Open house at HAVEN will honor Karen Jantz

HAVEN’s longtime Volunteer Coordinator, Karen Jantz, will begin a new chapter in her life at the end of September. On Thursday, Sept. 24, HAVEN is hosting an open house from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. to honor Karen and give her friends in the community an opportunity to stop by and wish her well in her retirement. Refreshments will be provided and guests may use the “office door” closest to Spruce Street.

Karen started part time work at HAVEN at the beginning of 2002 which soon became full time. For the past 14 years she has coordinated all of HAVEN’s volunteers and interns, worked on all of the fundraising events, and managed the in-kind donations of the agency. Karen is a familiar person to those who play HAVEN bingo at Lincoln Lanes on Sunday nights and those who buy popcorn and lemonade at the summer concerts in Normal Park. She is also well known to many of the other helping organizations in the area plus many past and present HAVEN volunteers.

One of Karen’s important roles at HAVEN was preparing a weekly supper for the support group meetings, where her delicious home-cooked meals were always appreciated. In addition to cooking, Karen continually shared her many practical skills and was resourceful in all she did. Working for a non-profit means making the best use of what you have and ensuring everything goes as far as possible. If something could be made from next to nothing, Karen knew how to do it.

Through her work at HAVEN, Karen became connected with other agencies in the area. She served on the Lincoln County Homeless Coalition, the North Central Community Action Program Board of Directors, and the Communidad Hispana Board of Directors.

According to Karen, the favorite parts of her job were meeting all the different people she has encountered over the years, and also cooking for the support group. When asked her plans for retirement she said with a smile, “not doing anything for the near future."

Please join us at HAVEN for Karen’s retirement open house on Thursday, Sept. 24.