SIRE, Houston’s Therapeutic Riding Centers

By Peggy Wagner, Director of Volunteer Services

If volunteers are the heart of the SIRE program, then Volunteer Coordinators keep that heart beating!

With extraordinary planning, detailed organization and eloquent communication, our Volunteer Coordinators recruit, train and schedule the 200+ volunteers who give their time to SIRE each week.

Two and a half years ago the Volunteer Coordinator position at Hockley became available. Kassie Collins and Penny Kvello decided to share the job. These ladies are the epitome of devotion. You can find them in the office going over papers, in the stall brushing a horse, in the arena side-by-side with their volunteers, and at every special event doing whatever needs doing. Neither wanted to give up her time in the arena, so, in addition to their duties as staff members, they “volunteer” on their days off in order to spend time with the clients and horses that are so dear to their hearts. Thank you, Penny and Kassie!

We thought it was going to be hard to fill the shoes of our SIRESpring Volunteer Coordinator, Cathy Jorgenson, when she moved to Austin in late 2006. But then almost immediately, a Hockley volunteer, Jenny Dorsey, expressed an interest in the job. She brings with her a wealth of experience managing volunteers, as she is the current District Director of 12 chapters of the National Charity League, two-year president of her Cypress Creek NCL chapter, and past PTO President at her daughter’s schools. All this, along with over 900 volunteer hours at SIRE, make her the perfect fit. She, too, will continue to volunteer with her special clients at our Hockley site. Welcome, Jenny!

Susan Young, Heidi Jolly and Melisa Smith very generously donated their time to serve as Volunteer Coordinators for SIREFort Bend in 2006. The future growth of that site necessitated the addition of a part-time Volunteer Coordinator staff position. We are thrilled that Melisa Smith has accepted the job. Melisa brings her experience as a corporate trainer, the proprietor of an aviation insurance company, a riding instructor, and a volunteer with the Tejas Pony Club. Welcome, Melisa!

I, too, started as an arena volunteer at SIRE in 1984. I’ve served in many different capacities over the years, including six years as Hockley Volunteer Coordinator and twelve as a Daily Coordinator. With three locations now, there was a need for consistency among the sites, as well as support for the Volunteer Coordinators; hence, my new job as Director of Volunteer Services was born. I am very excited and honored to be among such a dedicated staff and look forward to being a part of SIRE’s progress and expansion.