Volunteer
Highlight
Cathy Bergeron (at right, next to Nancy DiVenere) has been a volunteer coordinator since 1993 for the Family Visit Program between families with children with special needs and University of Vermont graduate students in the Communication Sciences program. She has matched approximately 15 students each year who are enrolled in a graduate course taught by Professor Melissa Bruce with a family who is interested in hosting a student. The intention is to provide a context for understanding special needs from a child and family perspective and to help shape the thoughts and challenge the assumptions of the students. "Cathy's contributions in shaping and refining this experience for our students have made a lasting impact on our program's efforts to prepare students as family-centered service providers. It has been a pleasure and privilege having the opportunity to collaborate with Cathy" says Professor Bruce.
Cathy explains that the visits are instrumental in educating developing clinicians, and some students have suggested their visit with a family has been the single most important experience of their graduate work. Cathy's dedication to volunteering is a reflection of her kind nature and interest in helping others, while her specific concern for families stems from having a child with special needs. "Cathy has unassumingly coordinated this Family Faculty component of Parent to Parent for the past 10 years, the success of which is due to her efforts. It is Cathy's spirit of generosity and commitment to families and community that deserves such recognition," says Nancy DiVenere, Executive Director of Parent to Parent. Now, after a decade of coordinating the Family Visit Program, Cathy is taking a break, but her involvement with Parent to Parent and community volunteering still continue.
For about 8 years, Cathy has also been involved with the Ronald McDonald House in downtown Burlington, volunteering as a weekend relief manager 4-5 times a year. The Ronald McDonald House provides a home away from home for seriously ill children seeking medical treatment at Fletcher Allen Health Care. Sometimes she volunteers with her husband, and one or both of her sons, to provide relief for the full-time staff and to offer assistance by answering the telephone, registering guest families, doing household chores, and being a good listener for guests who need to talk. Recently, Cathy has become a volunteer at the Ronald McDonald Family Room, an extension of the Ronald McDonald House, which is located in the inpatient pediatric unit and Vermont Children's Hospital at Fletcher Allen Health Care.
Cathy has been a school counselor at Essex High School since 1980. She lives in South Burlington with her husband Jack, and they have two sons, Aaron in Burlington and Adam in Washington, and a daughter, Jennifer, who is a fourth year medical student at the University of Vermont College of Medicine.