Exemplifying the best qualities of volunteerism, Mr. Brewer has worked selflessly throughout the course of his life to help support those living with mental or physical disabilities.
GRIMES, IA, October 21, 2022 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Jay W. Brewer has been included in Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Exemplifying the best qualities of volunteerism, Mr. Brewer has worked selflessly throughout the course of his life to help support those living with mental or physical disabilities. Beginning his journey at the Iowa Veterans Home in 1982, he availed himself on behalf of residents by modifying and adjusting wheelchairs in order to provide better positioning and comfort and routinely offered his services as a consultant and instructor to private nursing homes on a weekly basis to educate caregivers regarding the health benefits of proper seating. To facilitate this, Mr. Brewer aided in the establishment of a private clinic that specialized in wheelchairs.
From 1990 until 1992, Mr. Brewer served as the bureau chief of the Department of Human Services for the State of Iowa, during which time he also sat on the governor's developmental disabilities council as its executive director. He subsequently became involved with several organizations relevant to his work, such as the Iowa Rehabilitation Association, the Great Plains Regional Rehabilitation Association and the National Rehabilitation Association. Through these connections, Mr. Brewer availed himself of the opportunity to work with counselors to enhance employment support and community integration efforts aimed at those living with mental or physical disabilities, as well as the homeless.
In 2007, Mr. Brewer joined the Iowa chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advocacy on behalf of people affected by mental illness and their families. Active with the organization until 2009, he was responsible for providing coordination for their annual fundraising walk, which raised money and increased public awareness regarding mental illness. In this capacity, Mr. Brewer recruited and trained leaders for the walk, liaised with sponsors and assisted in promotions and media coverage. During this time, he also volunteered at the Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad as a brakeman, fireman and diesel engineer.
In 2010, Mr. Brewer established Grimes Volunteer Support Services (GVSS), a social services organization in Grimes, Iowa, that seeks to provide a variety of services for disadvantaged residents of the community, such as transportation to and from medical appointments, yard work, snow removal and the provisioning of medical equipment, all at no cost to the individual in need. In his role as the president of the organization, Mr. Brewer provided leadership and direction for the board of directors, recruited sponsors, developed a website and created an email newsletter. Though he has since retired, he continues to serve in an advisory role for the GVSS board of directors.
Among his other civic endeavors, Mr. Brewer maintained involvement for 30 years on the board of directors for the Community Choice Credit Union, during which time he held such positions as the chairman, vice-chairman and secretary of the organization. Throughout the course of his tenure, he served on the audit, executive, personnel, finance, membership and delinquent loan committees, among many others. Likewise, Mr. Brewer was active throughout the 2010s as the president of both the Polk County Health Services Board and the Grimes Chamber & Economic Development.
Outside of his primary endeavors, Mr. Brewer worked as a school teacher and principal for a public school district, having earned an undergraduate degree in education and a Master of Arts in administration from Truman State University. He also served as the owner of both a phone and a construction company.
For his myriad contributions and diligent work on behalf of the people of Iowa, Mr. Brewer received numerous certificates of thanks from the state government and earned a plaque that honored his work at GVSS. In accounting for his success, he credits the fact that his work has bequeathed him with a variety of perspectives, attitudes and approaches to business and community organizing. He also attributes his deep and abiding devotion to enhancing the lives of people who live with disabilities, as well as all of those who live in his community. In this, Mr. Brewer has worked tirelessly to uphold the words of his father; "We strive to leave this world a better place than how we found it."
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