At our Living Well Disability Services Transforming Lives Gala on August 15, we will showcase the annual Dreammaker Award winners. The winners will be celebrated for their hard work, building awareness for the disability community and using their voices as a platform for advocacy. Today we are happy to introduce Greg Solie, our 2025 Volunteer Dreammaker.
Greg is Living Well’s handyman extraordinaire who can often be found at our Cloman home doing any number of things throughout the year. In 2017 Greg connected with us as he was looking for ways to help in the community after he retired. He connected with Volunteer Program Manager, Kathy Anderson, and when asked what he enjoyed and was good at, he said he liked to do handyman tasks—and the rest is history!
Greg initially volunteered at Victoria Road, our largest home at the time (12 people). There was always something for him to help with and he was there on a regular basis taking care of tasks. When it was time for Victoria Road to close as people were moving to three smaller homes, Mears, Selkirk and Cloman, Greg took it up a notch and helped with packing, cleaning, and actual moving. Since then, Greg continues his assistance at Cloman where his partnership and camaraderie with managers Sam Subah and Melanie Jones is ongoing.
Melanie says,” Greg is a big part of our Cloman Team, and we are honored to have him volunteer at our home. He is funny, talented and kind. Over the years, Greg built relationships with the people at Cloman. If something breaks or needs attention, Greg is only one phone call away. He will always find time for us, unless he is on vacation with his wife. We are grateful to have him on our side.”
Sam adds, “Greg never says no to any job and is always willing to figure it out if it is in his wheelhouse or not. He’s very devoted to making a difference every time he shows up to work. It does not matter how much the work is or how difficult the task may be, he is always 100% willing to complete the task, and what is even better is that he does it with a smile all the time.”
Just a few of the examples of projects Greg has completed at Cloman are repairing dressers, painting the shed, building an addition on the deck, and installing shelves in the garage. In the summer of 2024 Greg lead a large group of volunteers from CHS with getting Cloman’s extensive yard in shape for the summer. Greg even took an overflowing truckload of yard waste to the disposal center. A neighbor said they had never seen the yard look better!
Greg has volunteered over 750 hours and has saved us thousands of dollars in maintenance labor costs, as well as saving countless staff time and worry. He goes above and beyond and we are very lucky to have him! And most importantly, Melanie explains that the relationships Greg has developed with everyone that lives and works at Cloman are priceless.
When not at Living Well you can find him and his wife playing Pickle Ball or traveling. And at the Gala maybe we will find him on the dance floor.
We look forward to celebrating Greg at our Transforming Lives Gala. For more information, click here.
(The Volunteer Dreammaker award honors a Living Well Disability Services volunteer—individual or group—who has made an outstanding contribution or demonstrated exemplary leadership, creativity, cooperation and hard work that transformed the lives of people we support.)
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