Episode 61 Carolyn Hammond - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Carolyn Hammond, President and Chief Executive Officer of Volunteers of America North Louisiana, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:

 

0:29 1. In February of last year, after more than 12 years of service, you became the President and Chief Executive Officer of Volunteers of America North Louisiana, or VOA as many people know it.

 

VOA is one of the most important nonprofits in the Shreveport-Bossier community, offering more than 40 different programs for our residents.

 

At VOA, you serve four distinct populations – children and families, veterans, individuals with disabilities and seniors.

 

VOA has been described as a church without walls and I can’t imagine our community without the impactful work you do. We could talk for hours and just scratch the surface on all you do at VOA. But what I’d like to do today is at least create some more awareness of how you’re serving our children and families, our veterans, our individuals with disabilities and our seniors.

 

Let’s start with our veterans. Can you talk about some of the current programming VOA offers to provide better service to our veterans?

 

5:48 2. Similarly, can you provide some information about the programs VOA offers to serve those in our community with disabilities?

 

10:49 3. Our aging population, our seniors, also benefit greatly from programming overseen and provided by VOA. Can you talk about some of the ways VOA serves our seniors?

 

14:28 4. Then, of course, VOA does a tremendous amount of work for our children and families with programs like The Lighthouse and Communities in Schools. Can you speak about a few of these programs?

 

49:33 5. As you look around our community, what are some of the things that concern you the most?

 

52:08 6. On the flip side, on a more positive note, what are some of the things you see improving that make you optimistic about our community’s future?