LAUNCHING SHANTI NATIONAL TRAINING INSTITUTE:Why Volunteer Managers Need to Be Lifelong LearnersDr. Charles A. Garfield

The year was 1979 and Shanti had been serving Bay Area clients facing life threatening illnesses for five years. We were one of the first volunteer based organizations of its kind in the nation and over 300 organizations and communities in the U.S. and abroad had contacted us for help in setting up similar services. Already, a large part of my time was spent responding to these inquiries in person and on the phone. I realized the time was right for Shanti to start a national training institute to share our model of volunteer based peer support in a more organized fashion.