Go-2-Girls serve and support women

  • By Angela Bases
  • October 17, 2011
  • 286
                        
Summary: The Go-2-Girls of STEPS and Every Woman’s House have organized their own group to support other volunteers and create a pattern of predictability and consistency for the organization they serve. The Go-2-Girls focus mostly on the donation room, which serves clients in a variety of capacities. But since their development, spin off projects have been developed. Volunteering is an act requiring compassion, dedication and motivation. Volunteers are often the driving force behind any nonprofit organization—working behind the scenes to fill gaps and connect services. The volunteers at Every Woman’s House and STEPS (Substance Abuse, Treatment, Education and Prevention Services), 104 Spink St. in Wooster, possess these qualities, but have invested even more into their responsibilities. The Go-2-Girls were established as a source of support for volunteers and to assure continuity and consistency within their work. The name was a result of other perspective volunteers being directed to the Go-2-Girls for direction and guidance. It seemed like an obvious fit to the group. “We officially kicked it off in January of this year. We’ve been working on it for probably two years,” began Peggy Finley, member of the Go-2-Girls. “We wanted to help to take that pressure off and make things easier. That was our goal, really, was to make things easier so you would have one place to go.” Much of their work involves the donation room. The donation room serves clients of the agency and is filled by the community. When a client moves out of the shelter, they are able to take items from the donation room to fill their new home. After a sexual assault, a woman is provided basic clothing to leave the hospital in. The basics are what the donation room can always use more of. Nancy Metze and Laura Boreman manage the donation room. They have devoted plenty of time organizing the area to make it conducive to the agency. “Our community is an incredibly generous one and it is important that we have people to help to sort and display all the donations so that the clients are able to find what they need. We have found donors to be supportive in answering our calls for home furnishings, kitchen utensils, linens and personal items as they change daily or weekly,” Finley continued. “There are two people that work on every project. If one person has some other distractions, there’s still someone else there to keep it going.” She also explained that here have been spinoff projects from the donation room. They collect dresses for clients in the shelter who want to attend homecomings, weddings or other special events. The Go-2-Girls also keep an eye out for new items that can be utilized during Christmas time. The Wish List is another project in the works. In the future, it will be posted on the agency’s website, detailing what is needed by the clients on a regular basis. “But what we’re kind of doing now is getting more specific and helping the community know what we can do, helping the organization to display and use the donations,” Finley added. “Everybody has an opportunity to do what they like to do and get creative.” This is one element Hannah Dauber probably appreciates. The College of Wooster student has been a Go-2-Girl since last winter. She hopes to ultimately strengthen the connection between Wooster and The College. “The best part of being a volunteer with this is group is that you really feel like you’re a part of something that is making a difference,” Dauber said. Purses of Change is another project designed to go above the basic needs and pamper the clients. Jacquie Gable and her two daughters, Victoria and Sarah Burt, collect gently used purses, as well as the girly items they are stuffed with. They are then distributed to the clinicians who provide them to the clients. “Our hope is to close the gap and help the staff at the organization to provide the clients at their facilities with the items they need to move forward with their lives,” Finley continued. In essence, the Go-2-Girls are women supporting other women in the toughest moments of their lives. To join the group of volunteers, email go-2-girls@hotmail.com, or call Judy Shear of Every Woman’s House at 330-263-6021.


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