VOLUNTEERS HONORED AT 2024 CELEBRATION

Posted October 10, 2024
DOORWAYS   |  1101 N. Jefferson Avenue   |  St. Louis MO 63106

 

DOORWAYS RECOGNIZES VOLUNTEERS

Individuals and groups providing personal time and talents to support DOORWAYS and its clients were honored at the agency’s annual awards presentation.

 

St. Louis, MO –   On Tuesday, September 10, 2024, DOORWAYS held a reception to thank all agency volunteers for giving their time and spirit to support the agency’s mission. More than 80 guests and honorees attended the event, which was held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the community room at the DOORWAYS Jefferson Avenue Campus. As part of this annual occasion, board member volunteers, individual volunteers, and group volunteers are recognized for their commitment and generosity. The agency  also presented three awards to spotlight exceptional volunteer commitment. The 2024 awardees are listed below.

  • THE VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR AWARD

    Lila Daus has been committed to volunteerism since the young age of 10, when she assisted senior citizens with spring cleaning and snow shoveling. At DOORWAYS, she has provided 337 hours of service this past year to support the Mama/Kaya Children’s Summer Camp, activities with residents in our assistive living program (Cooper House), and the growth and development of the new Provisions Pantry that offers residents access to fresh food and other essential items. She volunteers for our fundraising events and has walked with DOORWAYS in the annual Pride Parade in downtown St. Louis. Her volunteerism extends beyond DOORWAYS and includes 13 years as a Girl Scout leader and troop organizer plus service to the Affton Christian Church Pride Committee. Her dedication to helping others is evident in her career path as well. Lila earned both a BES and a Master’s degree in Education in Counseling Psychology, with a specialization in children and families, from UMC. She has worked for MRDD, providing therapy for adolescents in inpatient psychiatric, residential, and foster care settings. She exemplifies a life of giving.

  • THE GENEROSITY AWARD

    Michael Brave is President/CEO of Southern Illinois Living Centers, Inc. His generosity extends beyond financial support, as he also dedicates considerable time and effort to DOORWAYS community. As a Board Member, Michael serves as the Chair of the Facilities Committee, which played an active role in the development of the Jefferson Avenue Campus. Michael’s enthusiasm for DOORWAYS is unwavering. He is always the first to lend a hand to actively support agency fundraising events. To help foster a sense of community among board members and other stakeholders, Michael regularly hosts gatherings encouraging socialization and collaboration. He also inspires others to get involved, notably urging members of The Gathering’s Central Corridor Men‘s Group to participate in the annual holiday gift drive for residents. Michael’s extensive contributions to the organization reflect his passion and commitment, making him an invaluable asset to DOORWAYS and its mission.

  • THE MICHAEL EDLIN AWARD
    (Information on Michael Edlin and past recipients of the Michael Edlin Award are listed in the right margin.)

    Reverend Doctor Jeff Moore
    is an ordained United Church of Christ minister serving as Senior Pastor of the Webster Groves Christian Church (Disciples of Christ. In addition to these responsibilities, he is dedicated to serving people living with HIV. Jeff worked as a missionary HIV/AIDS Area Coordinator for the Lesotho Evangelical Church in Lesotho, South Africa. He continued that ministry here in St. Louis with DOORWAYS, serving on the board of directors and providing compassionate chaplaincy and pastoral care. He also invites his congregation and other churches to support the DOORWAYS Christmas program and sponsor celebratory meals for residents and staff.  Devoted to living in service to humanity, Jeff earned a Master of Divinity degree and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Eden Theological Seminary, plus a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. He is an adjunct professor of Biblical and Ministry Studies at the United Church of Christ’s Eden Theological Seminary and teaches courses at Saint Louis University. 

 

Friends and family are encouraged to make a gift to DOORWAYS to honor these awardees. Please go to www.doorwaysdonate.org.  We will send an announcement of your donation to the person being recognized.

 

THE PROGRAM

The program began with an invocation by board member Reverend Lauren Bennet from Metropolitan Community Church.

Opal M. Jones, President & CEO of DOORWAYS, and Steven M. Scott, MPH, FACHE, Chair of the DOORWAYS Board of Directors, each provided comments and participated in the award presentations. Among all those who previously received the Michael Edlin Award (the list is to the right), any who were present joined in the recognition of the 2024 recipient.

 

SPONSORS

We are grateful to Wells Fargo for supporting our volunteer program throughout the year. We also wish to thank the underwriters for this recognition ceremony:  City Wide Facility Solutions, Enterprise Mobility, Mercy, Moore Computing, Paul Davis, SSM Health, and U.S. Bank.

