Zooming with the Aces 38 – Jobs Without Paychecks, May 15, 2025

Zoomers, May 15, 2025

Participants  Row 1: Marilyn Tompkins Bellert, Fred Elder, Lee Ayres. Row 2: Tom Tatlock, Dan Tontz, Glenna Stearman Park. Row Three: Diane Rusch Zinn, Jane Thompson Olson, David Robinson. Row Four; Calvin Ross.

Topic:  Jobs Without Paychecks 

Volunteers, home-makers, homeless and mental health advocates, care-givers, and community builders talked about their experiences in working without financial compensation.  Some of these activities turned into paying jobs and new careers, paid or unpaid, during retirement. Despite frustrations and challenges, most of us found satisfaction and learned a great deal from our unpaid jobs. Tom Tatlock acted as our moderator. 

Marilyn Tompkins Bellert, Sycamore IL As a stay-at-home mom, I supported children’s activities as a Room Mother, Picture Lady, Scout leader, and tutor. At the same time, I worked actively for the League of Women Voters in three states where I lived, specializing in environmental issues and then education. When five of seven seats on a local high school board were open, I ran and was elected, launching a 20-year career in school policy-making and governance at local, state, and national levels. This was very challenging, unpaid work, but I learned an enormous amount and really enjoyed working with educators, parents, experts, professors, and bureaucrats. The most thankless job of all was serving on the Illinois State Board of Education, six years on a state-wide hot seat.  The most exciting was the National Assessment Governing Board, where I spent four years on the gold standard of long-term tracking of student performance, the Nation’s Report Card. The most gratifying was 12 years on the board of the wonderful Glenbrook High Schools, where my children got an education as good or better than I did at East High School.

Since I retired, I have enjoyed serving on the board of directors of Jane Adeny Memorial School for Girls (JAMS), a high school for orphans and other girls living in poverty in rural western Kenya. These bright girls come from tribal villages where they grew up in huts made from sticks and dung, from forest tribes, and from small towns. Saved from being sold off at 13 or 14 for a bride price that will support their families, they become ambitious at JAMS and 100% of them graduate. Almost 90% go on to universities and technical colleges, becoming teachers, nurses, scientists, IT specialists, data analysts, graphics artists, political scientists, and entrepreneurs. Our board raises funding to support the school, providing full scholarships for more than 100 girls each year,  payroll for teachers and staff, construction and maintenance of buildings, computers and books, a 24/7/365 solar-powered electrical system, bio-fuel from animal waste, clean water, and entrepreneurial activities in agriculture, baking, tailoring, and soon, construction trades. This has been an inspiring experience for me, changing the world one girl at a time. 

Lee Ayres, Fresno, CA  I’ve been in public service most of my life. Three of my volunteer efforts were truly the most difficult – Tree Fresno, Stewards, Inc., and the Board of Sessions of the Presbyterian Church of Sunnyvale. I learned that the scale of the organization matters, especially for financial reasons, as so many are on a shoestring budget. Those are not much fun, even though your heart is in it. Governing boards often have differences of opinions, too. I invested a lot of time helping those boards to come up with vision that could bring them together.

Tree Fresno was a primary responsibility.  Starting as a volunteer, I ultimately served on the board and then was in a paid position. I learned a lot about plant selection and care. Geography matters, species matter proper water and feeding matter.

With Stewards, Inc. I helped persons on SSI – Supplemental Security Income from the Social Security Administration that supports disabled and elderly persons with low incomes and few resources. I learned to help them manage their money, about $500 a month from SSI at the time.  Many of these people were homeless and had no financial discipline. We doled out the money for them. When individuals’ aspirations are ignited, they would start taking responsibility for themselves and others. That might be as simple as showing up sober for a birthday party, or showering and shaving, or going to the store. Those aspirations can be built into counseling, but discipline is necessary to get it together. It’s nonsense to think that homeless people become self-sufficient, but not to think that they can become more functional. That was a profound revelation to me, and I didn’t figure it out until I was about 60.

I also served on the Session of the Presbyterian Church in Sunnyvale. Like the other two organizations, this one suffered from a lack of vision and strategies to achieve the vision. This is a common problem for non-profits as well as for government projects.

I learned a great deal from these experiences and have tried to share the lessons with my children and grandchildren.

Glenna Stearman Park , reporting from Berryton, RI  I worked for my dad for free until I pitched a New York fit and wanted to make money. My mom arranged for me to work at a laundromat, washing clothes. I was fired during the first week. I couldn’t stand to touch the clothes, so I stirred them with two sticks. Once they were “clean,” I carried them to the dryer. I did do a good job ironing men’s shirts, but when I wouldn’t give up the sticks, I got fired. My first non-paying job was in San Antonio, working with AIDS patients. My work as an artist intersected with political activism from early on.

More recently, I worked as a live-in grandmother for five years.  I cared for my son and his seven children, who ranged in age from 2 to 20. I often cooked dinner for 10, since their friends came along. I had a wonderful time getting to know them all. It was more fun to care for grandkids, since they were not my permanent responsibility, and I could go home. Joel and I missed a good bet when we did not buy stock in Southwest Airlines, because we flew in and out of Rhode island twice a month. Right now, I am working just for myself, doing things that are important to me.

