Virginia Beach Housing & Neighborhood Preservation Volunteer Recognized as 2022 Points of Light Honoree
Virginia Beach Housing & Neighborhood Preservation volunteer Jennifer K. Vaughan was recently selected for the 2022 Points of Light Inspiration Honor Roll in recognition of her dedicated service at the Housing Resource Center (HRC). Points of Light, the world’s largest organization dedicated to volunteer service, created the Inspiration Honor Roll to celebrate acts of service, kindness and civic engagement by outstanding individuals who create change in communities around the world.
Jennifer is affectionately known as “ITMO”—In the Middle of Everything—at the HRC, a one-stop shop where people experiencing homelessness or a housing crisis are connected to resources on their journey home. She was involved in the early planning of the HRC and is the backbone of the volunteer program there, having contributed more than 3,000 hours of service since the building opened in 2018.
Her commitment to making homelessness rare, brief and nonrecurring in Virginia Beach is significant and built on 12 years as a full-time volunteer head of mission outreach with Potter’s House at Virginia Beach United Methodist Church, where she became intimately familiar with homelessness.
Upon retirement from Potter’s House, Jennifer chose to make the HRC her volunteer home and contributes 15-20 hours per week there. The impact she has made is a testament that the quality of one’s volunteer service cannot be measured by the number of hours alone.
Jennifer has made a wide range of contributions, from small acts as an ambassador, greeting and escorting guests and clients throughout the facility, to large projects, such as working with service providers to develop and manage a mail system that for many participants is a lifeline. As an attendant in Day Support, she is the friend who facilitates the shower and laundry schedule for the unsheltered guests. Jennifer also assists the HRC’s Faith in Action Office by helping to manage the Charity Tracker database that connects houses of worship to needs in the community. In this role, she keeps faith-based, nonprofit and government partners updated on resources and programs to connect people in need to assistance, which was especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I nominated Jennifer because there has not been a day in the past 35 years that Jennifer hasn’t lived elements of the Points of Light’s Civic Circle framework in our community,” said Diane Hotaling, the department’s community engagement coordinator and volunteer resource manager. “She is a retired ‘public servant’ (elementary school teacher) and life-long ‘volunteer.’ She is the epitome of ‘listen and learn’ which allows her to communicate resources to others, be a ‘voice’ for the voiceless, cast an informed ‘vote’ and ‘donate’ to causes that make her community a better place. Jennifer demonstrates daily that every action, no matter how small, can make a difference.”
Jennifer says she gets more than she gives as a volunteer and that one of her favorite parts about volunteering at the HRC is seeing longtime friends get into housing. Jennifer’s experiences have introduced her to people from all walks of life and taught her how to love people for who they are, where they are.
“Learning the different barriers to housing has helped me better understand the struggles some people have” and deliver care that helps them succeed in housing.
