Despite having 12 children and more than two dozen grandchildren, Ollie Morris can’t seem to get her fill when it comes to spending time with kids.
At 89 years old, Morris has spent the past 25 years working with at-risk youths in the Denver area, providing tutoring and assistance improving literary skills.
Morris first received a letter from a social services group in April 1991 seeking volunteers to join a variety of programs aimed at helping kids.
Last Friday marked more than two decades of service with Volunteers of America, a national nonprofit organization that helps a wide range of people in need.
“I worked at Excelsior Youth Center for 23 years and got to work with a bunch of young ladies, anywhere from 11 to 18 years old,” Morris said. “It was mostly an alcohol and drug abuse school for troubled girls, kind of a treatment center within a school. We would work with the kids to develop reading, math skills and cosmetology.”
With a schedule that is more full-time than typical volunteer work, Morris works seven hours a day, five days a week as a foster grandparent with the Colorado branch of Volunteers of America.
Foster Grandparents assists teachers in the classroom by offering one-on-one tutoring, primarily in subjects such as reading and math.
Morris works with two groups of students with nonverbal or severe learning disabilities at Place Bridge Academy in Denver.
Her classes are made up of a group of second- through fourth-graders and a group of sixth-through eighth-graders, many of whom are learning English as a second language.
“I’m just trying to make a difference, and this work gives me something to do after having raised my own kids,” Morris said. “That, and it gives me something to do instead of sitting around watching soap operas and babysitting my grandkids.”
Mayor Michael Hancock recognized Morris’ years of service in a ceremony Tuesday.
“Ollie is beloved by the teachers and students she works with; they constantly say that she is an inspiration,” Patti Krattenmaker, project manager for Volunteers of America’s Foster Grandparent program, said in a statement. “However, after so many years of unwavering service, working with some of the most challenging students, her commitment is incredible and something that should inspire all of us.”
Natalie Munio: 303-954-1666, nmunio@denverpost.com or @nataliemunio