Dan Tontz, Dallas TX Dan proudly introduced his labradoodle Jim.  My daughter Amy and I spent seven years looking after an 87-year old aunt. At a family Thanksgiving that year, we discovered that she couldn’t take care of herself or live independently. She couldn’t walk and was taking no medications. We found that she had nine medical issues, which eventually involved a lot of doctors. She could no longer manage her daily life. Amy was her beneficiary. She was able to secure Power of Attorney and took over handling her aunt’s life. It was quite a shock. I stepped up and helped Amy out by managing my aunt’s investments, tracking her finances, organizing all her files, and managing car issues.  She had $30,000 in a savings account she had forgotten about and other resources turned up as well.  I had to make sure she didn’t outlive her money. We learned that she was wanted by the police because she had left the scene of an accident.  We had to pay to retrieve her car and then sold it. I worked full time going through the stuff in her house, trying to find the parts of her estate and doing her tax returns. This was very labor intensive for both Amy and me.

Late in life, my aunt was diagnosed with scoliosis, which she had had for years. As a result she he couldn’t operate her wheel chair. We did place her in assisted living and visited often. She was in and out. Even when she acted like she understood, she usually did not. It was very sad to see someone decline like that. This was a labor of love for Amy and me for all those years. She died last October. 

Diane Zinn, Lawrence KS I’m impressed by the depth of your volunteer commitments.  I may be the lone, long-term, stay-at-home mom in this group. When Dick started practicing law in 1967, I quit my job and became a full-time mom and homemaker. With four children, that was a full-time job. I managed everything in our lives except insurance and investments. Occasionally, I checked on what I might be paid for all the work I did as a homemaker. That gave me a sense of what my work was worth. I loved doing it. I volunteered extensively from the time my oldest child Lauri started Kindergarten. I have volunteered in school-oriented activities, church, community, and in a state organization for six years. I still volunteer today. The volunteer work has kept me extremely busy. My organizational abilities were a huge help and I learned to work with a variety of people from homeless to highly educated.

David Robinson, Wichita KS  I had a nice walk with a lady at Great Plains Nature Center.  I learned from her that volunteer services at the Robert Dole Veterans Hospital in Wichita may be eliminated due to federal financial cuts.  Robert Dole VA has been recognized as one of the finest VA hospitals in the country and its extensive volunteer services are essential to its success. The work done by the volunteers will be dumped onto regular employees who are already overworked from short-staffing. This is yet another story of how important volunteers are to our society. My own primary volunteer service is at the Frank Lloyd Wright Allen House where I conduct tours and help with other responsibilities. I enjoy meeting the people who come to see the house.  Just this year, we’ve had visitors from forty-one states and seven countries. This “job” makes me happy.

David announced earlier that the Orpheum Theatre is closed for renovations. The seats are up for sale if anyone is interested in a relic of their childhood or “make-out” sessions.

Jane Thompson Olson For a mom, when your children start to school, your volunteer life begins.  I did scouts, school carnivals, and all sorts of other kids’ activities. My most profound volunteer experience was as a  guardian ad litem, advocating for children who have been taken away from their parents. Extensive training was an essential part of the service. I met with families and children in their homes and with anybody else who was responsibly involved with the children, including teachers and doctors.  I started with four children in two foster care homes. One family was smoking pot so much that they forgot they had kids. Seeing how other people choose to live was a real eye-opener. I have always said to friends, if you want to see what your community is like, go to a session of family court. It’s amazing to see families’ experiences and issues.

Working through Catholic Charities, I also went on trips and got involved with senior citizens. This was so meaningful. I was their lifeline to what was going on in the outside world. I drove them for errands and appointments and did vouchers for mediations. I knew them so well that I went to their homes to visit. Currently, I volunteer at my church and lecture at mass on Sundays.

Skip Granger, Sun Valley AZ  My volunteer activities have included responsibilities for communications with friends, a business network, mental health advocacy and support for troubled young people. I’ve served as editor of the NU News for my Sigma Nu fraternity chapter at KU. I include news about KU and about our fraternity brothers, plus jokes that I enjoy finding. Our readership of 400 is now 189 because of Covid and age. I’m not sure how long I will continue this; my son Trey has helped me with the technology, and he is moving to North Carolina. I also served on the California Wine Board for fourteen years, a fun experience where I met a lot of people, learned a lot about wine and the wine business, and tasted many great wines. 

Providing support for Lifehouse of Marin County taught me about people with developmental disabilities, especially troubled young people. Starry Night Winery provided wines for fund-raisers for Lifehouse and other agencies. One of our neighbors, Huey Lewis, was a star at the Lifehouse fund-raisers, but he had the biggest impact by singing with the teenagers. He knew all their’ names and called them to sing with him, which they loved. Those personal relationships did so much good! For many years, I also served on the board for CIP, the Community Institute for Psychology in Marin County.  This agency delivers counselling and psychotherapy to individuals, families, and couples. Serving on the board that generated funding and oversaw CIP gave me many opportunities to help needy people in our community.

