Making A Difference In Your Community : A Place to Use Detective and Listening Skills

To Jerome Nilssen, the best volunteers are part compassionate listener and part detective.

“The best kind of volunteer is the one that knows how to listen and doesn’t make assumptions about what people need,” said Nilssen, the area director for Lutheran Social Services in the San Fernando Valley. “But, No. 2, they need to be the kind of person who is willing to do some detective work and won’t settle on the obvious solutions.”

Volunteers for Lutheran Social Services, which runs an aid center out of a Lutheran church in Van Nuys, can count on working with people. Nilssen needs volunteers to help with initial client interviews of the poor and the homeless looking for help.

For example, Nilssen said, the obvious answer to someone who says he needs food and can’t pay the rent may seem to be to get a job, “But we need to be willing to ask questions that get closer to the heart of the matter.”

Perhaps, with some digging the volunteer will find out what the real trouble, and the real need is, he said.

Lutheran Social Services serves about 35,000 people a year. But because of the Northridge earthquake, that number has already hit 30,000. The agency provides food, clothing, housing vouchers, transitional housing, counseling, employment assistance and referrals to other agencies.

“A good volunteer cares about the clients but doesn’t have a need to do everything for the client,” Nilssen said.

The group gets no help from welfare programs and those who are meeting the community service requirements of a court sentence, but other volunteers can apply.

“We can always use volunteers,” Nilssen said.

Lutheran Social Services is located at St. Andrews Lutheran Church, 15520 Sherman Way, Van Nuys. To reach Nilssen call (818) 785-2114.

The Burbank Civic Light Opera needs volunteer backstage assistance as stage crew members, curtain attendant and other jobs for the Sept. 8, 9, and 10 evening performances of “The Pirates of Penzance” at Starlight Bowl. The work would also include technical and dress rehearsals preceding the show. For more information call (818) 380-3444.

The Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) is looking for volunteers 55 years or older to form an “Emergency Preparedness Corps” so they can help their neighbors during a disaster. Training will be given on the latest in earthquake, fire and flood preparedness. The seniors will then pass on that training to their neighbors. The training includes a basic session of three hours. More training is available if desired. For more information call (818) 908-5070.

Los Angeles Shanti, an organization that helps those with AIDS, is looking for volunteers in the San Fernando Valley to help with community outreach and educational programs. The group also is starting a new five-week program that encourages safe sex by discussing in group sessions why unsafe practices are still going on. Volunteers would also help with seminars, workshops and support groups. L.A. Shanti provides all training. For more information call (213) 962-8197 or (818) 908-8849 from the Valley.

The Ark Trust, a nonprofit animal protection organization in Sherman Oaks that works on a wide range of animal-rights issues, is looking for volunteers to handle general office work, filing, mailings, data entry. However, none of the work involves direct contact with animals, but rather help with advocacy on animal-related issues. For more information contact Kirsten Rosenberg at (818) 786-9990.

Forester Haven, a nursing facility for 110 senior-citizen residents in Lopez Canyon, is looking for volunteers to help with activities such as calling bingo, going for walks with residents or teaching music or hobbies to residents. For more information contact the activities director, Dorothy Supri, at (818) 899-7422.

Getting Involved is a weekly listing of volunteering opportunities. Please address prospective listings to Getting Involved, Los Angeles Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth, 91311. Or fax them to (818) 772-3338.