Our story

Spring Valley Seniors Staying Put (SVSSP) began in January of 2014 when our founder Margy Balwierz saw an evening news story about a volunteer group that helped seniors to age in place. She recognized this as a great way to support her own community and gathered a handful of local people who were interested in helping seniors in the Spring Valley community. This core group became our first board and together they began the important work of envisioning how Staying Put could best exemplify the rural tradition of “neighbors helping neighbors”. Over several months they researched different ways to grow and support this new venture, sought expert advice from nearby organizations and government agencies, and began the process of incorporating as a non-profit organization. 

SVSSP was granted 501(c)(3) status in February 2015, and by September 2015 began offering services. The dedicated board of directors, staff Volunteer Coordinator Kathy Nyeggen, and the newly engaged local volunteers worked hard to offer a wide range of services to seniors in need of rides, a hand around the house, or just a friendly visit. Year over year, volunteers and client numbers grew, Staying Put began offering more special events & programs, and increased our connection to the larger community.

There have been numerous challenges for our area in recent years: the COVID-19 pandemic, closures of critical local services like health clinics and grocery stories, and growing caregiver fatigue have all impacted our work. But the needs of our community have never been clearer and Staying Put is committed to rise to them. In 2021, Kelly Bonner joined the staff as a full time Administrative Assistant and beginning in 2022, we expanded our geographic range to include the Elmwood area.

2023 has brought the greatest increase in services offered in our history, with Staying Put on track to nearly double the number of rides & miles driven to transport clients. We’ve increased our efforts to serve Elmwood, recruit more volunteers, and have added Kendall Vingua as Advancement Director. We are proud of all our volunteers, clients and supporters and can’t wait to see what the future holds for Staying Put.