Each month, metromode's Regional Activation Zone features people whose volunteer efforts make this better place to live and work. This month: Joan Gehrke.
Who: Joan Gehrke, special projects manager for Jim Nicholson, the CEO of
PVS Chemicals in Detroit, an international supplier of sulfur-based products.
Volunteer history: Numerous civic groups, including United Way for
United Way for Southeastern Michigan, St. John Hospital, the Detroit Historical Museum and the Detroit Science Center tap Gehrke for leadership posts because of her proven ability to raise money for civic and social causes.
Gehrke won a "Heart of Gold Award" from United Way in the mid-1990s for raising $500,000 to help revive the Detroit Science Center. Around the same time she began serving on United Way’s board. Philanthropy is a 30-year commitment of Gehrke's, mentored by her late father-in-law, one of the founders of New Detroit, Inc., and the chair of the Detroit Regional Chamber.
She is also the recipient of the "Distinguished Volunteers" at St. John Hospital helping it raise $26 million of an anticipated $30 million for its foundation. "I keep finding causes I can put my arms around," she says.
The organization: Gehrke chairs the steering committee for 2-1-1, the 24-hour help line that over 100,000 callers used last year to get help or give help from 6,000 heath and human service resources in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. "What is exciting is the potential of 211 for real-time monitoring of social issues," Gehrke says. "Every single call that comes in is an opportunity to come closer to identifying the root causes of community ills. The top requests are for utility and rent assistance from people who don't know where their next dollar will come from."
How what she does makes a difference: Helping raise funds for 2-1-1 is critical to Gehkre because it is a lifeline, helping quell the frustration in those in the direst need for help. "People can get caught into a telephone voice mail loop. They call six different places and never talk to a human being. I'm so pleased that 2-1-1 has human operators who are specially trained in listening and making referrals. Many of them are multilingual. These are some of the most dedicated people I've met. The challenge now is raising awareness because we don't have a huge advertising budget."
On her volunteer accomplishments: "People praise my ability to raise money? Trust me, I don't do it by myself, I work with a lot of great people who know what they are doing. I've learned that people give generously because of who asks them to give. My role is to identify peers who can ask others to donate. It is kind of the art of the heart. The real heroes are the people who do incredible things every single day, those that put food on the tables at the soup kitchens, make sure the homeless have clothing and hold the hands of the ill people."
Background: Gehrke laughs good naturedly that her name gets misspelled as gerke, gerkey, gaurke, or gherkin as in the pickle. Yet she prefers it to the generic maiden name, Smith. She grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, met her husband in Washington, D.C. and came to Detroit in 1973. Her father-in-law had a passion for healing race relations and other civic causes, which inspired her to volunteer time even while she and her husband, William, raised their three children. William is a retired partner in an accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers. She loves tennis and Tai Chi, while he fancies golf. Together they love cooking gourmet meals at home.
How others can get involved: Contact the
United Way for Southeastern Michigan to donate to the 2-1-1 effort. The 2-1-1 line takes calls from those who want to volunteer for various agencies. The need is great in all three counties, as poverty has risen 60 percent in Macomb County, 20 percent in Oakland and 35 percent in Wayne. Each step made helps improve the condition of the community helps make southeast Michigan a better, more compassionate place to live.
What is the Regional Activation Zone? A place to Get inspired. Get informed. Get connected. Read about it here.
Photographs © Dave Krieger
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