Volunteer Spotlight September 2024: Nancy Gordon
Can you tell us about yourself and your background?
I grew up in Duluth and attended the University of Minnesota on the Minneapolis, Duluth and St. Paul campuses. I have a bachelor of science degree in medical technology and worked as a med tech at Mt. Sinai Hospital for 15 years. While my husband and I were raising our three daughters, I went back to school for a degree in nutrition to become a registered dietitian nutritionist. I worked for 10 years at Methodist Hospital as a clinical dietitian and was part of the Stroke Rehab Team. I then moved to HealthPartners for 15 years as a clinical dietitian, seeing clients one-on-one at the Riverside and the West Health Partners Clinics until I retired.
What JFCS program are you involved with and what does it consist of?
I have had two volunteer roles at JFCS. As part of the Mental Health Education Conference planning committee, we meet monthly to determine the focus of the conference, choose a keynote speaker and plan for our annual conference. My second role was as volunteer coordinator for the day of the conference, which consisted of finding and communicating with 50-75 volunteers, making many lists of who, what, when and where for the day of, preparing volunteer packets, and overseeing that everyone was where they were supposed to be the day of the conference.
Volunteers consisted of conference attendees who signed up to help, MHEC committee members, JFCS staff, “friends of Laurie Kramer,” husbands of committee members, and of course my daughters, sister and cousins. Each member of the committee had many jobs. Some placed signs on all the rooms where workshops were held, registered each attendee, printed name tags, organized and distributed food for lunches, and directed traffic. Volunteers stocked water and snacks in a few different hallways so no one would go hungry. Room hosts and introducers were called on to introduce workshop presenters, and room hosts would be on hand to welcome attendees and get technical help when needed. A volunteer made sure the keynote speaker had food and beverages and guided them throughout the day.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, JFCS manages the hard part of volunteer planning – securing, and communicating with the volunteers. I have continued to participate in the conference planning meetings and distribute volunteer assignments and nametags the morning of the conference.
What motivated you to begin volunteering with JFCS and how long have you been volunteering with JFCS?
My insufficient knowledge about mental health is what motivated me to get involved in this area. I knew nothing about what I should be doing to best support my daughter. My daughter, Sam, was given a mental health diagnosis, and Jill Marks and Laurie Kramer at the time were interviewing people to assess what mental health services were needed in the community. Not too long after my interview, I was asked to serve on the committee.
The committee was made up of educators, therapists, social workers, representatives of Jewish organizations, mental health organizations, and also included friends, family and individuals living with mental health challenges. The committee, on which JFCS and Jewish Family Service of St. Paul (JFS) was represented, came up with keynote and workshop ideas to benefit the community, including a handbook of resources.
It was amazingly rewarding to be planning free educational workshops for a conference that the entire community could attend, and I was able to learn too! I have been volunteering for 22 years and counting.
What’s your favorite part about volunteering with JFCS and how has it impacted your life?
Serving on a committee with such an amazing group of volunteers has been my favorite part of volunteering. Each and every person has been instrumental in their own way in making the conference a success. Laurie Kramer founded the committee and was our fearless leader for the 19 years I was most active; others were avid readers and mental health resource users and came up with keynote and workshop ideas.
Laurie had the ability to pull people out of a hat for workshops and resources. The committee members were all full of great planning ideas. Some obtained and transported fruits and snacks at discount prices for the free lunch served at the conference. Others went to businesses to get donations and gift cards we could sell to buy things we needed for the conference. One member, when Temple Israel’s kitchen was not available to us, sent her husband to buy pitchers for water for all the tables and hallways. Every one of us distributed conference posters and flyers near and far throughout the Twin Cities. We even had a photographer on our committee. Each person has been an invaluable support to a specific part or parts of the conference and to each other. Our great conferences have always been a team endeavor.
Being on this committee has impacted my life greatly. Every keynote speaker has opened a door for me and has given me insight into their life by sharing what they have faced just being themselves. It has shown me that “normal” in my experience, cannot be defined. A goal is not to be normal by someone else’s standards, it is to live your best life. When I attend the conference, I see people looking around and knowing that everyone there cares about people with mental health challenges. Some are living with it, have family or friends with a mental health diagnosis, and/or are practitioners. As I see it, our conference guests look to the workshops, the community resource vendors, and to the keynoter to give them hope, ideas, counseling resources and (holistic/alternative) services to live their best lives.
Do you have any memorable stories about your JFCS volunteer experience to share?
After college, my daughter attended a conference with me. The keynote speaker was a 25-year-old woman, Meg Hutchinson, who traveled playing her guitar and doing paid gigs. She was great, but not famous. She told the story of her mental health journey. She talked about her mom encouraging her to swim or go for a walk so she would feel better when she was so depressed she could hardly function. Meg explained she was just too depressed to do any of it, and how badly it made her feel when she just could not.
Afterwards, my daughter, Sam, got emotional and said, “I didn’t realize other people felt this way.” It is so important that attendees hear there are others who feel just like they do, and that there can be better times ahead with therapy, medications and/or complementary medicine when needed. Ten years later, my daughter had an online vlog from Hawaii, in which she exercised online 100 days in a row! She also posted about her challenges due to mental health issues. Can you only imagine how I felt seeing how the conference speaker reached my own daughter, and possibly hundreds of others, making them feel supported by this conference that I had been part of planning?
One of the years I was volunteering with the conference, I attended a workshop on teen addiction, which discussed substances, but focused on cellphone and video game addiction. We had a great presenter from JFCS who encouraged the parents and the entire group to come up with and give potential solutions along with her own. The participants in this workshop had so many good ideas to share and all walked away smiling and talking about their plans.
What would you say to someone who’s thinking of volunteering with JFCS?
There is much to be gained by volunteering! It is a great way to use the skills you have to help others. Once you have done it, you look for more opportunities to get involved, because it makes you feel so good. You can’t help but make friends at any age. Volunteering has also helped me keep life in perspective.
Click here to learn about and register for this year’s Mental Health Education Conference taking place on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. The conference is free and open to all. Volunteers are needed for the day of the conference and are an integral part of making this conference special. Volunteers can accomplish tasks while also attending the conference. We invite you to sign up here.
Contact Tabitha Benci DeRango at 952-417-2107 or tderango@jfcsmpls.org with any questions.
For more information about JFCS Volunteer Services, click here or contact Dana Shapiro, Community and Volunteer Engagement Manager, at dshapiro@jfcsmpls.org.