Carolyn
Moreno, Heart House Dallas
 Carolyn
Moreno |
Carolyn Moreno, a great
volunteer who has been with Heart House Village of Royal Oaks (Dallas)
since August of 2004, is in the spotlight this month. Both of the program
leaders who work with her strongly urged us to recognize her service.
Carolyn’s humble reactions to the raves bestowed on her bely a woman who
has become one of our best volunteers, fully deserving recognition.
Program Leader April McKinley sings her praises, “Carolyn is a sweet
person who really connects with the kids. With little guidance from us,
she knows exactly what to do. The kids respond to her and look forward to
the days when she volunteers.”
Carolyn currently works
in the
Dallas
Independent
School District
as a computer programmer. Her decision to join the ranks of our valued
tutor/mentors was the outgrowth of a New Year’s resolution to find an
organization where she could donate her time. One of the reasons she chose
Heart House is because she feels that “Heart House is doing a great
service to parents that truly care for their children, but who otherwise
may not be able to afford quality afterschool care.” And she has since
become one of our best volunteers because she has “come to love the kids
– they are great!” Carolyn enjoys watching them “progress and change
week-to-week.” They also make her feel better after a hard day at work.
She likes to bring them special snacks and small gifts.
Carolyn not only
assists us by working directly with the kids; she has also helped us
distribute holiday dinner baskets to the families of the children we
serve. She also volunteers as a Sunday school teacher for 3rd graders at
her church, and has run in a half-marathon that benefited the Leukemia
Lymphoma Society. Carolyn feels that she has a blessed life, and likes to
be able to give back and “touch someone’s life is a small way.”
Thank you Carolyn!
 Theresa
Stock |
Theresa Stock, Heart
House Austin
In
September of 2002, Theresa Stock attended a Volunteer Fair for Social Work
students at the
University
of
Texas
. She was looking for a place
to volunteer as part of a course requirement.
Theresa decided to volunteer at Heart House Austin and has been
here ever since. She has given
over 130 hours of her time to the children of Heart House.
Theresa
grew up in
Katy
,
Texas
, and moved to
Austin
to attend college. In Katy,
she played soccer, was an active member of the Girl Scouts, and played the
trumpet. Theresa is a
life-time member of the Girl Scouts and gained experience with children
during the planning of activities for Brownies.
At her church, she babysat children for six years, but since coming
to Heart House, Theresa has been “reminded that there is much more to do
with children, besides just baby-sit or monitor them.”
Currently,
Theresa is a junior at U.T. and plans on finishing her Master’s degree
in social work by May of 2006. She
will make an excellent social worker, because of her patience, integrity,
and dependability. One of
Theresa’s most memorable experiences volunteering at Heart House was
when she was helping a child learn cursive handwriting.
The child became very frustrated while writing the letter “D”,
but thanks to Theresa’s encouragement and step-by-step instruction, the
child was able to keep practicing and by the end of homework time, could
make a near perfect letter “D”. It
is moments like these that have kept Theresa coming back to volunteer at
Heart House. She knows
that every child has potential to achieve anything they put their minds
to. Volunteer Coordinator Lisa
Thompson says, “Theresa has a huge heart.
I’ll never forget the day she came to volunteer and all of her
dark long hair was gone. She
had cut off all of her hair to give to the ‘Locks of Love’ program.
They make wigs for children with cancer.
This is yet another example of how sincere her desire to help
others is.”
Theresa
hopes that she has shown the children that “there are plenty of people
they will meet randomly in their lives who may disregard them, but that
there are equally as many who will have no intention of judging them and
will truly have their best interests at heart and be focused on who they
are or will become.” Heart
House has been extremely fortunate to have Theresa’s help.
We couldn’t ask for a more dependable, considerate person to work
with the Heart House children.
Whether
working directly with the children or providing technical or
administrative expertise in the background, your help is needed!
Check out our website and volunteer
opportunities or fill out an on-line
application today!
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more Volunteer Spotlights
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