August 17 is National Nonprofit Day. This is an important opportunity to learn more about nonprofits and to celebrate their important contributions. Nonprofits play a vital role in community development. They provide essential services that would otherwise be unavailable. They provide direct services like food and shelter and supportive services like skills training and mentoring. They foster the culture of the community. They inspire and bring people together to heal, to challenge, to advocate for change and to ensure the common good. Communities with strong nonprofits score higher on societal health, positive lifestyles, community stability and social cohesion.

Volunteers are the life blood of nonprofits, bringing their life experience, professional skills, time and enthusiasm to the mission of an organization. Today, we are celebrating the contributions of one of our Soul Care mentor volunteers. Lisa is retiring from her volunteer commitment after many years of service. We have grown, been enlivened and been able to serve so many more people during their incarceration due to her efforts. Lisa’s mentoring skills have helped the individual’s grow in self-esteem, develop new skills for confronting challenges and lay out a future for themselves. To the team of volunteers, she has brought a gentle and wise presence enabling all of us to be more effective in our mentoring.

Thank you, Lisa! You will be missed. We are better people and more skillful mentors due to your service with us.