In celebration of National Volunteer Week in 2023 (April 16-22), Program Enrichment Awards
recognized several volunteers who made noteworthy contributions to their programs in 2022. A
selection committee chose the following volunteers to be recognized and awarded $900 in
funding for their programs.
Charles Bailey: Community Services Department – Area Agency on Aging (AAA) Charles
has been volunteering for the Medicare counseling program on a weekly basis for seven years
with the Boulder County Area Agency on Aging. He commits to regular weekly counseling
sessions with older adults and attends the required State Health Insurance Assistance Program
(SHIP) trainings each year. Charles’s role as a Medicare counselor involves helping people
understand their options for Medicare coverage, enroll into the coverage of their choice, and
navigate the sometimes-long appeal process when Medicare benefits have been denied.
Kady Haisley: District Attorney’s Office – Center for Prevention and Restorative Justice.
Kady has been volunteering as a restorative justice facilitator as a community member, trainer,
and trusted co-facilitator for new facilitators since 2019 with the District Attorney’s Office. She
has been a huge part of building the volunteer program through her feedback, support, and
consistent presence in the work that supports meaningful accountability and repair of harm after
a crime has occurred. Kady helps responsible parties understand the impact of their actions on
the greater community and supports victims to get their needs met and voices heard through this
process by guiding the parties in creating an agreement for steps the offender will take to repair
harm.
Susan McEachern: Parks and Open Space – Naturalist Program. Susan began volunteering
in 2022 after completing a 10-week training to become a volunteer naturalist. In her role, she
shares natural history of Boulder County with people of all ages on behalf of Boulder County
Parks and Open Space by leading themed hikes, educational talks, and interactive programs
relating to parks and open space lands. Susan has led various hikes and activities for older adults,
educational programs for school-aged children, and has been instrumental in providing feedback
on the evolving process implemented to improve programming and volunteer satisfaction of the
department’s volunteer corps.
Steve Patterson: Parks & Open Space Department –Ranger Corps. Steve has been
volunteering with the Volunteer Ranger Corps since 2008, spending time on the trails collecting
field data and providing park visitors with information about a park’s natural and cultural
history, current resource management issues, local recreation information, and rules and
regulations. He also trains, leads, and assists staff with community education and outreach as a
volunteer ranger. Together with his horse, Steve answers questions about horses and discusses
cowboys historically at the Walker Ranch Homestead during Heritage Day programs. He was
also a part of the first class of Bark Rangers, hitting the trails with his dog after completing
training in 2018 to teach other dog owners about dog etiquette and safety on the trails.
Thomas ‘Tom’ Thorpe: Sheriff’s Office – Restorative Justice Program. Tom has served as a
volunteer community group conference facilitator with the Restorative Justice Program with the
Sheriff’s Office since 2015, a program that accepts referrals from law enforcement personnel
who identify responsible parties who have committed crimes and are willing to take
responsibility for actions to divert out of the criminal justice system. Tom teams up with a co-
facilitator to meet with involved parties, preparing them to identify harms caused, how harms
may be repaired, and how the responsible party will accept responsibility for their actions. Tom
successfully co-facilitates group conference and assists the group in establishing reasonable and
understandable contract items and is committed to restoring harms to victims by giving them a
voice to reduce recidivism.
For more information about Boulder County’s Volunteer program, please visit
www.BoulderCountyVolunteers.org. Boulder County government has a range of one-time and
ongoing volunteer opportunities.