Monday, March 26, 2007

Angel to Milwaukee’s older and vulnerable people: Gwen Jackson

“She walks on non-profit water,” said Peter Goldberg (president and CEO of the Alliance for Children and Families) of Consortium member Gwen Jackson in a Journal Sentinel article by Felicia Thomas-Lynn.

Ms. Jackson is an indefatigable volunteer and champion of the disadvantaged and the vulnerable. She was one of the first people I met at a Consortium event when I started work here in October, and she’s been an important presence at most events since.

As Goldberg said, “When Gwen Jackson speaks, people think.” There’s not much higher praise for an elder (or anyone) than that.

A member of the Senior Citizen Hall of Fame and Milwaukee County Commission on Aging, she serves organizations ranging from the American Red Cross to Early Music Now. There’s even a building named after her.

A fund to help elderly people and others who live in group homes throughout the state, the Gwen T. Jackson Angel Fund, was created through Volunteers of America of Wisconsin.

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t think the fund is most appropriately named!

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