Veteran Volunteer Offers Enduring Support
November 23, 2003
Over the years, Stella Ross has done everything from counselling, street outreach, hospital visits, sorting clothes, and helping in the kitchen, to buying prizes for bingo. These days she has a regular weekly cribbage game with a participant. But one of her most important jobs is to simply to be dependable and welcoming – someone
to talk to.
“If anyone wants to talk, I talk,” Stella says. “You develop a rapport with people. There are certain people who have been there a long time who will talk to me before they talk to a newer person. You have to earn their trust”.
Stella has worked to earn that trust for a long time, despite some of the challenges and frustrations.
“One thing I find frustrating is when people come in for a while and then disappear and you never know what happens to them,” she says.
“It’s challenging. There are not many success stories. But it’s like golf – you’re always trying for a hole in one.”
That sense of hope has helped her be a constant source of support at Centre 507. And in return, she has come away with many rewarding experiences. She remembers with particular fondness a wedding reception at the Centre.
“It’s a place where people can come and feel safe and know their problems are kept in confidence,” she says.
“We don’t try and make them over. It’s more important to support them and give them all the help you can”.
Before coming to Centre 507, Stella volunteered for 14 years at the Ottawa Distress Centre. She ended up at Centre 507 after stopping by a youth centre to see if they needed any help. They referred her up the street to Centre 507, which badly needed volunteer help. It was a good fit for both Stella and the Centre.
“She’s a valuable asset to the Centre,” says Tracy Davidson, the manager of Centre 507. “We are blessed to have such a wonderful volunteer”.