Opportunities From: Montgomery County Volunteer Center

*WHO WE ARE*

Widow Care's Mission

Widow Care’s mission is to provide targeted and accessible content & connections to DC,
Maryland and Virginia residents facing the loss of a spouse, so they can become empowered in their walk through grief and new challenges. We do so by providing peer support groups, social meet-ups, mentorship & education to help members regain stability after tragedy.

There are 680,204 widowed men and women living in DC, Maryland and Virginia. Furthermore, 1 in 3 people over the age of 65 are widowed. While widowhood is so incredibly widespread, few resources exist to aid surviving spouses in their transition into widowhood.

Widowed persons are at an increased risk of depression, social isolation and serious health problems, and we aim to combat this by creating a strong and supportive network comprised of understanding individuals. We encourage members to attend entertaining and enjoyable events, while also encouraging them to find a support system which allows them to speak about their challenges. Our educational programs & local service connections aim to make the transition into widowhood easier by offering pertinent services & education.

Widow Cares Vision

Our founders’ vision for the organization involves widow(er)s helping other widow(er)s. We walk with our members throughout their healing process by offering specialized care & support, and we enable them to "give back" by donating their time or funds to help other widowed persons in the community. We aim to offer the highest level of support by connecting individuals with a multitude of resources, not limited to our own events/programs. We strive to work with other nonprofits, support groups & organizations in our area to ensure ample support.

Widow Cares Core Values

Widow Care incorporates 4 main core values into all of our programs, operations & communications: Compassion, Care, Community & Empowerment.

POSITION DESCRIPTION

What is a Council Member?

Our Advisory Council includes a collection of individuals who bring unique knowledge and skills which augment the knowledge and skills of the formal Board of Directors in order to more effectively guide the organization. The Advisory Council does not have formal authority to govern the organization. Rather, the members serves to make recommendations and/or provide key information and materials to the Board of Directors.

Members of the Council may evaluate the performance of a program, serve as an advocate for the organization to the community, gather input from and serve as a liaison for relevant
constituencies, provide feedback to the organization from the community, provide technical
expertise, provide independent/unbiased sounding feedback, and assist staff in determining important activities.

The possible responsibilities of an advisory council include determining mission and purpose of a program, articulating the goals, means, and primary constituents to be served by a program, ensuring effective planning, monitoring and strengthening of programs and services, ensuring adequate financial resources, and enhancing the organization’s public standing.

Expectations

The council members are expected to participate in the 2 annual in-person Council meetings. The upcoming meeting dates are Saturday, September 21st, 2019 and Saturday, March 7th, 2020. Both meetings will last ~4 hours, taking place from 8:30am-12pm.

In addition to these meetings, Council members are welcomed & encouraged to take-on additional leadership roles by assisting the organization with tasks such as organizing attendees at events, peer-to-peer fundraising, sponsorship outreach or other tasks that are applicable and appropriate for the individualized skillset of that particular member.

The term limit for a council member is 1 year, with the chance to renew the position at the end of their tenure. Council members are required to give a 60-day notice if they will not be renewing their position at the end of their tenure. The term limit for the Chair and Vice Chair of the Council is 2 years.

Chairs and Vice Chairs are required to give a 90-day notice if they will not be renewing their position at the end of their tenure. Widow Care reserves the right to remove any Council member, Chair or Vice Chair at any time, for any reason, if we see fit.

Do you have experience in training volunteers? Are you a grief counselor? Widow Care is looking for an experienced grief sensitivity trainer to conduct volunteer training for those who will be working closely with widowed persons grieving. If interested, please contact Widow Care to discuss this opportunity further! To learn more about Widow Care, please visit www.widowcare.org Thank you for considering, The Widow Care Team Experience in grief counseling and/or volunteer training and management. To apply, email marissa@widowcare.org. 

Widow Care, a small Rockville non-profit, provides widows and widowers of all ages with support, resources and social networking opportunities. We are seeking enthusiastic, new board members to generate ideas and work alongside us to devise strategies.

Our Board meetings are held in-person every other month on Monday nights from 6:00 p.m- 8:00pm. These in-person meetings are held at our office, 795 Rockville Pike, Rockville (next to PNC Bank and IHOP). Dinner will be provided. During the months where we do not meet in person, we meet for an hour-long zoom call. Board membership will require a time commitment of a minimum of 18 hours per year for our meetings. 

We'd love to hear your ideas. Support for our mission to assist widows and widowers in our community. Attendance of a minimum of one event per year (fundraiser, meetup or support group) is required.