THE BEGINNINGS
In the fall of 1986, Dr. Harley Dickson was pastor of West Market Street United Methodist Church (WMSUMC). He had recently moved from the Queens College area of Charlotte where he had observed an effective organization of older adults called "The Shepherd's Center" (the name is drawn from Psalm 23). He proposed consideration of a similar organization for Greensboro.

Shepherd's Centers were developing in many communities across the country, having started in 1972 in Kansas City. Dr. Elbert Cole, also a Methodist Pastor, had expanded a seniors' group in his congregation into an interfaith coalition of congregations to help empower older adults to lead productive, creative, meaningful, and interdependent lives and to live safely in their own homes as long as possible. A Shepherd's Center was to be controlled and operated primarily by older people themselves.

ORGANIZATION AND ESTABLISHMENT
Dr. Dickson asked two members of the WMSUMC congregation – Jim Weikel and Farish Cochran -- to explore the idea.  They visited the Charlotte center, returning to endorse the possibilities in Greensboro.  The decision was made to invite the pastors of eleven other downtown congregations to consider working together.  Eight in addition to WMSUMC agreed to designate two representatives each to form a Task Force; Jim Weikel was named Chairman.

This group conducted eight months of needs assessment within their congregations and in the community and made visits to other Shepherd’s Centers in Winston-Salem and Kernersville as well as in Charlotte.  The nine congregations then pledged startup funds for the balance of 1987 and $18,000 in 1988 against a $21,000 budget.  Applications for incorporation in North Carolina and for non-profit (501c3) status with the Internal Revenue Service were filed and the Task Force became the first Board of Trustees with Jim Weikel as President.

They next began seeking an Executive Director, using the modest resources committed by the nine sponsoring congregations.  Dr. Dickson offered space for an office in WMSUMC (an offer that has been maintained for twenty years) and the Board began consideration of initial activities.

The Shepherd’s Center idea, as developed in the Kansas City model, is to organize older adults (retirees with time and skills and energy) to undertake volunteer activities to help each other maintain independent and active lifestyles.  The first project in Kansas City was the delivery of hot meals to shut-ins, which then led to life enrichment activities to bring those shut-ins and other older adults together in learning and fellowship.

A decision was made by the Greensboro Board to avoid duplication of programs offered by other agencies in this community.  Since Mobile Meals was already an effective service in Greensboro, drawing on the interfaith community for volunteers, the Greensboro Shepherd’s Center first focused on opportunities for learning and fellowship.  The initial Adventures in Learning program, organized by Sister Juliana Kowal and a few other volunteers, was offered in the fall of 1987 to 58 participants.

ADMINISTRATION AND PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
Jean Eason was employed in October 1987 as Executive Director.  She and several volunteer leaders attended weeklong training workshops led in Kansas City by Dr. Cole to fully acquaint them with the Shepherd’s Center principles, goals and strategies.  Greensboro’s representatives have continued over twenty years to participate in national and regional conferences and workshops, providing leadership numerous times.  And Jim Weikel served for 8 years (1994-2001) on the Board of Trustees of Shepherd’s Center of America.

The Greensboro Shepherd’s Center’s first office near the WMSUMC elevator was small but adequate to begin the administration and development phase of the organization.  Volunteers were recruited to assist the Director with bookkeeping, records of participants, answering the telephone, mailings, etc.  Adventures in Learning (taught by volunteers) continued as a focal program bringing together older adults from the wider community as well as from sponsoring congregations.

In 1988, the Lake Daniel area was selected to begin a major Services for Independent Living program.  Volunteers led by Audrey Stapleton identified older adults in the area and made door to door visits recruiting “neighboring shepherds”.  By 1992, this concept had been expanded to 13 more neighborhoods involving 200 volunteers.  The Board then felt comfortable in expanding other services citywide (initially helping with minor home repairs, grocery shopping assistance, and transportation for non-drivers).

The 15-member Board of Trustees during the next year decided to expand congregational sponsorship beyond the central part of Greensboro, and members of the Board began contacting pastors of other churches and synagogues in the community.  By 1990, sponsorship had been assumed by a total of 19 congregations and the number later rose to 38.  Each pledged annual cash support ranging from a minimum of $200 to $5500, no-charge availability of facilities when feasible, designation of two representatives to a quarterly Sponsors Council meeting, and encouragement of their older adults to volunteer with the Shepherd’s Center.

In 1994, civic associations began supporting the Shepherd’s Center financially, beginning with the Jaycees.  More Associate Sponsors were also recruited, at one time numbering seven clubs.

The Board of Trustees (all older adults) was re-structured in 1992 to involve eighteen members, and three Vice Presidents were designated with oversight committees:  Administration and Development, Services for Independent Living, and Education and Enrichment.  Later bylaws revision established active participation of the immediate Past President and the President-elect, to assure greater Board continuity.  There are three other primary standing committees of the Board:  Nominations, Sponsor Relations and Recruitment, and Annual Celebration.  The Executive Committee is composed of the officers and serves as Budget Committee and Personnel Committee.  The Board as a whole serves as the Committee for Financial Resources and Fund Development. 

