News

Mississauga Booster, April 2009

Jean Hill says she never starts something she can’t finish.

The recipient of the 2009 Sam McCallion Award, a Streetsville resident since 1955, has been a tireless volunteer for most of her adult life, starting when her children were small—and today, at 84, she has no plans to slow down.

“I’m actually looking for my next volunteer opportunity,” she laughs. “I’ll know it when I see it.”

The staff and the kids who frequent The Dam can rest assured, though; she says she will continue to give her time at the popular Youth Drop-In, where she has been a beloved fixture since the community program for teens was founded 14 years ago, the vision of Bill Crawford and Michael Clarke.

Hill was nominated for this year’s award by The Dam’s Maureen Sawicki, who has nothing but admiration and awe for her friend. 

“During her span of 14 years at The Dam,” Sawicki wrote in her nomination letter, “Jean has volunteered in various capacities, generally for three hour shifts once or twice per week. Currently, she volunteers in The Dam’s Wednesday evening program and Friday dinner program.”

“At drop-in at The Dam on a day-to-day basis,” Sawicki writes, “all the youth call Jean ‘Gran’ or Jean. She is able to give a hug at the same time she is grabbing a youth by the scruff of the neck!”

Hill has lots of experience with kids and teens: her passion for volunteering began when her six children were in school. Because she and her husband Bill lived in what was then a very rural area—they built their home on a 5-acre parcel of land at Britannia Road and Ninth Line, pre-407 and the row upon row of new dwellings that are there now—they took turns with neighbours shuttling the children to their various activities. She became involved with the Scouts, Guides and Brownies, and with the Home and School Board.

“At that time, the schools didn’t have many of the resources they have today, even libraries,” Jean explains. “The Home and School Board was really just a group of parents providing the extras for the kids. And we had lots of fun doing it.”

Her commitment to community continued in earnest in 1956, when a neighbour introduced her to the congregation at Eden United Church, then in its former location in an “old country church”. There, Jean became involved with the UCW (United Church Women), where she was placed on a commitee for pastoral relations. 

“The term was only supposed to last three years,” she remembers, “but they kept me there for twelve!”

It was through Eden that Jean found out volunteers were needed at Credit Valley Hospital—and she was happy to heed the call.

She remembers one hospital meeting in particular: an instructor was going around the table asking volunteers why they were there. After hearing various responses: “some were there because they had been sick and felt they needed to give back, some because family members had been ill, others for religious reasons,” Jean’s turn came.

“I really don’t know,” she replied honestly. “That’s why I’m here!”

When the volunteer coordinator asked if she would return, she said, “Of course! I never start something I can’t finish.”

Twenty years later, she was still volunteering there.

But it wasn’t until Jean listened to a letter from Bill Crawford, read aloud more than 14 years ago one Sunday morning at church, that she felt a real calling to volunteer for a new community outreach program.

The letter explained that there was a real need in the community for youth aged 13 to 19. The idea was to stop youth who were at-risk for leaving home by providing them a place they could call their own.

The owners of Meadowvale Town Centre had provided a low-rent space in the mall for The Dam to run a drop-in staffed with caring Christian volunteers from local churches and a team of trained, full-time outreach workers. Jean was one of those volunteers.

“I felt like I could really relate to teens,” she explains. “I don’t judge them or chastise them. I just listen to their stories. I’m genuinely interested in what they have to say.”

Her ability to relate to people less then twice her age is astounding. As Maureen wrote, “Jean started volunteering with teenagers, particularly at-risk teens when she was 70 years old, an age when people are much more comfortable not going to a drop-in filled with boisterous teens, discussing the latest piercings and/or tattoos, and listening to the popular music of the day (with the volume turned up).

“She has persevered through generations of teens as they dealt with issues through their high school years. She knows the value of family in everyone’s lives and has naturally become everyone’s grandma. She is loving and accepting and able to remind youth of old-time values in a way that they accept and respect.”

A catalyst of change, a pioneer for women’s rights, a friend to many, a grandmother to all—Jean Hill is the personification of the extraordinary volunteer, and the perfect choice for the 2009 Sam McCallion Award.