Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, December 25, 1993 TAG: 9312250038
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: BETSY BIESENBACH STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
For 27 1/2 years, Rikard, a social worker, was employed by the Children's Home Society until she retired as its director in 1978. It would be understandable if Rikard wanted to spend her retirement working in her yard, at church activities or pursuing other hobbies.
She prefers to spend her spare time in the drafty, worn-out former school building that houses Roanoke Area Ministries. There she meets and works with people from every station of life, from the homeless to some of the valley's most influential people.
Rikard has been a volunteer with RAM for 20 years. She has been a member of the board of directors during that time and has been its president for four terms.
She runs RAM's Family Advocacy program, which connects needy people who need home repairs with Sunday schools and other organizations looking for volunteer projects. The volunteers provide the labor, and the program provides the materials.
Rikard also fills in for Dannie McLain, who screens applicants for money from the emergency assistance fund, when he is sick or on vacation. Much of the money for this fund comes from the Good Neighbors program.
"She does whatever we ask her to do," said RAM Director Julie Hollingsworth. "She's a very upbeat person."
Among her many other civic and social activities, Rikard represents RAM on the board of Better Beginnings Coalition of the Roanoke Valley, a program that works with teen-age mothers. Working with these young women has been a lifelong passion for Rikard.
Hollingsworth said Rikard doesn't like to give her age, and Rikard wouldn't say when she began her career. Originally from Boston, she trained to be a teacher, but social work seemed to be a more fitting field.
"I've always been an `on the soapbox' type of person," she said. At first, most of her training came from experience, but as the years went by, she completed formal training as well. She began studying adoptive homes and went on to work with unmarried mothers.
Although their problems seemed remote from her own upbringing, "I always felt so sad for them," she said. "Teen-age mothers need an advocate. Lots of people don't really understand where they're coming from."
The solution to teen-age pregnancy is a long-term one, she said. "People need to pay attention to these children."
Since Rikard became involved with RAM and its programs, "they've really built it up," she said. It is the only charity in the Roanoke Valley that provides emergency assistance, both through RAM House, the agency's day shelter, and through the Presbyterian Community Center.
"We get a lot of work done for comparatively little money," she said.
Lately, Rikard has been trying to cut back on her community involvement so she can have more time for herself. But it's unlikely that she will ever quit her volunteer work completely.
"She likes to see change happen. She is very dedicated to those who are without, and to RAM," Hollingsworth said.
"There are a lot of people who need our help," Rikard said. "It's very satisfying to give it."
Checks should be made payable to Good Neighbors Fund and mailed to Roanoke Times & World-News, P.O. Box 1951, Roanoke 24008.
by CNB