There are few things in life that provide Anita with a greater sense of satisfaction than having an opportunity to help others.
Whether it’s pitching in to help ease someone else’s workload or just offering a few cheerful words to a friend or family member, she’s always eager to lend her support when and where needed.
“I like helping other people. It makes me feel good,” she says.
Anita’s desire to help others has played a major role in her life over the past several years. She worked as a volunteer administrative assistant at the Independent Living Resource Centre, a consumer-controlled organization that promotes and supports people with disabilities to make choices and take responsibility for the development and management of personal and community resources.
Last October, she took on a new challenge when she joined A Port in the Storm in a similar capacity for a six-month term. A Port in the Storm is a non-profit organization based in the Exchange District that provides temporary, low-cost accommodations to rural and northern adults who require a place to stay while receiving medical care in Winnipeg.
As part of her duties with A Port in the Storm, Anita regularly compiled a list of events and activities in and around the Exchange District for guests. She was also part of a research project that conducted a study of rural and northern communities to determine how the how the organization can better serve people in those regions.
Guest and Volunteer Manager Judy Zubriski says the efforts of Anita and the rest of the agency’s volunteers are critical to A Port in the Storm’s ability to deliver services to the nearly two dozen individuals it provides safe haven to each month.
“Our volunteers do so much for us. They are very integral to what we do,” she says. “We are not government-funded so we try to do the most we can with the least amount of money. We want to make it feel like home for the people who stay here.”
Zubriski says Anita demonstrated a professionalism and “gung-ho” attitude in everything she did at A Port in the Storm and was particularly impressed by her attention to detail.
Anita, who was born in Canada but also spent part of her youth in India, has been served by Epic Opportunities since 2003. She first learned about the organization from one of her teachers at Gordon Bell High School, who helped her find out more about Epic Opportunities and the kinds of services it provides. Anita says there was a simple reason why she chose Epic Opportunities – the relationships it has helped her forge.
“It’s the people,” she says. “I meet new people and I get to make new friends.”
When she’s not busy helping others, Anita enjoys being active in the community. She enjoys shopping, meeting friends for a meal or coffee or catching the latest film at a theatre.
