V-LINC - Providing Independence through Technology -

News:
Updates on Policy and Procedures:

Background Checks – With changes to V-LINC comes changes to volunteer policies.  During the course of renewing volunteer membership (with no more annual dues! HOORAY!) and ongoing training and orientation we will be running background checks, with your permission of course.  This is to better define our liability to our clients as well as other volunteers and employees.  It is not meant to offend anyone or intrude on anyone’s privacy, I cannot stress that enough.  We do hope that you might help pay the $7 fee (in lieu of those dues) when you go on-line to complete your background check information – more on this later.

Visiting possible/current clients – Another change to our policies is to have at least 2 people present when visiting a client, unless of course you are in a public place (school, mall, etc).  The two people does not necessarily mean two volunteers, just some combination of responsible adults that would equal 3 including the client.  This again is to better protect our clients and define our liability by implementing some simple risk management procedures.

Volunteer Hours – Not really new or an update but a reminder that all hours should be tracked and turned in at quarterly dates (the next one is December 31^st).  If you didn’t submit your hours at the end of September, please do so now!

Lockheed Martin – Randall Turner, team leader at Lockheed has become a new member of PRAC!  His team has made great progress on two of their most recent projects.  With one being a tricycle for a young man with Cerebral Palsy and another being an assistive walking system for a young girl with Rett Syndrome.  The Team has already made visits to each family and assessed the needs of the individuals and have already started working on solutions for them.  They are having a bake sale among other efforts to raise funds for both projects.   We wish we could be there to buy a cake! And we look forward to seeing the completion of both projects! 
 
Harford County’s Most Beautiful Person – Michael Rodowski, one of our Harford County team members and CST member, was recognized with the “Ripple Effect Award” as Harford County's most beautiful person this year.  He was recognized Thursday, October 7^that an event dedicated to recognizing outstanding individuals in volunteer service.  His work here at V-LINC and the enormous amount of time he has been involved with volunteering (over 200 hours in ’09!) lead to his nomination and the winning of this award.  CONGRATS MICHAEL! 
Read more about it here: http://belair.patch.com/articles/you-are-so-beautiful