Sprucing up the front of the Trehab Community Resource Center of Wyoming County on a recent Sunday afternoon were (above, from left) Ian Maginley and Tim Taylor of TMB Specialties LLC, Corey Taylor and his father, Ryan Taylor, Center volunteer and project coordinator. TMB employees, including Seth Emerick (not pictured) donated their time to renovate the landscaping.
Trehab Community Resource Center of Wyoming County has been open for just over a year now, providing direct services and referrals for local residents. The COVID-19 crisis challenged Ryan Taylor, the Center’s volunteer and project coordinator, his assistant Shelly Darling, and some dedicated volunteers to continue to make resources available to those who needed them.
Via phone, Zoom and meetings outside the facility on Warren Street in Tunkhannock, Center supporters continued to provide peer recovery support services, workforce development, literacy and educational programs, advocacy, and other resources.
The Center has reopened with CDC guidelines in place, and Taylor is looking forward to setting regular dates and times again for meetings, special programs and awareness events. The coronavirus pandemic has changed the landscape however, and life has steered a number of the volunteers once involved at the Trehab Center in other directions, leaving gaps in the schedule and limiting how many clients can be served.
“I could fill my calendar if I had more volunteers,” Taylor explained. “Specifically, there is a need for more administrative assistants to staff the front desk and steer clients towards the services available to them.” Additionally, he noted, volunteers are needed to serve as group leaders and facilitators, career development assistants, peer mentors and to help with special events.
Volunteers who would prefer a more behind-the-scenes role could help with computer work such as maintaining surveys and data entry via spreadsheets. “We don’t have a problem teaching someone new skills,” Taylor stated. Learning new tasks and helping to manage resources at the Center are great for resume building, he added. “We take our volunteers seriously and want to make sure that they experience benefits from their involvement with Trehab.”
As the Center resumes all previous services, Taylor and the Community Resource Center Vision Team members will start fielding new ideas for fundraising, awareness and special classes and events. Taylor said that the current band of volunteers have become a “family” within the Center, and they want to start growing again with the community.
They have also been taking more ownership of their respective activities, Taylor noted at a recent Vision Team meeting. “It gives them something to be proud of,” he stated. “They helped create this.”
The Mission of the Trehab Community Resource Center is to support individuals and families in Wyoming County affected by substance use disorders and other misfortunes. Experience is not as important as is a sincere desire to help others, Taylor noted.
Requirements for working at the Center include background checks and state-mandated Reporter Training, which must be updated annually. Taylor can walk potential volunteers through the online processes right at the Center.
“If they have any other certifications that they have that they think can help the center, we’d be happy to talk about that,” Taylor added.
The Trehab Community Resource Center of Wyoming County is located at 102 Warren Street, Tunkhannock. For more information, interested readers may contact Taylor via email at Rtaylor@trehab.org or by calling 570-836-7508.
Tim Taylor, Seth Emerick, Ian Maginley of TMB Specialties LLC take a break after completing their tasks on Aug. 30.