Calvin Ross   A little over 25 years ago, I was asked to serve as chairman of the board for an organization that was just getting started: an interfaith hospitality network. The mission was to provide for homeless families. This was part of a national movement started by a woman in New York. On  Sundays, she and her sons went to New York City to take sandwiches to families living on the sidewalks. Her idea was to help these families find a place to live. Knowing that churches, synagogues and mosques are empty during the week, she put the two together. Our network in the Tri-Cities area was the 75th to join the national organization.

We hired staff members who accepted 3-5 families into the mission at the beginning. The emphasis was on families with children. The YMCA and Salvation Army accepted homeless people, but they housed women in one place and men in another, breaking up families. We keep families together. Each family stays in the ministry for five to six months. The way this works, each of 15 churches hosts families for a week. The churches arrange spaces for bedrooms, provide evening meals and breakfast, plus sack lunches. Some of the churches had showers, but we also had a day facility for showers and laundry. Each weekend about 50 volunteers work to move the families and their belongings, usually just clothing, to the next facility. In addition to housing, we connected them with other resources such as counseling, parenting advisors, healthcare, and employment help as well as food and shelter. This ministry has been going since 2000. There have been some changes, but that’s the core. What I liked was that it provided an opportunity for the families to stay together, keeping families intact. It also provided an opportunity for volunteers to give hands-on help. We learned a lot about what it takes to help families that are down and out. We helped to meet the needs of homeless families in many ways. 

Tom Tatlock, Appleton WI  My volunteer interests have centered around mental health, brain injuries, and church. My church activities included six years of addressing church and clergy ethics and problems in congregations. I’ve given talks on brain injuries since 2010 in Washington DC and other places across the country. I’ve also worked extensively with organizations that serve the homeless and address the issue of brain injury in this population. In our study about 12% of homeless people suffered from brain injuries.  At some point, at least 53% had lost consciousness and 75% had periods of being confused. Many were also victims of domestic violence and had substance abuse issues.  Memory problems also were prevalent. The staff of agencies serving the homeless appreciated screening for these problems because it helped them understand the circumstances of those they were trying to help.  No screening for brain injuries was being done prior to this study and the diagnostic tool I helped develop. Staff morale rose as they learned to understand their patients and help them better.

My mantra for this care is passion, preparedness, and patience. You need to have a passion, need to be prepared, and need patience to create organizations that have not been imagined. The process exposes people who have not struggled to the realization that these are human beings, not freeloaders or slackers. We have used the process to train hundreds of volunteers in Appleton.

Comments Back and Forth

Lee – I’m taken with the range of services here, and how they have helped people who needed help. I’m also interested in Diane and Marilyn’s comments on the leadership women provided for communities, starting with our mothers in the 40’s and 50’s, and including many women in our generation.  We understood that parents could be great community leaders. On reflection, we lost a lot when so many women shifted to working paid jobs.

Marilyn – Retirement offers opportunities for community leadership. to many of us. There is more and more evidence that “seniors” are contributing significant amounts of unpaid services needed by individuals and organizations. Let’s watch the Baby Boomers get into public service.

Glenna – Interesting how much of the work some of us have done required intricate planning. I did whatever landed in my lap.

Tom – I didn’t plan any of this. 

Lee – Everything that I did was pretty much by default.

Calvin – Me, too. Someone came along and asked. Or, someone had to invent a solution and I just happened to be there.

Jane – I’m now thinking that baby-sitting was volunteer work. I got paid 35 to 50 cents an hour.

Calvin – I’m very impressed with everyone’s stories of how we have invested ourselves for the benefit of others. Reflecting on my own involvement, I’m no longer officially on any board. My circle of influence has narrowed to extended family and friends. It is a challenge to find ways to walk along side our friends. How can we be meaningfully supportive without being intrusive? 

David – This past Mother’s Day, I spent time looking at pictures of my beautiful mother, telling her how much I loved her and how she cared for her five demons sons. Talk about unpaid workers. Mothers are the blessings of the world.

Dan – It’s been fun today to hear about the variety of impressive work we have done.

Diane – Over the last couple of years when we looked for topics for website stories, we should have picked up this one!

Marilyn – Thanks to Tom for moderating today. That’s it from your volunteers in the 24/7/365 digital sweatshop that is the Class of 1960 Virtual Reunion.

Zooming with the Aces returns on Thursday, June 19 at 2 p.m. Wichita time. See you then!

More Stories about Unpaid Work by Our Classmates

• Barb Hammond,  “Saving the Little House“ and “Saving the Fresh Air Baby Camp“
• Janice Bailey, “600 Quilts Donated Per Year“
• Perry Ann Porter, “Here and Meow“
• Calvin Ross shared this Wall Street Journal article: Americans in Their 80s and 90s Are Redefining Old Age . “Dementia rates are down, recovery rates are up. Many are thriving mentally and physically deep into their later years.”