This year’s Tom Strain Volunteer of the Year recipient is Paul Allen, who serves as MCC’s Lead Volunteer and unofficial, beloved Tour Guide. Paul has been a blessing to MCC since he joined our team in August 2009. A go-getter from the start, Paul started staffing a weekly Cyber Center shift right away and stepped into a leadership role in March 2010 when he took over volunteer orientations. In addition, he is a staple at MCC events, setting up and running the technical side of things. All in all, Paul has volunteered more than 230 hours with MCC. Always willing to do more, he jokes, “If MCC wants to hire me as an employee, I’ll donate my entire salary back to the agency.”

Community Projects Specialist Meleah Jones, who oversees MCC’s volunteer program, said, “Paul has been a lifesaver to me and this agency, helping us run our volunteer program, offering workable solutions to issues that arise, and completing every task with a willing enthusiasm. I don’t know what we’d do without him!” In addition to his work with MCC, Paul is a successful student and Volunteer Director with Pride Houston. And, yes, he’s single!

Montrose Counseling Center’s Volunteer of the Year Award is named after Tom Strain, who saved countless lives as a volunteer for Gay & Lesbian Switchboard Houston prior to its joining MCC. He then went on to train scores of volunteers on crisis intervention and worked for many years as a therapist at Montrose Counseling Center. Previous winners of the Tom Strain Volunteer of the Year Award are Theo Thourson in 2006, Kelly D. Bryan in 2007, and Wesley D. Capps in 2008.

Volunteers welcome! Volunteers may be involved as much or as little as they’d like to be. Some stop by every week to help with clerical tasks, work on building issues, complete case management work, assist community members on the computer, and to answer calls on our 24-hour crisis intervention hotline. We see others once or twice a year at special events and to complete projects. To find out more information about our volunteer opportunities or to fill out an application, please click here.