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| Thomas Cox , Maine Attorneys Saving Homes |
| Watch a video of Thomas Cox |
| Visit Maine Attorneys Saving Homes' website |
| Contact Thomas Cox |
Maine Attorneys Saving Homes
Purpose Prize Winner 2012
The timing couldn’t have been better when Thomas Cox walked into the offices of Pine Tree Legal Assistance, a Maine nonprofit where he had periodically volunteered during his long career as a private practice lawyer for banks that specialized in debt collection and foreclosures.
Pine Tree was just about to launch a new organization called Maine Attorneys Saving Homes, to provide legal assistance for low-income homeowners facing foreclosure in the state. And Cox couldn’t have been a better fit. He had literally written the book on the subject.
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| Judy Cockerton , Treehouse Foundation |
| Watch a video of Judy Cockerton |
| Visit Treehouse Foundation's website |
| Contact Judy Cockerton |
Treehouse Foundation
Purpose Prize Winner 2012
A news story about a 5-month-old boy living in foster care who’d been kidnapped right out of his crib – never to be found – shook Judy Cockerton.
She thought about all the other kids in foster care, the ones no one hears about until something awful happens.
Soon after, Cockerton called a family meeting with her husband, son and daughter, then 18 and 12 years old, and together they talked about how they could help. Within months, in 1999, they became a foster family to two sisters, ages 5 months and 17 months. Eventually they adopted the younger girl.
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| Nancy Morgans-Ferguson , Shalom Free Clinic |
| Visit Shalom Free Clinic's website |
| Contact Nancy Morgans-Ferguson |
Shalom Free Clinic
Purpose Prize Fellow 2012
Nancy Morgans-Ferguson had recently retired from a 30-year career in pharmaceutical and medical sales when one day in 2005 a homeless woman knocked on the door of her church in Chico, Calif. The woman asked for a glass of water, but she needed much more: She had mental and physical issues, but she feared the emergency room.
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| Carlos LeGerrette and Linda LeGerrette , Cesar Chavez Service Clubs |
| Visit Cesar Chavez Service Clubs' website |
| Contact Carlos LeGerrette |
| Contact Linda LeGerrette |
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Cesar Chavez Service Clubs
Purpose Prize Fellow 2012
In 2000, when California created Cesar Chavez Day to honor the labor activist and founder of United Farm Workers of America, then-governor Gray Davis asked social policy advisers Carlos and Linda LeGerrette for ideas for activities. The San Diego natives had worked with Chavez for 12 years, beginning as idealistic college students in 1966.
Over 50 and Looking for a Job to Serve the Greater Good? You’re Not Alone
08/14/2012 - 12:33:13pm
Editor's note: This piece originally appeared on Idealist.org.
By Marci Alboher
- by: Marci Alboher | More >
Encores for Nonprofit Leaders?
06/26/2012 - 06:42:01am
What’s next for long-term nonprofit founders and leaders who have devoted their working lives to solving social problems? That’s the focus of a survey featured this week in the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
- by: Phyllis Segal | More >
7 Reasons Volunteering Can Lead to a Job
06/05/2012 - 07:21:22am
Some people start volunteering because they’re passionate about a cause. Michael Burke, a Baltimore chef, began volunteering because he got rheumatoid arthritis. That decision paved the way to his current paid job.
- by: Next Avenue | More >
Working Past 50 Can Bring More Satisfaction
01/20/2012 - 07:26:01am
If you’re over 50, chances are that continuing to work – and being truly engaged in what you do – will boost your well-being.
Researchers at the Sloan Center on Aging & Work at Boston College found that people 50 and older are more likely than younger adults to feel more deeply engaged in paid work, volunteering and education.
- by: Michele Melendez | More >
Approaching age 55, Cheryl Edmonds became eligible for retirement from Hewlett-Packard. She took the opportunity to explore other interests, including training Peace Corps volunteers in China. Then she learned of the Social Venture Partners Portland Encore Fellows program, which helps experienced corporate professionals transition to jobs at nonprofits. As an Encore Fellow, Edmonds now works as a volunteer coordinator at a Portland, Ore., nonprofit.
Looking for a second career? Civic Ventures offers Encore Fellowships in seven states. These fellowships, which carry a small stipend, give retirees the chance to use their skills during full-time or part-time commitments at nonprofits, and perhaps segue into an encore career with meaning.
