I can still remember that road trip. Anna Grenier picked me up in her 1988 Mercury Cougar, to drive down to an international volunteer management conference in Minneapolis back in the 1990’s. I didn’t expect to see this diminutive lady behind the wheel of this “muscle car”. But I soon came to realize just how confident Anna was, not only in handling that car, but in driving herself and her teams to excel in their volunteer activities.
As a young girl, Anna Ambrose learned the value of volunteering. Too young to get a job, but old enough to know there was more to learn than what could be taught in school, Anna got involved with the City of Thunder Bay as a volunteer. She knew back then that any experience, any opportunity to learn, could help in her future career.
When she was a high school student, Anna was volunteering in the precursor to the 55 Plus Centre when it was in the basement of the Keskus shopping mall. Her gig was to tabulate statistics of how many hours volunteers were contributing in the Centre. And back in those days, stats were calculated with pencils and paper, not computer spreadsheets. “I realized through that experience how important stats are. They told a story. They told what was going on with volunteers.”
When she was finally old enough to work, Anna got paying summer jobs in the Playgrounds and Day Camp programs with the City. It wasn’t a struggle to choose what to take in college. Anna knew that her work would have to be fun and she enrolled in the Recreation Leadership program at Confederation College. Her career began with the Lakehead Psychiatric Hospital in 1983. While working as a Recreation Therapist at the LPH, she continued her education with people management training and in 1991 assumed the role as Coordinator, Volunteer Services. Anna is now based out of Hogarth Riverview Manor where she oversees a team of 150 volunteers.
I had the pleasure of chatting with Anna in the new volunteer lounge that she was so pleased to see included in the designs of the Hogarth Riverview Manor, a LTC Home with St. Joseph’s Care Group.
Anna is more than a Coordinator of volunteers. She’s like a cheerleader, coach, social coordinator and friend to many of the volunteers. While we talked, one volunteer came to the lounge with her therapy dog before setting off on their rounds; another volunteer busied herself making schedules for the chapel volunteers. Anna welcomed them and thanked them for dropping in. It felt as though she was welcoming the volunteers into her own living room. She knows that volunteers take their volunteer commitment seriously. They’ll come out, whether it be by bus or in bad weather, because they have a job to do. Someone needs them. Anna is always there to thank them for making the effort.
As one of the national leaders in the volunteer management profession, Anna knows that some volunteers want shorter commitments. They want to do a job, yet be able to walk away. They need to have flexibility built in to their volunteer time commitment and the ability to change schedules easily. Anna has adapted to this need from the “new” volunteer. She says that volunteers can always come in because, as she says, “we can always use your help.” Anna thinks back to those days when she was a teenage volunteer collecting those telling volunteer stats. “If a volunteer isn’t coming in anymore, I’ll always want to know why, so I’ll contact them. It’s not because I want to pressure them to come back. But, they may be sick, or they might need a change from the volunteer job they have been doing. The stats can tell you a story, but you can find out more about that story by talking to the volunteer. The personal touch is so important and a phone call can make a difference.”
Anna believes in life-long learning for herself and her volunteers. She wants to give her volunteers room for personal growth. She has mentored many co-op students over the years and wants to make sure they have what they need and also have fun while volunteering. Having fun is so important because volunteer work can be challenging. She works hard to build social networks with her volunteers so they have a safe space to come to where they feel like they are appreciated, respected, valued and part of the team. She has seen many volunteers blossom when they find a volunteer role that fits them. “I think it’s so important that I visit with the volunteers,” says Anna. “They become more confident and they are more likely to continue volunteering.”
Anna’s volunteers are of all ages, and teens are stepping up to get involved. She’s especially proud of the young volunteers from NWOSSSA (Northwestern Ontario Secondary School Students Association) who have come on board to assist.
And speaking of young people, Anna is the proud mom of 20-year old Amy and 18-year old Cory. They are astonished that so many people choose to help out and not get paid for it. They volunteer today thanks to their mom’s example. It started out when they were kids and Anna would “drag them along!” She remembers Cory helping in the therapeutic garden as a little guy whose visits brought joy to residents. That “toddler impact” happened again recently when a volunteer was in a bind and had to bring along her 4-year old grandson. He “entertained” residents and staff alike. When Anna’s kids were in school, she volunteered as chair of the parents’ council and assisted her sister coaching their sons’ hockey team.
Family is so important to Anna. In addition to being a mom to 2 kids, she has 5 sisters with whom she shares the duties of caring for their father. When Anna lost her husband Dennis in 2002, she continued to travel with her kids. She and Dennis loved to travel. With Dennis’ work as a truck driver, and Anna working contracts early in her career, they had many 6-week road trips where they’d take off and just drive. They loved California. Dennis was a big music fan, so their trips included standing in places where the Doors and Jimi Hendrix had performed. Anna shared photos of those trips with her kids and they revisited with Anna some of the places where Anna and Dennis had traveled years before.
Anna understands the importance of gardening and the positive impact horticultural therapy can have on people and the healing role that simply digging in the dirt can have. Along with a lead Master Gardener, and certified Horticultural Therapist volunteer, Linda Lahteenmaa, Anna helped at Hogarth Riverview Manor to develop a therapeutic garden, which is enjoyed by residents living there giving pleasure to residents, visitors and staff alike. This garden is one of Anna’s favourite achievements, showing how volunteers can help to build a successful program from the ground up, something that everyone can enjoy and participate in.
“I get so much joy when I see people enjoying the garden.”
Anna lives by the philosophy “Never Stop Learning.” “Dennis used to tease me when I’d sign up for another course and say, “How much do you need to know?!” She never tires of learning. In her field, that learning has led her to achieving her International Certification of Volunteer Management and graduating from Leadership Thunder Bay in 2010. She received the Linda Buchanan Award for Volunteer Administrator of the Year from the Professional Association of Volunteer Leaders Ontario. She also thanks her mentors, teachers and guides in her profession who have been her circle of support and inspiration, including Charmaine Cades, Lynda Lahteenmaa, Chery Berst, Maggie Chicoine, Allison Hill, Erin Paul, Marion Clark, Jan Inkster, and “too many others to mention and for all my volunteers and students over the last 25 years who amazed me each and every day, and my everyday teachers, my children.”
Anna finds ways to make every day matter. She energizes the people around her and always has a positive word of encouragement to the people who are lucky enough to meet her. When I ask her for a title of a song that is her “stress-busting tune”, she laughs and comes up with Bob Marley’s “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright.” With people like Anna at the wheel, I have no doubt that it will.
