By JULIE BERTRAND
Stettler Independent
The new volunteer coordinator at the Stettler FCSS, Stephanie Hadley, has launched a volunteering program called “The Leadership Training Initiative” through the Stettler Adult Learning Council.
The program will put together a team of 12 seniors to work in the community to support various projects.
According to Hadley, the ideal candidate for the program would be somebody over 50, who may have recently retired or scaled back their work, with time on their hands.
The purpose of the program is to help to engage these people in the community, but also to allow them an opportunity to use some of those workplace skills that they’re no longer utilizing.
“We’ll provide them with several training sessions. Some of that will be computer training, some of it will be soft skills development, like conflict resolution and communication for development,” said Hadley.
Once the seniors have completed their training, which should be by mid- April, they will be available to any Stettler-area based non-profit organization that needs help in a specific area.
“For example, if the Heartland Youth Center needed someone to come and take a look at their programs and just give them some honest feedback about the strengths and weaknesses in their programming, then one of our team could go in and do that,” said Hadley.
The FCSS will host an information luncheon on Tuesday, Jan. 18 for anyone that has an interest and would like to come and learn more about it.
After next Tuesday, Hadley is hoping to have list of 12 people who signed up to the project.
Hadley says more volunteers could join on an ongoing basis after that.
The initial team of 12 should be willing to commit for a one-year term to ensure the continuity of the program while more volunteers could be recruited to consolidate the team throughout the year.
The program will be funded in part by the Government of Canada’s New Horizons for Seniors Program.