History of the AVSO
In 1985, David Moore, then the President of the Albion Civic Foundation, had his first idea for a volunteer service center in Albion. The foundation was having growing pains and he was the third president in a row to end his term suggesting to the board of trustees that the Civic Foundation needed at least a part-time staff member. In considering where to put an executive, however, they kept running up against the expense of establishing an office. The foundation had funds, but could not have outfitted and staffed an office without seriously diminishing its grant budget. During the early 1980s Moore had also served on the board of the Albion-Homer United Way, which had earlier had a part-time executive and office, but had eliminated them in 1980 due to financial constraints.The idea that the two organizations might share an office and staff was not a very startling one, and it was not much of a leap from there to consider that other organizations might join the venture.
In 1986, the Foundation began seriously to consider hiring an Executive Secretary, and at a trustees' meeting in mid-February that year Moore briefly outlined the idea of a cooperative office for non-profit organizations. After the meeting, Nan Vulgamore (Former First Lady of Albion College), then a trustee, pointedly suggested that he describe the idea in a letter to her husband, President Mel Vulgamore of Albion College. By then, there had already been discussions between Albion College and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation about a college-community grant proposal of some kind. Moore wrote that letter on February 17, 1987.
It was very soon thereafter that Dan Poteet, the former Provost of Albion College, began convening groups of people (college and community separately, at first; then together) to talk about college-community relationships, civic relationships, civic responsibility and service opportunities, and leadership development. Those meetings continued approximately every other week through the spring of 1986. In the course of those sessions the participants put together information about the community's non-profit organizations, and Poteet asked that Moore draft a more detailed proposal, which was submitted May 21, 1986. By then, it was clear that the group was helping to develop a grant proposal to be submitted to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Drafts of the proposal, written by Dr. Poteet, were circulated and there were a few more meetings over the ensuing year to make refinements. Word that the grand had been approved was received May 22, 1987.
In June 1987 Moore was asked to convene representatives of the most obvious prospective users of a volunteer center, with a view to beginning operations by the end of 1987. That meeting was held June 19, 1987, in the community room of Homestead Savings & Loan Association. Present were Tom McClure (Albion Community Theatre), Nancy Poteet (Albion Civic Foundation), Jean Taylor (Albion-Homer United Way), Richard Weatherford (Citizens to Beautify Albion), Susan Mize (Festival of the Forks), Dan Poteet and David Moore. McClure, Mize, Weatherford and Moore were designated as a steering committee. In August they circulated a questionnaire to twenty-seven organizations, surveying their needs and wants and soliciting their ideas for the center. A second meeting was held September 11, 1987, again at Homestead, with seventeen organizations represented. The survey results (based on 15 responses) were presented, and an organizational board of nine people was selected by consensus. The nine were then formally appointed by Dan Poteet as administrators of the Kellogg grant program (still unnamed) to guide the project in its first year.
That board began meeting approximately biweekly. It considered needs for equipment and furnishings, the amount of space required and its allocation to various uses, the structure of an organization, possible methods of financing the center, services to be provided, and the qualifications and job descriptions of staff. A job description for the coordinator was drafted by a subcommittee, appointed by the organizational board, and submitted to Dan Poteet. Another subcommittee developed a list of equipment furnishings and prepared a budget with the assistance of Peggy Sindt, then the college's purchasing director. We gave information to Ken Kolmodin at Albion College for an analysis of our space needs, and he recommended that we seek a facility of about 1,575 square feet. We took that information to Albion Downtown, which was then functioning under Craig Hoernschemyer's direction. There were still numerous vacant buildings in the business district, and we looked at four of them on October 20, 1987: 108 S. Superior St. (the former Albion Pastry Co.), 203 S. Superior Street (the former Central Party Store), 225 S. Superior St. (the former Rascal's children's clothing store), and 223 S. Superior Street (the former Henry's Fashion Shop). The buildings at 225 and 203 were identified as our first and second choices, respectively. With Ken Kolmodin's help we evaluated the suitability of the structures in terms of renovations and construction that would be needed. However, circumstances dictated the choice in early November. The Rascal's clothing shop was leased, and the Albion Civic Foundation decided to purchase the building at 203 S. Superior, with the Volunteer Center in mind as a tenant.
Meanwhile, the steering committee again submitted a questionnaire to prospective participants, seeking their preferences and suggestions concerning a cooperative structure of some kind. Responses were sparser than to the questionnaire about facilities and equipment, and it was becoming obvious that organizations did not have the resources to bear the full cost of operating the center, and probably never would. It was also clear that the plan to open the center by the end of 1987 was unrealistic.
By late January 1988, the foundation had completed purchase of the Central Party Store building and had arranged with Dick Mitchell of Mitchell Associates Architects, Ann Arbor, for design work. Most of the budget for renovation was provided for in the Kellogg grant, but the foundation made some investment as well.
The College had advertised for two positions, administer of the entire Kellogg grant project and coordinator of the volunteer center. Ginny Tunnicliff was appointed Interim Project Administrator/Coordinator.
Candidates for the coordinator position were interviewed by the organizational board in mid-February 1988. The position was offered to Linda Shelles, a member of the organizational board, and she resigned from the board to accept it. A committee worked with Mitchell to develop the building plans, and bids were solicited in late April. The bids were much above budget, and the plans had to be simplified and a new price negotiated. The board adopted the name "Albion Volunteer Service Organization" for itself and "Albion Volunteer Service Center" for the center to be opened. In June, the board learned that asbestos had been discovered in the building, which necessitated extra work before construction could begin.
The center opened without fanfare the first week of November in 1988. The organizational board held its first meeting at the center November 10, 1988 -- the third meeting to be held at the center. Finishing touches were still being completed on the building. Evening hours at the center began the following week with volunteer staffing.
A grand opening was held December 3, 1988.
The Kellogg Grant expired May 31, 1993. The AVSO assumed complete responsibility for administering the center on June 1. Equipment and furnishings were turned over to the organization by Albion College, which had owned them as grantee of the Kellogg Foundation, to be used indefinitely in the center's operations.
