Joan Millar: Community Champion

Congratulations to EECM Board Member, Joan Millar, on being named a 2009 Jefferson Award recipient. The Jefferson Awards recognize community champions who make a difference through volunteerism. The following advertisement/article appeared in the Post Gazette on Tuesday, November 24th.

"Joan Millar has been a volunteer with East End Cooperative Ministry (EECM) for more than 30 years and a board member for more than a decade. In addition to attending board meetings, she delivers Meals on Wheels, serves dinner at the men's emergency shelter, and spends a significant amount of time at the William and Mildred Orr Compassionate Care Center.

Joan was instrumental in founding the Orr Center, a place that provides shelter and non-medical respite care to needy individuals following discharge from the hospital. She was part of a small group of people who recognized a need to provide care to a fragile population -- elderly, homeless or otherwise vulnerable people who cannot return to their prior living arrangements after a hospital stay. The Orr Center began as an independent nonprofit organization, of which Joan was the acting executive director. After ten years of operation, the center merged with EECM under the direction of Joan and the board. Today, the Orr Center provides a safe place to heal for nearly 100 men and women every year."

Congratulations, Joan! We love you!