GROWTH AND CHANGE
Shepherd’s Center in Greensboro has initiated and managed a wide variety of activities during the first twenty years.  Projects may be proposed by the volunteer leadership, any participant or others in the community, and will first be considered by a subgroup and then the full Board of Trustees for implementation.  Key considerations in addition to relevance to the mission are whether the proposed activity will duplicate that of another organization (and if so, whether it might still be needed) and whether Shepherd’s Center has available adequate volunteer resources to offer the activity. The latter questions are reconsidered from time to time and activities are discontinued when resources are inadequate or the need is met by others.

Services for Independent Living
Earliest efforts were focused on the need for transportation for  non-driving older adults and that need has continued to expand far beyond the volunteer programs designated as Shepherd’s Wheels and Senior Wheels. The latter began in 1997 as a collaborative program with United Services for Older Adults, organizing congregational volunteers to provide transportation for medical care.  In 2002, management of Senior Wheels (for medical care) was transferred fully to Senior Resources of Guilford (USOA renamed). 

Shepherd’s Wheels continues as a Shepherd’s Center program with an average of 35 drivers providing 60-70 rides per month;  trips may be requested for non-medical needs such as grocery shopping, beauty shop, post office or other business offices, visits to family members in hospitals or nursing homes.

Other service projects have responded to identified needs for minor home repairs, grocery delivery, help with technology setups, assistance with income tax,  information about health care documents. 

CareLink, an Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers program, for several years (1990-1994) involved 21 congregations organizing and training volunteer members to reach out and provide support to elders in need. 
 
CarePartners, a program launched in 2003 with the Adult Center for Enrichment, trains and assigns respite volunteers to allow caregivers some time to themselves.  This marked the beginning exploration of joint activities of these two organizations.  In 2006, they and a third non-profit organization (After Gateway) established a new community corporation (The SAGE Coalition) which will eventually be a supporting organization for member groups who provide services to adults as they age. 

Education and Life Enrichment activities began as noted earlier with Adventures in Learning.  That has been a major program since 1987, evolving from a few small classes four times a year to the current schedule of three 6-Thursday terms annually, offering 15-20 different classes plus lunch and forum speakers, and enrolling 300-400 participants each term.  As the popularity of this program increased, the space to accommodate large numbers has evolved to only two or three sponsors.  The program engages 50-75 or more volunteers each term, and all participants are encouraged to become volunteers in some capacity within the broader Shepherd’s Center agenda.

The SeniorNet computer learning center was launched in 1996 with support from the national SeniorNet organization and local BellSouth offices, as well as several foundations that provided funding for equipment. Having retired as Executive Director, Jean Eason became a volunteer to coordinate SeniorNet for ten years. 

The SeniorNet program maintains a roster of about 75 volunteers who manage aspects of the project and teach older adults the use of computers. It is estimated that more than 3000 registrants in eleven years have completed a course in this facility.  Waitlists exist for all courses offered each  month from a  set  of nine topics  in  the  program. Graduates may attend free bi-weekly workshops and are encouraged to apply their new skills in some volunteer capacity.

Annual celebrations have been scheduled since 1987 to recognize volunteers and to share in fellowship and inspiration. Many of these have involved a presentation by Dr. Elbert Cole as he continued to share his visions and experiences. Some have involved leaders invited to move the organization to explore issues such as the role of older adults in society (Rabbi Zalman-Schacter) or the need to learn how to accept help from others (Wendy Lustbader). Some have focused on spirituality (Ed Kilbourne’s music).  

In addition to these celebratory events, Shepherd’s Center has sponsored a number of enrichment conferences for the wider community.  These have included programs focused on Retirement Living Options, Immigrant Elders, and a Choir Festival of Friendship.  In recent years, conferences in conjunction with the Adult Center for Enrichment have explored Conscious Aging concepts.

Administration and Development activities  relate to staffing, office management, sponsor relations, fund-raising, communication and public relations, collaboration with other organizations, hospitality at meetings and events.  Their primary purpose is the maintenance and expansion of Shepherd’s Center as an organization with the stated mission and resources.

The employed/paid staffing for the Shepherd’s Center of Greensboro has intentionally remained modest.  Primary responsibilities have been to assure older adult volunteers the interconnecting support they need to provide the services and activities that are current.   There have been five part-time executive directors in twenty years. assisted by other part-time staff members, always with the goal of helping older adult volunteers provide leadership and services. 

Annual budgets for the Shepherd’s Center of Greensboro have ranged from $21,000 in 1988 to $93,500 in 2007.  Sources of income are sponsors (and associate sponsors), individuals, fundraising projects, grants for special needs.  Enrichment activities assess fees to cover direct costs and  participants are encouraged to make additional contributions if possible.  Services are provided by volunteers using their personal resources; recipients of service are encouraged to make financial or service contributions to the organization in return for the helps made available to them. 

A national organization has reported that an hour of volunteer work in North Carolina in 2006 was worth $19.  If so, the value of Shepherd’s Center volunteer contributions over 20 years would greatly exceed all of the budgeted hard dollars ever used in this organization.  The value of all of these activities (educational, service, administrative) to the community is impossible to calculate.  And the value of these activities to the volunteers themselves, who have found significant roles in retirement, is also impossible to determine. 

Each year Shepherd’s Center of Greensboro strives to serve more older adults in meaningful ways.  This will be an expanding challenge in the next 20 yers, as a large new wave of older adults seek their roles after retirement.  Always volunteer driven, Shepherd’s Center uses the strengths of our faith community to value all older adults.  Never too old to learn, we  find our blessings magnified through service and sharing in caring community.