Charlie Rubin is the Volunteer Coordinator at the San Fernando Valley Mental Health Center, current Vice President of DOVIA-LA, and won the 2013 ‘Excellence in Volunteer Leadership’ Award. Charlie shared:
I have been married for 26 years; we have two children and a grandchild. Prior to working in a nonprofit, I worked in retail management for over 30 years.
I placed my first volunteer back in July 2011. The five months previous I was putting my volunteer program together and I can remember my second day on the job: I was doing a lot research, sitting at my computer, surfing the internet and I stumbled across DOVIA-LA. After speaking to a DOVIA-LA board member, I was invited to my first meeting, and have attended regularly ever since. I learn something new at every DOVIA meeting, whether it is presented from one our fabulous speakers or hearing it from a peer. Probably the best thing about the DOVIA meetings is the networking; it is a great setting to talk and bounce ideas, questions and concerns off my peers. I feel they can offer some of the best advice since they are also living and breathing volunteers, the same as I am.
Volunteers are some amazing people; my goal is to fulfill all of my volunteer’s desires and provide them with a great volunteering experience. Not every potential volunteer may be a good fit for me, and that is why I have been very fortunate to be able to reach out to my DOVIA peers and find them another volunteer option. This is much better than turning them down altogether, which could scare them away from volunteering all together.
I believe in “Paying it Forward”, I hope I can provide you with at least one thing to make your job easier, as many DOVIA members have done for me.
Feel free to contact Charlie with questions or requests for advice at crubin@sfvcmhc.org.