HandsOn South Ala. awarded for excellence

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - HandsOn South Alabama received the prestigious 2012 George W. Romney Excellence Award.

The award was established in 1996 to honor Former Michigan Governor Romney and his personal commitment to volunteer service at all levels of society. Romney served as Governor from 1963-1969.

HandsOn South Alabama received the award for its dedication to building innovative programming to solve community problems across South Alabama. The Volunteer Guardianship Program was highlighted for its example of oustanding volunteer leadership to address emerging issues in the community.

HandsOn South Alabama in partnership with the Mobile County Probate Court, the South Alabama Volunteer Lawyers Program and the Department of Human Resources and other community organizations have worked to develop a program that trains volunteers to serve as legal guardians for incapacitated individuals with no family or friends who can serve in that role.  

“This program is the only one of its kind in the State of Alabama and we hope that we will be able through our affiliate network be able to bring this program to scale.  The need for this type of service is dire and growing as our population becomes more aged.  I am inspired by the compassion and enthusiasm the volunteers demonstrate and I am confident that we will find a way to expand the project into other areas because of their successes” said Diana Brinson, Executive Director of HandsOn South Alabama.

The Selection Committee also noted HandsOn South Alabama's success in securing funding and support during these challenging economic times. Funding included a $100,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Southwest Alabama and the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors to expand volunteer mobilization into Baldwin County to assist the victims ofthe Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.

HandsOn South Alabama, with the support of the IRS, continues to successfully expand the number of individuals and families served by the Volunteer Income Tax  Assistance Program. This program is critical to low and middle income taxpayers and this work is responsible for returning over $600,000 back into our community.  

“We find that, like the Volunteer Guardian Program, VITA provides volunteers with immediate gratification because they are able to see first hand their impact on the community.  We hope to continue to expand the number of individuals trained to work in this program because during uncertain economic times these refunds serve as a lifeline to many workers and their families” said Brinson.

Finally, HandsOn South Alabama successfully established an Endowment Fund for the organization to begin to build a source of funding to support their mission and help them continue to mobilize volunteers to meet the needs of their community forever.  Brinson was quick to thank her Board of Directors for their vision and support.  

“We never want to say we can’t respond to the needs of our community, however the reality is that funding priorities change and economic downturns happen.  Our work is central to any effort to solve the problems in our community.  I usually liken it to the BASF commercial in that we don’t feed the hungry but our volunteers are collecting, packing and serving food every day; we don’t house the homeless but our volunteers are rebuilding and repairing homes across South Alabama; we are here to make the nonprofit sector stronger and I am so excited to share this award with our volunteers and community partners.  I hope that it will inspire them to continue to be engaged in our community so that together we can make it a better place.”  

For more information about HandsOn South Alabama and how you can volunteer in your community you can visit their website at www.handsonsal.org or call 251-433-4456.