23 Apr April Volunteer Spotlight

Meet Betty and Don, two of our longtime volunteers. They’ve been involved with Inter-Faith since its time as a telephone hotline back in the 1980’s.

Their story together, and with Inter-Faith, began when they met at Grace Baptist Church in Blue Bell.

“We were single and very good friends. We were both very much involved with Inter-Faith. Then it just sort of evolved…we had our first date in January and he asked me to marry him at the end of February. We got engaged and went down to get our rings, but we had to get back to the church for Inter-Faith!” remembers Betty.

Betty and Don have been coordinators of Grace Baptist’s Network program for more than 20 years. In that time, they’ve weathered snowstorms and power outages during their host month, but nothing like the coronavirus. As ever, they remained calm, capable, and unflappable in a crisis. With their leadership, we were able to safely maintain our shelter through the month of March amid all of the turmoil.

We asked if they had advice for other Network coordinators and volunteers.

“We always make sure that when new people come into the program we spend the first night with them…to learn who they are, what they’re about, so we can get a feel for what’s going on,” Betty says. “[We] maintain that by coming in every few days…see what’s working, what isn’t.”
They credit their team of volunteers at Grace Baptist for the success of the program. “We are very fortunate,” Don says. “We have great coordinators for our meals, overnights, transportation and supplies. What a gift that is to have—people who know what they’re doing, why, where to go, who to talk to.  We are very blessed with our church and coordinators.”

At Inter-Faith, we are blessed, too, to have the support of volunteers and congregations like Don and Betty and Grace Baptist. Thank you all!