TRIUMPHS: Hotline leader finds calling
UNITED WAY IN THE NEWS
May 2, 2006
The Detroit Free Press
NAME: Ernie Cooper
ACCOMPLISHMENT: Last week he was honored with a Volunteer of the Year Award from the United Way for Southeastern Michigan. Cooper is crisis line supervisor at the Common Ground Sanctuary in Oakland County and has done this sort of volunteer work for about 35 years.
ON THE AWARD: "It's always nice, but it's not why volunteers do what they do," said the 58-year-old from Lathrup Village. "What felt good was walking on a stage in front of 1,000 other volunteers" at the awards luncheon, where Cooper received the Heart of Gold Award.
A TEACHER WITH TROUBLED PUPILS: During the late 1960s while working as a chemistry teacher at Barnum Junior High School and Seaholm High in the Birmingham district, Cooper began seeing many struggling students. Some used drugs or alcohol or had difficulties at home, and had trouble learning because of their problems. Confidentiality requirements and other restrictions limited what Cooper, and even school counselors, could do to help, he said. "I helped a few, but I needed to do more," he said.
DOING MORE: He found a way to do more when he saw a newspaper ad seeking volunteers for a crisis hotline, which was a new idea at the time. He signed up in 1969, trained for two hours and stayed there for several months before he heard about a group that was starting another hotline and opening a counseling center, medical clinic, legal clinic and alternative education center.
COMMON GROUND: The new organization that attracted Cooper and some of his fellow hotline volunteers became Common Ground in 1970. Today is it known as the Common Ground Sanctuary. Its services are many and far-reaching, but the Oakland County nonprofit helps people of all ages, primarily with problems ranging from drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness and homelessness. Cooper helped write the crisis line manual in 1970. The hotline takes 40,000 calls a year.
LOSING FREE TIME: "I don't bowl. I don't play cards. This has been my nights out for all these years. And the people I work with are wonderful," said Cooper, a father of two and grandfather of three. He retired from teaching three years ago.
THANK-YOUS: Cooper does not hear again from the majority of people he counsels on the phone or in person, but "it does happen every once in a while. Someone will send flowers. Someone will send a note or call back and mention how helpful you were."
LIFESAVER: "There are people whose lives I know I have literally saved," from suicides or drug overdoses, Cooper said humbly. "I got to know them personally."
HIS OWN CRISIS: Cooper recently started treatment for cancer, and he's drawing on his memories of hotline callers who have overcome their own battles. "To know what people have been through and what they've done to get through it gives me strength during the trying times," he said. "It's amazing how resilient humans are."
By Kim North Shine
May 2, 2006
The Detroit Free Press
NAME: Ernie Cooper
ACCOMPLISHMENT: Last week he was honored with a Volunteer of the Year Award from the United Way for Southeastern Michigan. Cooper is crisis line supervisor at the Common Ground Sanctuary in Oakland County and has done this sort of volunteer work for about 35 years.
ON THE AWARD: "It's always nice, but it's not why volunteers do what they do," said the 58-year-old from Lathrup Village. "What felt good was walking on a stage in front of 1,000 other volunteers" at the awards luncheon, where Cooper received the Heart of Gold Award.
A TEACHER WITH TROUBLED PUPILS: During the late 1960s while working as a chemistry teacher at Barnum Junior High School and Seaholm High in the Birmingham district, Cooper began seeing many struggling students. Some used drugs or alcohol or had difficulties at home, and had trouble learning because of their problems. Confidentiality requirements and other restrictions limited what Cooper, and even school counselors, could do to help, he said. "I helped a few, but I needed to do more," he said.
DOING MORE: He found a way to do more when he saw a newspaper ad seeking volunteers for a crisis hotline, which was a new idea at the time. He signed up in 1969, trained for two hours and stayed there for several months before he heard about a group that was starting another hotline and opening a counseling center, medical clinic, legal clinic and alternative education center.
COMMON GROUND: The new organization that attracted Cooper and some of his fellow hotline volunteers became Common Ground in 1970. Today is it known as the Common Ground Sanctuary. Its services are many and far-reaching, but the Oakland County nonprofit helps people of all ages, primarily with problems ranging from drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness and homelessness. Cooper helped write the crisis line manual in 1970. The hotline takes 40,000 calls a year.
LOSING FREE TIME: "I don't bowl. I don't play cards. This has been my nights out for all these years. And the people I work with are wonderful," said Cooper, a father of two and grandfather of three. He retired from teaching three years ago.
THANK-YOUS: Cooper does not hear again from the majority of people he counsels on the phone or in person, but "it does happen every once in a while. Someone will send flowers. Someone will send a note or call back and mention how helpful you were."
LIFESAVER: "There are people whose lives I know I have literally saved," from suicides or drug overdoses, Cooper said humbly. "I got to know them personally."
HIS OWN CRISIS: Cooper recently started treatment for cancer, and he's drawing on his memories of hotline callers who have overcome their own battles. "To know what people have been through and what they've done to get through it gives me strength during the trying times," he said. "It's amazing how resilient humans are."
By Kim North Shine
Labels: civic engagement, InTheNews
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