Shirley Sadowski of Seniors’ Resource Center (SRC) received a Special Recognition award from Denver Regional Mobility & Access Council (DRMAC) at it’s annual awards breakfast on October 1, 2015. The award recognized her “exemplary accomplishments, which advance DRMAC’s vision of mobility and access for all”.
Ms. Sadowski came up with a very innovative solution to a pressing problem – finding volunteer drivers for SRC’s volunteer driver program. In this program, volunteers use their personal vehicles to provide needed trips for older adults. This program covers multiple counties and has over 45 volunteers signed up to provide as many as 10 trips per day. It offers volunteers and clients flexibility, as volunteers can choose to help out on weekends and to travel beyond SRC boundaries.
Needing a new source of volunteer drivers, Ms. Sadowski reached out to the Vice President of Philanthropy for the Inter-Fraternity Council at CU Boulder. Through this connection, she will be putting together a pool of college students to provide stipend reimbursed trips for Broomfield residents. This new, intergenerational model shows great promise, with volunteers available five days per week and rotating through the participating fraternities and sororities at CU. The Inter-fraternity Council will even provide gas money up front, if the student needs it, and then deduct it from any stipend earned. Trips will focus on inter-regional medical trips from Broomfield into Boulder, but will expand, if needed.
SRC could not be more honored to have employees like Ms. Sadowski who show such dedication, creativity and leadership. The number of older adults in our communities is only increasing. The need for services is growing much faster than the current capacity. Because of her efforts, our region has a new model program to follow and, most immediately, more older adults in Broomfield with have the ability to age with dignity in their own homes.