Volunteers

PRESIDENT’S CALL: RESIDENTS TO THE RESCUE /  by Lori Bigler

We need volunteers to help us help the neighborhood!

Okay, the enemy is not assailing our gates but that doesn’t lessen the need. Projects for the benefit of your neighborhood require people. It is my hope the neighborhood will step up and volunteer in sufficient numbers to staff our projects, plan the projects and work to make them a reality. I am making this plea to remind those willing to serve our neighborhood.

There are essentially three levels of volunteerism… Board Positions, Committee Positions and Adjutant to Board Positions.

Our board elections will be held in our next General Association meeting on Tuesday, May 14, 2019. This is your opportunity to contribute on the broadest front. Be part of our planning process and use your skills and talents to chart the courses our projects will take. The Board positions up for election are:

  • Secretary

  • Treasurer

  • Director – Infrastructure / Land Use

  • Director – Membership

All of these positions are two-year terms and will commence upon election. If you are interested in any of these positions, please complete the nomination form and send it to nominations@woodland-heights.org. Our Nominations committee can provide a description of the role and answer any questions you might have regarding the position.

As here are much broader range of tasks associated with the committees, a full description of duties involved with each task is beyond the scope of this article. As a summary, committee oversight will be handled by a committee chair who reports to a board member. Other committee members will be responsible for tasks specific to the committee’s overall charge. Such committees head-count will vary, ranging from as few as 3 to 5 all the way up to the low teens. We have two standing committees and several other committees we can only move forward with If the volunteer force is sufficient. Here are some of the committees in place or under consideration.

  • Lights In The Heights® – numerous subcommittees are necessary to ensure the smooth operation, safety and sanity of this landmark event

  • Home Tour – continue the successful coordination and implementation of this popular event

  • Sidewalks – evaluate our neighborhood for those sidewalks most in need of repair, work with the COH to develop a repair strategy and a plan to implementation the strategy

  • Urban Forestry – evaluate our neighborhood for those areas in which trees have suffered, work with local groups to develop replacement strategy and develop a plan to implement that strategy

  • IT / Data Management – Evaluate the needs Association, develop an integrated program to serve accounting, correspondence and data storage needs and develop a strategy to implement the program

  • Block Captains - fulfillment teams for each block are crucial data gathering and information dissemination

Finally, each of the board members can always use help. There are many opportunities for those interested in helping to forward the topics specific to any of the 9 current board members. The Adjutant to the Board Members will work in step with the Board Member to help move projects forward. From coordinating work with the neighborhood to working directly in formulation of projects, the Adjutants will not only be of great assistance, they will also be in a position to better understand the tasks and responsibilities of the various Board positions.

Okay, how do I sign up you may ask? I have attached a link to a form for WHCA volunteers. Click here to download the form in PDF format. You can mark your preference, and return the form to me at president@woodland-heights.org. If you prefer, you can simply make your selection from the form and send me an email noting your selection in the body of the email.

As always, I feel it would be inappropriate to close a call for volunteers without thanking those who have volunteered over the past. You know who you are but I would like to make a special thanks to those folks instrumental in making our Home Show such a success as well as those who work so tirelessly to make Lights In The Heights® a special event as well as a credit to our neighborhood. Certainly, our Board Members who are stepping down, Debbie Hall, Sharon Greiff, Jay Francis and Matt Johnson are worthy of thanks.

Please reach into your time wallet and donate generously to your home neighborhood.

Harry McMahon
President
Woodland Heights Civic Association

Saluting Volunteers: Mark Sternfels /  by Lori Bigler

In January of this year I completed my second year on the WHCA Board of Directors. At the end of 2016, I was recruited into the post of VP of Communications, filling the void left by the departure of the very capable Mark Sternfels. 

Mark not only preceded me in this post, he has continued to provide assistance as needed. Last fall he stepped in to help the Lights in the Heights committee make various changes to the WHCA web site at a time when I was busy with preparing printed goods. He's consistently willing, helpful, skilled and patient.

It’s only appropriate that we recognize the efforts of people like Mark, who help make WH a vibrant and exciting community.

Michael Graves
VP Communications, WHCA

P.S. - WHCA is an all-volunteer organization. If you would like to help us in our mission to “bring about civic betterment and social improvements in the Heights area of Houston…,” please get in touch.