Dorothy Grisham doesn’t want to limit her volunteer efforts and charitable ventures to one specific community. She tries to spread out her work, acknowledging that “there are children in need throughout Chattanooga.” She tries to do everything she can to benefit as many as possible.
“I was helped by the generosity of the community when I was younger,” Grisham said. “A local scholarship made it so I could go to college, and so I try to pay that back.”
Now an Allstate agent in the East Brainerd area, Grisham was recently honored by the Kappa Iota chapter of the local Omega Psi Phi fraternity as the group’s 2015 Citizen of the Year for her numerous efforts in and around Metro Chattanooga.
Grisham’s volunteer involvements include raising money for the Cherokee Area Council of the Boy Scouts, mentoring young girls with Girls Inc., working on the board of Urban League as well as sitting on a foster care review panel to work as an advocate for foster children. And she does all this while working full time.
“It was a shock to me to be awarded like that,” she said. “I mean, there are a whole lot of people in Chattanooga that do so much to help. I obviously don’t do it all, but we do what we can.”
Grisham began her volunteer efforts over 15 years ago, although she has been involved in improving the community for much longer. Her degree is in social work.
“There were a lot of underprivileged kids from the city at my church, and I figured I could help out in some way,” she said, recalling her start in local volunteer work. “I got my start with Big Brothers, Big Sisters. Since then, I’ve just been engaged in trying to help kids have better opportunities and experiences in the community. There are a lot of children that don’t have experiences that the everyday, average kid does, but if we give them a voice, then we can try to make it better for them.”
When someone from Omega Psi Phi called saying they wished to honor her, Grisham said she suggested there could be a more qualified person in the community, someone who had done more, but they told her she was doing a great deal herself.
“I think the main part of this for us is that my husband and I both came from very humble places and our lifelong goal is to help children whenever we can,” Grisham said. “It’s not a lot, but every little bit counts. To know that someone is advocating on your behalf is such a huge thing for a child.”
Email Shane Foley at sfoley@timesfreepress.com.