[CIVIL.REG.,121097,0800]
Volunteers
(Iowa Civil Rights Commission; 12/10/97; 0800)
VOLUNTEERS HELP IOWA CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSION FIGHT DISCRIMINATION
"Without volunteers, we wouldn't be nearly as effective in fighting
discrimination. Without volunteers, our backlog would still be out of control
and a number of our programs would either be cut way back or may not even
exist," says Don Grove, executive director of the Iowa Civil Rights
Commission (ICRC).
According to Dawn Peterson, the manager of ICRC's Volunteer Mediation Program,
"Our volunteer mediators alone have facilitated more than 100 settlements,
which has saved thousands of hours in investigators' time and has worked
to reduce our average case processing time by nearly seven months."
"We began using volunteers about five years ago. Volunteers are incredible.
At any one time, between 80 and 100 people, from all over the State, from
all walks of life, are donating their time and experience to help us fight
discrimination," says Grove.
Volunteer opportunities at the ICRC include case mediation and investigation,
legal research, testing, and administrative support. In the five months
since July 1, 1997, the beginning of the State's fiscal year, 94 volunteers
have worked nearly 1,500 hours, resolved 45 discrimination complaints, conducted
86 fair housing tests, and photocopied more than two hundred case files.
For more information regarding ICRC's volunteer opportunities, contact
Don Grove at 515-281-8084, 1-800-457-4416, ext, 1-8084, or E-Mail at <don.grove.@state.ia.us>.
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(Contact: Don Grove 515-281-8084)
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