Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 12, 1991 TAG: 9103120132
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KIM SUNDERLAND/ NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Recently returned from Peace Corps work overseas, Jane Wills of Christiansburg has been appointed to head the agency, which offered programs to about 450 mentally retarded participants in 1990.
"We've come a long way from the '50s," said Wills. "I remember there was a time when not one program existed for the mentally retarded."
Wills, 59, wound up in the New River Valley after a divorce in 1985, and when one of her three children came to Virginia Tech. Before then, her family lived abroad and throughout the U.S. because her husband was an industrial executive.
The mountains, the people's friendliness and the support she's received have made her decide to stay - and expand her horizons.
She received a recreation and leisure studies degree in 1988 from Radford University and was certified in therapeutic recreation.
Despite the connotation of the word "recreation," Wills' certification was anything but a picnic. She completed a 600-hour internship, took a national exam, learned anatomy and did rehabilitation work with mentally retarded, aging and mentally ill patients.
And as if that hadn't been enough, she "also had to do volunteer work," said Wills, a member of the Virginia Recreation and Park Society.
The volunteer requirement took her to the Cambodian border of Thailand with the Peace Corps. For almost two years, Wills was assigned to the Girl Guide Association of Thailand, where she found a doctor to help those with hearing problems and got money for a garden program to help feed poor children.
"In the developing world, people don't have knowledge to access help," Wills said. "So helping them find help is extremely important."
Wills lived through military skirmishes in the area: "The Khmer Rouge is still at it," she said. "I did hear shells, and they shook my home."
Her family's concern for her, and the nearing war in the Persian Gulf, brought Wills home again, where she answered an advertisement for the agency's job.
"We're excited and thrilled to death to have her," said board President Sandra Lenhart. "She has a wonderful background that will truly benefit the agency."
Lenhart, a Christiansburg Elementary teacher, heads a 16-member volunteer board that in December fired four-year director Suzanne Verdu.
"She just didn't work out," Lenhart said.
"I was fired by letter, and no reasons were given," said Verdu, who lives in Blacksburg and has a master's degree in recreational therapy. "A few people decided they didn't want me, so I was fired."
Wills isn't concerned with the past and has many plans for the agency, including keeping educational, social and recreational activities going. She also wants to improve community participation, start programs in Floyd and Pulaski counties, complete a census and possibly begin an in-home program for the severely retarded.
With the recession affecting funding, Wills wants to give public speeches advocating the United Way. Her agency's $60,000 annual budget is mainly supported by New River Valley United Ways.
"I'm not so scared [about the economy] as I am motivated to do public relations," Wills said. "I'm highly motivated to keep this agency in top form, and the United Way is extremely important to that goal."
For information, call the agency at 381-0310.
by CNB