History

The History of The Volunteer Center serving Western Connecticut is a story about people. It's about the wonderful people who give so freely of themselves and about others in need who benefit from their generosity of spirit.

There would be no Volunteer Center in Danbury were it not for Carol Mitchell. Through her work with the Community Action Committee of Danbury (CACD), Carol knew then-director of CACD Jim Maloney and outlined to him her plan for a "bureau" — a clearinghouse that would match volunteers to the needs of local organizations like Meals on Wheels, whose existence depended so greatly on willing volunteers. Maloney and others agreed, and soon The Volunteer Bureau of Greater Danbury was in business under the sponsorship of CACD, the Association of Religious Communities (ARC) and Danbury Area United Social Services.

In the first year of operation, Carol placed more than 120 volunteers in 26 of Danbury's non-profit agencies and programs. The needs and the numbers grew over the next four years, and the recruitment and referral of volunteers were firmly established at the heart of The Bureau's operations.

Soon, The Bureau struck out on its own, incorporating, opening its own office, becoming a United Way partner agency and hiring its first paid Executive Director. In 1979, Bobbi Feinson, an enthusiastic member of the Bureau's Board of Directors, took over the helm and began a 17-year run of successfully adding meaningful programs to The Bureau's responsibilities.

Always ready to adapt and expand its programming in response to the community it serves, The Bureau under Bobbi's leadership launched the Management Assistance Program (MAP), its first specialized service, in 1984; its first direct service program, Friendly Visitors, in 1985; the court-based Community Restitution program in 1989; and the Corporate Volunteer Council in 1992 (now known as the Business Volunteer Council). In 1995, the agency changed its name to The Volunteer Center serving Western Connecticut, better reflecting the scope of its activities.

Another chapter in The Bureau's history opened when Bobbi retired in 1996, and Karen Annoni became Executive Director. Karen had been with the agency since 1983, running the MAP program, initiating the Tele-Care component of the Friendly Visitors program in 1991 and gradually taking on many other responsibilities in the increasingly busy office. Karen's achievements included bringing the agency into the 21st century by computerizing many of the organization's records and establishing a website. Upon Karen's retirement in 2001, Donna Coelho became Executive Director and continued to build on the agency's many strengths.

Since February, 2004 The Volunteer Center has been piloted by Patti Cohen-Hecht, who brings to the Executive Director's chair a long background of volunteerism and community involvement. Under her aegis, new collaborations, fresh approaches and state-of-the-art tools and techniques keep the wonderful programs begun so many years ago by The Center's "founding mothers" relevant and rewarding today.

The Centers successes can be measured in many ways. Numbers are impressive, but numbers don't tell the whole story. Faces do: looks of joy when help is at hand, smiles of satisfaction when a job is well done. That's what The Volunteer Center strives for, and that is its true success.