Volunteer Spotlight: Joanna Norris

Each month, we highlight one of the incredible volunteers of the ACR community. This month, it's Joanna Norris! Joanna was instrumental in making our recent center remodel happen. She put her design and space planning skills to use and helped us come up with a floor plan that best utilizes our space. Thanks for all you contribute, Joanna! What motivates you to volunteer? I love that volunteering lets me meet people I wouldn’t ordinarily get to know, and it’s good to know I’m helping something bigger than myself. Plus I love working with my hands, so I’d much rather chat with a friend while rolling fabric than while getting a pedicure! Why ACR? I’ve always been a maker of every sort and I love the challenge of figuring out a new craft. But that means I end up with shelves and shelves of supplies I might never use again. It’s satisfying to pass those on to someone else who will be excited to find them. And it means when I get new supplies I can buy them from ACR and then donate them back again!  How long have you volunteered with ACR? I started by doing drop-in volunteer nights at the old location a couple of years ago. More recently I’ve been helping with bigger projects that let me use my background in retail planning and merchandising.  Where else have/do you volunteer? Most recently, I’ve volunteered with APA Thrift and the Brentwood school library. When I lived in Portland, I volunteered at a tool lending library (repairing tools) and the Independent Publishing Resource Center (supervising the letterpress studio). What do you enjoy the most about volunteering at ACR? I’ve really enjoyed working on the store remodel because it provides endless opportunities for brainstorming and problem solving. While untangling yarn or washing dishes, I find myself thinking up big ideas for ACR that may or may not ever happen. I hope I can do more of this for ACR and other organizations in the future! Do you have any interesting or funny stories about something that happened while you were volunteering at ACR?I always have to laugh at myself for being so terrible at shelving bucket! I find myself staring at shelves as if they’re complicated algebra equations. It seems like it would be an easy task, but it’s an over-thinker’s worst nightmare.