Toni Reece: Hi there. This is Toni Reece, and welcome to the Get Inspired! Project for Berks County Living Magazine. Today I have Lori Gerhart with me. Welcome.
Lori Gerhart: Thank you. Thanks, Toni.
Toni: I’m happy to have you here. So, take a moment and tell us a little bit about yourself.
Lori: Well, I am the Director of Marketing and Communications for Berks Encore, which is the leading nonprofit organization for senior citizens here in Berks County. Most people know us for Meals on Wheels, but we do so much more. While that’s an important role that we do play here in the county, we offer socialization through our six community centers. We provide counseling with our Medicare counseling; so, if you’re going to turn 65, you can come to us to help you through that maze of Medicare and insurance and Social Security. Plus, we’re doing a really great job of offering new programs for health and wellness to really just help anybody who has questions or issues about a diagnosis of diabetes or when you’re dealing with arthritis. We have some great programs. Fall prevention programs that can help you just live a better life because you know how to manage some of these things.
Toni: How wonderful there’s an agency like this in Berks County for our seniors.
Lori: It really is a secret. Like I said, they know us for Meals on Wheels, but the other programs, not so much. We’re happy to be able to share that information today and wherever we can.
Toni: Great. Well, this interview is all about you and how you are inspired. Are you ready to jump in the Project?
Lori: I think so. Sure.
Toni: Good. So, what does inspiration mean to you?
Lori: Inspiration to me means that it’s a feeling that you get that makes you want to react or take action - to do something that may not be what you normally would have done.
Toni: Do you know when you’re inspired?
Lori: Sure, I think so. I think that you know it because it is an emotional feeling. It’s something that spreads over your chest and you feel like, “Wow, this is great.” Yeah. I think you know it.
Toni: Do you remember the last time you were inspired?
Lori: Well, I get inspired so much here at Berks Encore, because as a marketing person, we do a newspaper, a newsletter. I get to talk to our volunteers. Some of them have the greatest stories. I just talked to a young man, 30 years old, and for his 30th birthday, he was doing 30 days of community service. He grew up in Reading, and so he looked for agencies where he could help around his community. It’s wonderful when you find those stories and hear them. It’s like, “He’s doing this. I can do more.”
Toni: Right, right.
Lori: I can do more than I’m doing.
Toni: You could feel you were inspired by his story.
Lori: Absolutely.
Toni: How do you take that feeling, when you are inspired and examples like that, and put that into practice here in Berks County?
Lori: For me, it’s encouraging more people to get involved. Myself, I worked for 29 years with the Reading Eagle. In that time, I had a wonderful boss, Walt Woolwine. Many people may know him, but he was involved with the Olivets, and he was involved with getting Crime Alert started. He was involved with people like Al Boscov and Chris Kraras. We all know they’re very inspirational people. They’ve got ideas, and they have such big hearts and generosity.
Walt was involved and introduced me to many of those people as we worked together and got me involved in work with other organizations that needed help in marketing and just getting the word out and letting people know what they do. I got involved with some places like the Homebuilders Association and the Restoring Hope Foundation. Wonderful, wonderful group. Opportunity House. Berks Encore —now I work there.
How do I put it in practice? It’s by helping with what I can do, my expertise in marketing and getting the word out and telling people a message about those organizations. I think that’s what it’s all about —connecting their message with people who need the services.
Toni: Absolutely. You started out as volunteering.
Lori: Yes.
Toni: How cool is that? So, who in Berks County inspires you?
Lori: Well, I mentioned a few of them there. I mean, Walter was one of my inspirations. I will tell you that I think it starts with my family. My parents are both from Berks County. They both came from large farm families. Lots of brothers and sisters. In fact, my mom was one of 15, and my dad was one of 9.
Toni: Oh my goodness.
Lori: Their family, my aunts and uncles, my cousins, that was our social network as we were growing up. They have such a deep commitment to family. That inspires me to want to keep our family traditions. Whenever I heard about people who don’t get along with their families, it makes me sad. It’s just something that I really talk to people. “You’ve got to stick with your family.” That inspires me on that end, but they also had such a strong work ethic. They worked hard. They’re Berks County folks. We grew up here. I mean, that’s what you do. Strong faith. They had some ideas about how you treat other people. That has inspired me in what I do.
Toni: Oh, wow. Anybody else you want to give a shout out to?
Lori: Well, I think my boss right now, LuAann Oatman, inspires me. She’s a leader. She is passionate about the seniors that we work with and for. She’s involved at the state level in Meals on Wheels of Pennsylvania. She has a leadership role there. Her passion and desire to stay on the forefront of things that are happening in our industry, and because aging is changing, we want to be there to provide the services and to be a guide, a role in aging for adults in Berks County as they go on.
Toni: The common theme that is coming out of this interview for me is that you are inspired by others who help others and hard work and lead to change the world that some may need help in.
Lori: Absolutely.
Toni: That’s what I’m hearing from you. That is pretty amazing. So, what would you like your legacy to be?
Lori: Well, my legacy, I mean, I’m one of those people, I like to be in the background. I’d rather promote LuAnn and get her out in the forefront with that message; but I think for me, I like the idea of being involved with an agency that is now on the cusp of change. I mean, people are having different needs as they age. Berks Encore is going to be there to provide those services. We’re going through some things right now where we’re looking at, “How do we need to change?” To me, I’m excited to be a part of that and to do whatever I can to help make sure that Berks Encore is relevant as we move through these changes, and that more people know about us, and just to bring the message of what we can do to help them live as independently as they want as long as they want.
Toni: Sounds like a mighty fine legacy for the seniors in this area and the work that you’re doing. Correct?
Lori: Yes.
Toni: Thank you so much for showing up for the Get Inspired! Project.
Lori: Oh, absolutely. It’s my pleasure. Thank you for having me.
Toni: Thank you.
