The Nurturing Program relies heavily on volunteer support, and they are essential to the program's success. This family-focused evening program runs in 10-week sessions throughout the year, and volunteers help with almost every aspect of it. They serve food, assist parents with small children during meal times, and help families with activities during Family Nurturing Time. When adult program participants split into groups, volunteers care for their children. Pam Robertson, Family Intervention Program manager, feels that the volunteers contribute a lot to the overall atmosphere of the Nurturing Program: "The volunteers help us create a caring, nurturing environment for the children in the program. They care for the families and parents feel comfortable leaving their children with them."

Families United to Prevent Teen Pregnancy & Teens on the Move to the Future There are also a number of volunteers who work with Families United to Prevent Teen Pregnancy (FUPTP), our abstinence-based pregnancy prevention program. FUPTP School Presenters are often assisted by volunteers who help present curriculum topics to mentees. Volunteer duties may include everything from leading small group discussions to participating in role playing activities. This is a wonderful opportunity for individuals to experience many aspects of the FUPTP program.

Because one of the values FUPTP highlights is academics, volunteers may also serve as tutors. This year, volunteer tutors assisted mentees in the FUPTP program at Thirty-eighth Street School. These tutors had the opportunity to get to know all of the students in the program, as they worked with different students each week. During the first semester of this school year, we were happy to have education majors from Wisconsin Lutheran College serve their field placement as tutors with FUPTP. Sharon Burow, a professor from the college, believes that her students benefited from the time they spent with FUPTP. "One thing our students mentioned was that it helped them to learn how to help students transition from one activity to another. They learn a lot from face-to-face contact with the kids," Sharon stated.

Volunteers also help in Teens on the Move, a component of FUPTP. Every Tuesday, this group gathers at Rosalie Manor and receives tutoring in high school subjects such as English and math. We have a volunteer who works with the teens to assist with homework and ongoing projects.

The Safe Places/Safe Haven program has room for many volunteers. With 60-100 students enrolled in the program at each of our three schools, we would need literally hundreds of volunteers in order to provide one-on-one tutoring for each student. This school year, almost 50 individuals volunteered as tutors.

Two very special groups volunteered with this program. At Westside Academy I, we were fortunate to work with Girl Scout Troop 564 from Christ King School. These young ladies came to Westside Academy every Wednesday for three months to work with first through third graders. They read books, played games, and did arts and crafts projects with the students. The children had fun with their tutors. One second grader remarked, "I like it when the Girl Scouts come. They read and help me with my homework and have fun. And they're my friends." When the Girl Scouts' time came to an end, they surprised the students with a gift of books to be used in the after school program. The students gave the girls cards and hand-made gifts.

Another group came from Clement Manor Retirement Community and have been a wonderful addition to the program. These volunteers worked with students at Dr. Benjamin Carson Academy of Science. Dawn Rice, Assistant Principal and Safe Place Coordinator, feels that they are an invaluable part of the program. She said, "The Clement Manor volunteers have grown into the Carson family. At first, the children were a little nervous about working with new people, but now they're vying for spots with a tutor every time the volunteers arrive."

In addition to volunteers who work directly with clients, we have a number of dedicated people who take care of things behind the scenes. These volunteers perform valuable services that support our programs, which allows us to better serve our families.

One very important group of volunteers is "The Mailers," a fun group of women who coordinate our monthly Supporting Today's Parents newsletter mailing. They work 2-3 days each month; stapling, stuffing, labeling and sorting approximately 2,600 newsletters. In addition, they coordinate other bulk mailing projects, such as this newsletter, throughout the year. Without the hard work of this team, Rosalie Manor would not be able to give our families and supporters important information on a regular basis.

In addition to the mailers, we have a volunteer who assists with sorting donations we receive from individuals, churches, and businesses. We are fortunate to have a volunteer who is willing to sort through these donations and organize them for our families.