Bothell Volunteer Grew Her Group Into 800 Pairs Of Helping Hands

After hauling umpteen cardboard boxes down from a third-floor apartment in a building with no elevator, Cheryl Honey was ready for a breather.

"These stairs are deadly," she puffed as she set a particularly heavy box down. Then without missing a beat, she switched to a more positive outlook. "No it's not deadly. It's good exercise. Every time I do something like this I lose a few more pounds."

The moment was pure Cheryl Honey - turning a negative into a positive, a problem into an opportunity.

Honey is the founder of the Family Support Network, a 4-year-old organization in which people help people, continually spreading the word about who needs help and who can give it.

Yesterday, Honey, 40, was among a half-dozen volunteers helping an unemployed woman and her young daughter move from Lake City to Kent.

Volunteers not only lugged boxes, bed, chairs, lamps and dressers, but they also passed the hat among themselves to come up with nearly $60 for the rental truck.

"I like this because it's something I can do directly to make a difference - no middleman," said Craig Weiss.

Although Weiss enjoys his job at a family-support agency in Snohomish County, he gets a special pleasure from the roll-up-your-sleeves volunteer work he does through the Family Support Network. "I'm not afraid of a little real work," he said. "I'm having a good time."

The woman whom volunteers helped yesterday, Lorinda Durst, said the move would have been expensive and burdensome if she hadn't heard about the support network. Daughter Karen, hauling a floor lamp down to the truck, observed with a sigh: "That's 58 stairs. Fifty-eight!"

Honey, a Bothell mother of four, started the group when she realized people were getting increasingly isolated from helping one another.

On her personal computer she publishes the "Village Book" for members to use as a reference. It's a three-ring binder about a half-inch thick that contains the profiles and skills of 150 families.

A World Wide Web page on the Internet, created last year, has also helped spread the word about the group and dramatically increased volunteers.

The effort doesn't require a huge time commitment; volunteers put in an average of about 10 hours a month, Honey said.

Members don't spend all their time dealing with problems. They also do something old-fashioned: socializing. They've camped, gone boating and even line-danced together.

The group now boasts more than 800 people who share resources and do volunteer work, and 150 "family advocates" who go through a two-day training to acquaint themselves with various resources and activities available.

It's open to almost anyone for a $25 fee. Background checks through the Washington State Patrol are conducted, Honey said, because it's important for people to trust the volunteers, who do things like help out in homes or pick up children at day care.

The group is diverse and not connected with any religion. Its next training will be Friday and next Saturday at the American Red Cross at 1900 25th Ave. S., Seattle.

Honey likes the fact that people from many occupations are joining the organization, partly because the volunteer work gives them a chance to set their professional roles aside and "come as themselves . . . not the policeman, not the doctor."

For more information:

Call the Family Support Network at 487-4009. Links to e-mailing and to the Family Support Network Web page are on The Seattle Times Top Stories Web site at: http://www.seattletimes.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- Give us your ideas: If you know of a person or project making a difference - from fighting crime to cleaning the environment to helping kids - call the Making It Work voice-mail line, 464-3338, or write describing your nominee: c/o Steve Pierce, The Seattle Times, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA, 98111. Include a phone number for more information.