Enhancing Independent Living for Older Adults and Individuals with Disabilities
We fill a need everyone can relate to.
As we age, all of us face new challenges. VIC was formed to fill the niche of compassion required to care for the most vulnerable people in our communities.
OUR PURPOSE
Since 1986, Volunteer Interfaith Caregivers of Corvallis has been on a mission to offer vital services to homebound individuals with disabilities and older adults in Benton County. We respond to the needs of this fragile population, filling a gap where government assistance leaves off and the Care Receiver’s resources are exhausted.
In addition to living on fixed incomes, a high percentage of people helped by VIC have no family nearby, further limiting their ability to handle simple interactions outside the home. Challenges grow when the person also lives alone. Staying in a person’s home, a place filled with their belongings and memories, is one of the greatest gifts you can give someone.
VIC exists to serve these people.
OUR VALUES
VIC’s core values are based on the Golden Rule: Treat others as you wish to be treated. We believe that when older people and individuals with disabilities in our community need help, and we can help them, it is our duty to do so.
When our community can come together to support its most fragile members, it speaks volumes about the caliber of humans living in this place we all call home. If people in the community are overlooked because of their circumstances, the community as a whole suffers because we are only as strong as our most vulnerable.
These are values VIC Volunteers all share.
OUR VISION OF SUCCESS
VIC’s success is rooted in maintaining a group of strong and committed volunteers who provide care and assistance to a fragile, often overlooked community. VIC Caregivers continuously seek to aid people with disabilities and older adults in Benton County by driving them to and from medical appointments, helping with grocery shopping, stopping by for friendly visits, and building access ramps at their homes when wheelchairs or walkers are in use.
Success is being able to assign a volunteer to every qualifying request for service and to see both the number of Care Receivers and the number of VIC Volunteers increase.
“More than 10,000 Americans are turning 65 every day; in 2024, more people will turn 65 than ever! This socioeconomic shift impacts our employees, families, and neighborhoods.”
National Volunteer Caregivers Network
Our Story
Our history began when a ministry created to assist aging persons at the Corvallis Seventh-Day Adventist Church became so popular that the demand for services outpaced the supply of volunteers. Seeking ways to perpetuate “Chore Service,” as the ministry was known, led to contact with the Area Agency on Aging, where a dynamic community leader and the agency’s Director, Betty Johnson, suggested creating an interfaith collaboration among several Corvallis churches.
In 1986, Volunteer Interfaith Caregivers of Corvallis, Inc., also known today as VIC, was launched as a 501(c)3 nonprofit.
VIC has been supported by eight Corvallis churches for nearly 40 years, each providing dedicated Caregiver Volunteers who tirelessly serve neighbors in need across Benton County. These churches include First Baptist Church, First Christian Church, First Presbyterian Corvallis, Episcopal Church of the Good Samaritan, Grace Lutheran Church, Corvallis Seventh-Day Adventist Church, St Mary Catholic Church, First United Methodist Church.
Our Leadership
VIC is governed by an unpaid Board of Directors, one from each church plus members of the community at large. A professional Executive Director hired in 2022 runs day-to-day operations, maintains community contacts, and directs fundraising and outreach efforts. Staff positions supporting clerical tasks and special projects are filled 100% by VIC volunteers.