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Volunteer changed by her work

By: Carolyn Shimmin

Posted: 10/22/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Boris Minkevich / Winnipeg Free Press 'Volunteering gives you an opportunity to go outside of yourself,' says John Howard Society volunteer board member Pam Sholdice. (WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store

Volunteering can be an awakening -- a catalyst for change in one's life.

Pam Sholdice, a busy mother of three foster children aged 10 and under, became more political after she started volunteering, finding her voice within the social-justice movement and returning to school after many years away.

"Volunteering gives you an opportunity to go outside of yourself," Sholdice says. "It gives me an opportunity to meet new people who have similar interests, beliefs and values. It's a great place to share ideas, to hear new ideas and different takes on things."

Sholdice became a volunteer board member for the John Howard Society of Manitoba more than a year ago through a program called the Women's Voices Project run by the West Central Women's Resource Centre. This project helps women from the community gain leadership skills by pairing them with a mentor on a board of a local community-based organization. In turn, it helps non-profit organizations get a diverse population of women within their communities onto their boards, committees and advisory councils.

"Many women have shared with me that they feel ready to give back to the community, but they don't know where to begin," says Jen Porter, co-ordinator of the Women's Voices Project. "We know that non-profits are always seeking volunteers, and we have a population of resilient women with an often invisible skill set -- life experience. The Women's Voices Project works to bridge this gap."

For Sholdice, the Women's Voices Project provided her with different training opportunities, teaching her about everything from conflict resolution to Robert's rules to learning how to interview different organizations within her community. For her, the John Howard Society of Manitoba, which offers programs and services to incarcerated men, was a perfect fit.

"With fostering, you realize that people are usually judged by their mistakes as opposed to what comes after," Sholdice says. "I try to tell the people in my life that it's not the mistake you make, but it's what you do after that really counts. The John Howard Society, I love their restorative practices, an opportunity for people to take accountability for what they've done and try to make things right not just for the victims but for themselves."

The society helps men coming out of incarceration find the services and supports they need to re-establish themselves in the community. It also offers parenting classes, literacy classes and tutoring in correctional centres.

"Board members have actually said that Pam would now be a great mentor," says John Hutton, executive director of the John Howard Society of Manitoba.

Since becoming a volunteer for the John Howard Society, Sholdice has returned to school after taking time off to raise three children. She is a full-time student in the urban and inner-city studies program at the University of Winnipeg.

Sholdice says through the Women's Voices Project, she's discovered volunteering has a lot to do with self-care.

"Volunteering makes me a better parent because if I build my entire life around the kids and don't put anything back into myself, it comes out -- it bubbles and surfaces -- so this is better."

If you know a special volunteer who strives to make his or her community a better place to live, please contact Carolyn Shimmin at

carolynshimmin@gmail.com

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 22, 2012 B2

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