As springtime
showers fell, the Somerville Homeless Coalition (SHC) kicked off summer
with a celebration to honor the non-profit's volunteers. At the
organization's One Davis Square office, attendees enjoyed refreshments
donated by local eateries and chatted about current fundraising
endeavors. Executive Director Mark Alston-Follansbee and Director of
Development Jennifer Bonardi mingled amongst volunteers, thanking them
for their service and sharing insight into the SHC's purpose and goals.

"Volunteers
help to support our programs by learning about these issues [of hunger
and homelessness] and by helping us to work on ending hunger and
homelessness in our society, especially in our own community,"
Alston-Follansbee says. "It's a relatively small population, and it
could be done if we had the resources."

A highlight of the
evening came when long-time SHC volunteer John Chochrek received the
Carmela Addario Award, named for an early influential board member.

"I've
heard all of these outrageous stories about Carmela," Alston-Follansbee
states. "She would do things like put this big, over-stuffed teddy bear
on a lawn chair in front of her house with a can that said 'help the
homeless' on it. She'd do little yard sales out of her garage all the
time – the money would go into the can, and the can would go to the
SHC."

Carmela's resourceful spirit lives on through the work of
the SHC's current volunteer force. The organization's volunteer arm,
dubbed the Super Hero Corps, mobilizes individuals from a variety of
backgrounds. These "super heroes," united by their common goal of
ending hunger and homelessness, bring a wide range of experience and
skill to the table.

"Volunteers send us the application – this
is the first step in the process – and on it, we ask them if they have
any special skills," Bonardi says. "We try to match up our needs with
what they need as a volunteer. It's fun to find cross-over with those
things that are unique about [each volunteer] ending up being an asset
for us."

Founded in 1985, the SHC was the first program of its kind in Somerville.

"The
story that I heard when I came to SHC in 1990 was that people in
Somerville didn't realize that there was a problem with homelessness
until the red line was extended out to Alewife," Alston-Follansbee
states. "Suddenly, there were people hanging out in Davis Square who
nobody had ever seen before. They were from Somerville, but if you were
homeless from Somerville, you'd have to go to Cambridge or Boston to
get help."

SHC's founders converted a bowling alley in the
basement of College Avenue United Methodist Church into the city's
first shelter, employing only two staff members and depending largely
on volunteers. Twenty-four years later, the agency has grown to 36
employees, has a budget of $2.8 million, and subsidizes 80 apartments
available to homeless individuals as they transition into housing.

"We've
always depended on volunteers, and we're still grateful for them.
[Volunteering] is a great way for people to find out about who we are
and to see what homelessness and hunger are about," Alston-Follansbee
says. "To me, these are social problems that can be solved if we
decide, as a society, to put our minds to solving them."

Many
opportunities exist for community members who would like to volunteer
with the SHC. For more information, visit the organization's website at
http://www.somervillehomelesscoalition.org/.