Health & Fitness
From Hedge Fund Exec to Star Volunteer, Darien Resident Making a Difference
We’re thrilled to introduce you to the newest addition in our “True Confessions of a Volunteer” blog series! Meet Judith Sinche. Sinche, a Darien resident and former CFO at a Connecticut-based hedge fund, now spends at least 5 to 8 hours of her time each week using her unique skill-set to help clients at Stamford-based Inspirica get back on their feet and on their way to employment.
Inspirica’s mission is to “break the cycle of homelessness by helping people achieve and maintain permanent housing and stability.” Inspirica is one of those fantastic agencies that can actually show its impact in the community and provides safe housing for anywhere between 240 and 260 people each night.
Inspirica, formerly St. Luke's Lifeworks, also helps hundreds more annually in myriad ways. From emergency and transitional housing, education and employment services and children’s services, Inspirica views its role in the community not solely as one of emergency support but also as a resource to help clients out of their particular challenges into a self-sufficient, positive new life.
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Sinche found her way to Inspirica in May of this year. Each week she sits with clients in the Career Resource Center, helping them write resumes and cover letters, fill out job applications and search for open jobs. She then works with Inspirica’s team to help place them.
Why Inspirica? Sinche said she wanted to deploy her particular skills in a volunteer setting but also has a real passion for what Inspirica does and a respect for how they do it.
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“Homelessness is a problem globally, not just in our region, and there has to be a plan in order to change it if we hope to eliminate it over time,” said Sinche. “Inspirica has a plan. They work with clients to get past the challenges that are causing their homelessness and under one roof they bring all the pieces together that can help a person move on.”
Jim Bingham is the Program Manager for Employment Services at Inspirica. Bingham works closely with Judith and volunteers like her to ensure high levels of success for their clients. He says volunteers like Judith make their work possible.
“Volunteers are essential to the success of the Inspirica employment program,” said Bingham. “Once trained, our volunteers become key players on our Employment team and actively contribute to case planning and positive outcomes for individual clients. The value of committed, skilled and passionate volunteers like Judith cannot be overstated.”
In the few short months since she’s been volunteering, Sinche says it’s been incredibly rewarding to see progress for some of her clients and to know she’s been a part of making it possible. But, she says, volunteering has brought her satisfaction, too.
“Volunteering has unbelievable rewards,” said Sinche. “You get happy for someone else. You feel good about someone else and it gives you perspective on your own life and the ability to give back. In the end, you learn more about yourself in the process than you may have initially expected.”
If you know a star volunteer like Judith let us know! We’d love to help share their experience with our readers and friends.
And if Judith’s story has you inspired to start volunteering here in Connecticut, visit us at VolunteerSquare.com. Be sure to sign up for our free e-alerts that will keep you in the loop about current volunteer projects that interest you most. Be sure to connect with us on Facebook and Twitter, too!