 

THE DOORWAYS VOLUNTEER PROGRAM

During fiscal year 2024, more than 450 people provided continuous or episodic volunteer services exceeding 4,000 total volunteer hours. Some volunteered individually while others participated with a group from their employer, church, college, etc.  

Individual or group service may include:

  • Direct interaction with clients. Examples include staffing the Provisions Pantry, playing games or watching movies with residents, or assisting with our after-school program and summer camp,

  • Projects supporting agency operations. This may include raking leaves, painting a room or hallway, cleaning, office assistance, or serving on the agency’s board of directors or board committees

For information about our volunteer program, please visit our volunteer web page:   https://doorwayshousing.org/get-involved/volunteer/

 

ABOUT DOORWAYS

Founded in 1988, DOORWAYS provides housing and 360 degrees of wrap-around services to people at the intersection of poverty, homelessness, and illness from HIV.  Each year, we serve approximately 3,000 clients and family members in 124 counties spread across Missouri and Illinois.  Expanding over the years to meet growing depth and breadth of need, DOORWAYS evolved from a hospice caring for the dying to an agency building lives for the living. We currently own 12 buildings with 230 apartments offering five housing platforms—emergency housing, flexible housing, assistive housing for those too ill to live independently, permanent housing, and, to prevent homelessness for people in their own accommodations, rent/utility subsidies. Housing is supplemented by empowerment services to cultivate the social determinants of health (housing, health, food security, employment/income, education, community, etc.) that are needed to advance towards a life of opportunity and independence. We use individualized case management, resource referrals, self-development programming, employment support, behavioral health counseling, and psychiatric care. An independent pharmacy will soon open on the campus as well. Through this mix of services to stabilize housing, health, and hope, clients begin their journey toward a more self-directed life. Once housed and linked with their care coordinator, clients are encouraged to comply with an HIV-medication regimen that can help them attain undetectable status. When HIV is undetectable, life  span and quality of life improve for the individual.  Furthermore, undectable equals untransmittable (U=U), stopping forward transmission. Bringing an end to new cases of HIV will ultimately eradicate HIV for future generations.

 

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LILA DAUS - Volunteer of the Year
MICHAEL BRAVE - Generosity Award
REV. DR. JEFF MOORE - Michael Edlin Award
Refreshments and mingling on the community room patio before the ceremony.
Guests attending the ceremony.
Guests viewed an agency video highlighting a client success story, which may be found at: https://youtu.be/wBVSp0fk1wE

Who is Michael Edlin

Michael Edlin, a founding DOORWAYS board member, passionately spread the word about those dying alone and homeless in the early years of HIV/AIDS. He used his talents, networks, and considerable power of persuasion to  rally support to build DOORWAYS housing and services. As a person living with HIV, Michael forfeited his privacy and used his own life as a beacon to fight discrimination against others living with the disease. Eventually, he closed his business to dedicate more time to fundraising for DOORWAYS. At the time of his death, he left a legacy of selfless volunteerism that lives on at DOORWAYS and is embodied in this award, presented to other volunteers who also dedicate themselves to helping people living with HIV improve their housing, health, and hope.

Past Recipients of the Michael Edlin Award

1993  The Very Rev. J.C. Michael Allen *

1994 St. Mary’s Health Center

1995 David Prelutsky, M.D.

1996 Ken Nuernberger/The Siedlund Co.

1997 Cawood “Woody” Bebout

1998 Bryan Young

1999 Sister Betty Brucker, FSM*

2000 Brother John Spila, OSF

2001 Ben Tischler

2002 The Rev. Evlyn Wehling Fulton*

2003 Mark Lammert

2004 Howard Meyer*

2005 The Reverend Lloyd Edwards

2006 Peg Atkins*

2007 R. Shawn Tucker

2008 Terry Crow

2009 Evelyn A. Cohen

2010 The Rev. Dr. Richard Ellerbrake

2011 Dennis K. Hoffert*

2012 Lynne M. Cooper, D.Min.*

2013 Charles Miller

2014 Christine Pennell

2015 Jay Joern, D.D.S.

2016 John H. Russell

2017 Diane Gershman Levine

2018 Carole Hunt

2019 Brenda Armour

2020 Jay Moore, M.D.

2021 Jim Hinrichs, M.D.

2022 Ron Jagels

2023 Ed Giganti

                                                 * DECEASED