in initiating a workshop about Greenways, the start of a valuable parks and trails planning program for the SCRD. The resultant long range plan was one of her best accomplishments - though it required much work over a long period of time. The protected trails are a happy result. When Rudland identified land at the mouth of a creek as a potential Halfmoon Bay park site, she and another volunteer interested in conserving fish habitat went door-to-door to raise funds to purchase this land for the SCRD.
As her nominators point out, if she is not the initiator, she is the catalyst. "I'm a connector," she agrees. "I see what could be done, who could do it and I get them connected."
Rudland is most proud of her work with the SC Community Foundation."I'm really proud that we've taken ownership and we're giving back to the community," she said. As Chair of the grants committee, she is in a position to see that what started with a simple $5,000 commitment from the Vancouver Foundation has grown into a bigger, positive community resource.
