Volunteer Spotlight

"When I tell people that I work in the Department of Forensic Science, their first thought is 'How cool! How much like CSI is it?' Having completed my final science class as a college freshman more than 40 years ago, the science part of forensic science is far beyond my ability. My background is in social work, my profession for 30 years before joining the forensic science unit at VCU. This 'temporary' job as the department coordinator that I started 10 years ago, has expanded to include community engagement that allows me to use my social work skills and network. And best of all, we’re making a positive difference to the students in the Richmond area!

My family values guided me to volunteer at a variety of organizations from childhood through college and finally to pursue social work where my focus was on the health and education of children and their family. Whether working fulltime or part time, I continued to be involved with the community through volunteering at my children’s schools, my neighborhood, my synagogue and the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities (formerly NCCJ). My final professional social work position, with the backpack program at FeedMore, connected me with Communities in Schools-Richmond.

Back to VCU Forensic Science. The support of the three forensic science department chairs with whom I’ve worked, allowed me to expand the opportunities available to our students. In the service-learning class I teach, students create and teach activities and labs to elementary through high school students in the Richmond area and beyond. We also have a cadre of graduate students who spread their enthusiasm for forensic science to school and community groups.

Trying to help others is part of who I am and it’s a wonderful feeling to share this with our students as they share it with the next generation."

Volunteer Spotlight

"Currently, I serve as co-leader of the East End Cemetery Collaboratory, a group I joined in 2017. The Collaboratory brings together faculty, students and community partners across Richmond to document, support and preserve African American history and culture via the region’s cemeteries. Many of these African American cemeteries have suffered from a number of attacks and structural disparities, and our group seeks to aid their restoration as sacred sites and as vital places of community. Since 2017, our work has been inspired by our long-term partnership with the Friends of East End Cemetery, a volunteer group connected with a cemetery founded in 1897 by freedom's first generation. That cemetery had become overgrown when the Friends formed, and the group worked to connect with descendants, clear nearly all of the cemetery’s sixteen acres, and research hundreds of its stories. The Collaboratory has since expanded beyond East End Cemetery to engage with the additional sites, including the Barton Heights Cemeteries, Woodland Cemetery and the Sons and Daughters of Ham Cemetery. Our faculty come from a wide variety of departments at VCU and the University of Richmond, with support from the Bonner Center of Civic Engagement at U.R. and from the Office of Community Engagement and the Office of Institutional Equity, Effectiveness and Success at VCU. Our community partners now also include the Descendants Council of Greater Richmond and the Woodland Restoration Foundation.

In addition to assisting with gravestone recovery and research, the Collaboratory has created the first fully-searchable, digital map of East End Cemetery, featuring more than 3,000 individual grave sites uncovered by volunteers and descendants. That map is also connected with a publicly-accessible, online archive related to the individuals buried there. Recently, members of the Collaboratory completed a drone mapping project identifying 8,000 graves at East End Cemetery, most of which are currently unmarked. We are preparing to undertake similar initiatives with volunteers at Woodland Cemetery and Barton Heights. Our participants find that there are few things more rewarding than uncovering grave stones that have been lost, helping families connect with their ancestors, and helping them tell their stories, all while building new relationships."