Rose Telfer
Rose joined Wellspring’s volunteer team in 1993, when it was a young organization just getting started. She has been a steady influence in the volunteer activities ever since.
Rose offered to volunteer on the suggestion of her husband, Keith, who was one of Wellspring’s first yoga leaders. Recently retired with time on her hands, and motivated by a sense of community responsibility, Rose took Keith’s suggestion and was invited to take part in one of the first volunteer training programs.
From that moment, she was hooked.
Rose connected immediately with the energy of Wellspring and the compassionate foundation upon which it was built. The sense of community within the walls of Wellspring, and the collective ambition to help others, resonated with her own experience, having cared for her father, mother and daughter who were diagnosed with cancer.
Rose has taken on many different roles, and has always been ready to engage in new challenges that supported Wellspring and its members. Never has she replaced one role with another – each new contribution was offered in addition to existing ones.
She has been a permanent feature on the front desk, starting at the Coach House in 1993. When Wellspring Sunnybrook opened, she doubled this contribution and took on a weekly front desk shift at both locations.
Rose also offered Reiki for five years at both the Coach House and Wellspring Sunnybrook, and became part of Wellspring’s team of caregiver peer support volunteers.
She served on Wellspring’s Program Committee from 1996 to 2002, and offered counsel on the development of new programming and quality assurance practices.
Rose also make a memorable contribution as part of a team of volunteers who built a gorgeous canoe by hand that was auctioned at Wellspring’s signature event, the Henderson Hoedown. In doing so, she extended her contribution into the area of program funding.