Beaufort police department VOICE program helps needy individuals
Beaufort police department VOICE program helps needy individuals
Most Beaufortonians don’t know that the Beaufort police department has an “underground” crew of volunteers serving a list of people in the community who have a need, 365 days a year. These needy individuals have long-term medical ailments, are aging and alone without a family, or are otherwise without the assistance that normal social service programs provide. The volunteer program is called VOICE, short for Volunteer Outreach in the Community.
Started in 1998 with the help of local resident Faye McGowan and friends, VOICE has thrived and has actually saved lives. Today, under the guidance of Lt. Carol Smalls-Jenkins (semi-retired) and 20 volunteers, a VOICE volunteer each day makes a simple telephone call. The call is to check on each person on the list to make sure he or she is OK.
If the person is not OK, the volunteer has instructions to dispatch a police officer, or if necessary an EMS crew, to the home. Many people have been assisted, and lives saved, by this program.
The VOICE program seeks to keep the number of people on the list around 20, all residing inside the Beaufort city limits.
This year, none other than Beaufort Police Chief Matthew Clancy (below left) and two of his officers, Officer Charles Raley and Officer Matt Rausch, assisted a VOICE volunteer in delivering an annual Christmas basket to each person on the list. These folks, who we have come to know the VOICE volunteers as family, dearly appreciate the calls, and they love the fact that the City of Beaufort police department through VOICE is watching out for them.
“God Bless y’all!”, “I know I don’t have to worry”, and “I’m getting a phone call every day” are just some of the comments the officers and volunteers heard on the round today.
Every volunteer has to pass SLED inspection, is fingerprinted, is trained, and goes to the police department’s room designated for VOICE. A systematic book is used to insure calls are made and documented. Many of the people who are called have been on the list since 1998. All are grateful.
Current volunteers include Gloria Wood, Harold Greenlee, Theo Woods, Lil Parker, Lucille Williams, Catherine Hutchins, Faye McGowan, Kelly McGowan, Jacqueline Warren, Virginia Hurd, Jeanette Martin, Kathy Hodges, Vicki Brannon, Brenda Morris, Mary Foster, Gam Foster, and Alice Klatt.
The Beaufort police department through the VOICE volunteers have made countless calls over the years to check on these folks. While police officers are out there fighting crime, they are also helping a lot of people in many other good ways.
Related posts:
- Beaufort Police Department issues semi-annual crime statistics, crime way down
- Beaufort police department sponsors National Night Out
- Municipal court and police department occupy City’s new building
- 35th year of police movie club
- Letter from Steven & Andrea Selman asking why has the police department not kept the public informed
