Our Volunteers

Elders in Action is powered by the wisdom and talent of our volunteers. People of all backgrounds and experience share their unique skills to improve the lives of others. Enjoy some of their stories on this page.

2011 Volunteers of the Year
(left-right ) Augusta Hayter, Terri Thorson, Alain Bally, John Watson, Executive Director Vicki Hersen

Elders in Action 2011 Volunteers of the Year

The staff at Elders in Action would like to give a boatload of thanks to our wonderful volunteers

Augusta Hayter
Bob Nelson Award for Volunteer Service
Some of you may remember the old movie saying Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters. At Elders in Action, when we want to seek a person with expertise and enthusiasm we call on our Augusta Hayter.
This individual has been involved in all areas of our agency since 2005 and has more energy than the energizer bunny! In 2005 she worked with our Personal Advocate volunteer who was stationed at her apartment complex and continues to advocate for the right's of her fellow tenants and is the go to person for solutions and connections. For the past six years she has been a very active Commission member and served as the Commission Chair this past year. She meets with our state legislators and has hosted coffees in her building for Rep. Ben Cannon and Senator Jeff Merkely. She is a powerful voice for older adults in Salem, Portland and Multnomah County. She understands the issues and can effectively communicate with public officials, partner agencies, and her peers.
Our awardee served as the Elders in Action representative on the Police Chief's Forum and in 2007 received an Award from Portland Police Chief Rosie Sizer honoring her work in promoting the community policing effort in a distinctive way.
Augusta always makes herself available to meet with our City and County Commissioners and to provide advice to Multnomah County Aging and Disability Services in numerous venues. She is always available to educate her peers on the important issues and effectively represents the SE Senior Advisory Committee of Impact NW.
Our 2011 Awardee is active on our Speakers Bureau and has shared our information at many speaking and tabling events these past years. She has provided Elder Friendly evaluations of city and county services and provides her positive input to make our community a better place.
She always participates in our Special Events and is a dedicated cheerleader for our agency. She lives our mission of ensuring a vibrant community through the active involvement of older adults. It is a distinct pleasure to honor Augusta Hayter with the 2011 Bob Nelson Award for Volunteer Service.

Portland Nursery
Elder Friendly Business® of the Year
Since 1998 Portland Nursery has been an Elder Friendly® Certified Business and they continue to be committed to providing the best service to not only their older customers, but their community. For the past 7 years Portland Nursery has been hosting Elder Day at Apple Tasting on Stark and Senior Gardening Day on Division bringing in people from throughout the Portland area for a couple of days in the garden complete with music, food and activities. This year Portland Nursery donated plants and vegetables to Bob's Garden, contributing to the success of this important community project which went on to win the best community garden in 2011 by Willamette Week. Portland Nursery also participated in a video sharing the ways that they are Elder Friendly. Sara Denney described their printed materials, wide aisles and display tables as examples of Elder Friendly practices. But the stand out quality of Portland Nursery is the wonderful team that works there. They are a shining example of what it means to be Elder Friendly.

Terri Thorson
Personal Advocate Volunteer of the Year
The age old adage is you can't keep a good advocate down and Terri Thorson really is an example of that. Terri became an Elders in Action volunteer in 2000 and was very active for several years when she had to take a brief break to help care give for a family member. She is always willing to take on assignments to help clients and to assist other advocates in dealing with the various obstacles in the court system as well as provide her mobile notary services to those in need. Terri is one of the few personal advocates that specialize in restraining orders for older adults which is a huge need for our organization and the individuals in which we serve. Terri's experience in the courtroom has been invaluable to our clients and she has been successful on a variety of cases. Since becoming a volunteer in 2000 Terri has assisted over 150 clients in need. She's a straight-forward, no-nonsense, caring, intelligent woman that gets the job done with honest finesse.

John Watson
Community Outreach of the Year
Back in 2008 our Community Outreach Volunteer of the Year put on his application to Elders in Action that it was in his blood to volunteer. Since then, John Watson has proved that statement to be true. John started out working on various fund raisers such as Timeless Treasures and other various events. John really hit his stride when he joined our Speaker's Bureau in 2009. Over the last two year period, John has done eighteen speaking engagements which covered the gamut from Portland Sunday Parkways to Glendoveer Garden Club to the Sherwood YMCA. John has approached every assignment with great enthusiasm and always with an open mind and heart. John has recently retired from a long career in real estate, most recently as a reverse mortgage specialist with Wells Fargo. We look forward to John having more time on his hands so he can continue to help spread the word about Elders in Action's unique services.

Alain Bally
Elder Friendly Evaluator of the Year
Alain began volunteering with Elders in Action in 2008 after he had recently relocated to the Portland area from Los Angeles, CA. He first began volunteering in the Personal Advocate program but then quickly became engaged in many other areas of the organization. He participated in the Community Safety Advocate Program as a Personal Advocate volunteer where he volunteered his time at the Parkrose and SW Community Center locations assisting the Portland Police Bureau better connect with the community. After that Community Safety Advocate program ended, Alain wanted to do more for Elders in Action and get more involved. He participated in a variety of outreach events around the Digital TV conversion in 2009 – assisting clients in need by helping with our 4 phone banks and doing community outreach events to inform the public of the upcoming conversion. Alain quickly became engaged in our Speakers Bureau where he enjoys helping with tabling events and sharing information about Elders in Action to the general public. In 2009, Alain became eligible to be an Elder Friendly Evaluator. Since then he has evaluated over 60 business locations or websites. He brings a wealth of information and wisdom to the program by providing honest feedback to the businesses on where they can make improvements and how they can better serve the older customer. Alain has a great sense of humor and is an articulate writer; his evaluations are a pleasure to review.
We are pleased to honor Alain as our Elder Friendly Evaluator of the Year. He has dedicated over 550 hours of volunteer service with not only Elders in Action programs, but with our community partners Ride Connection, Hands on Greater Portland and AARP. He truly is an Elder in Action and a career volunteer! <

Claudia Robertson
Commission Advocate of the Year
Our Commission Advocate of the Year has been part of the Elder's in Action Commission since before we were even called Elders in Action. She is considered our resident transit expert due to her years of transportation advocacy on behalf of seniors and people with disabilities. As a member of the Commission's leadership team she has helped focus and lead our advocacy efforts with TriMet on a range of issues from MAX ramp safety to fare increases. On top of all this she is a joy to work with, and the only person I know who still regularly uses a fax machine.

2011 Commissioner of Year
Claudia Robertson (l) with Tara Krugel Civic Involvement Coordinator

Other Volunteers' Stories