Chisholm family honored for volunteer efforts

Between its four members, the Chisholm family has a volunteer resume that looks more like a tome than a list.

But it's not something Dean and Penni Chisholm of Columbia Falls planned on, rather it was something the community nurtured in them.

"It grows out of this community," Dean Chisholm explains.

The couple and their children, Henry, 8, and Ava, 5, received the United Way's Family Volunteers of the year award in April 2004. Dean, 38, and Penni, 37, did occasional volunteer work when they were younger, but in the past few years they've intensified their efforts and have included their children.

The Chisholms, both lawyers, devote the majority of their volunteer time to the Columbia Falls School Board and Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), an organization that provides volunteers who are advocates for abused or neglected children involved in the court system.

Dean Chisholm, who is from Missoula, is a member of the Columbia Falls school board. Columbia Falls native Penni Chisholm is on CASA's advisory council.

Penni Chisholm credits CASA as the organization that started the family volunteering in earnest. District Court Judge Kitty Curtis, a friend of Chisholm's and a CASA advisory council member, asked her to serve on the council in 2001. In 2003, Chisholm took on role of chairwoman.

"She stepped into the chair position fairly quickly after she got involved with the program," Curtis said, "and has just done an overwhelmingly good job."

The organization was founded in 2000, so there was much initial groundwork to be laid. Chisholm was instrumental in getting the program organized and running efficiently, Curtis said.

In their practice, the couple see what happens to children who go through the court system, so they were eager to get help those youths.

The couple became increasingly interested in volunteering once they got involved with CASA and saw how much they helped others. And Flathead Valley is such a giving, caring community that they feel encouraged to keep up their efforts, they say.

"It's different here," Penni Chisholm said. "It's the people - you can feel it."

Penni Chilshom specializes in family law and injury litigation. Her husband focuses on general litigation and employment issues. He also is an attorney for the city of Columbia Falls.

After serving two years as CASA chairwoman, Penni Chisholm stepped down but still serves on the advisory council. She is the only Chisholm on the council, but the whole family volunteers with the organization.

"Do you go to some of the meetings, Ava?" Dean Chisholm prompts his daughter to talk about her involvement in CASA.

"No," she replies, "I go to all the meetings."

Her parents laugh, but say she's right. Ava Chisholm accompanies her mother to her volunteer commitments. She goes to CASA meetings where she passes out papers and does other tasks. She also turns pages for Penni Chisholm when she plays piano for the Columbia Falls Community Choir.

Henry Chisholm used to go along, but he's now a second-grader at Glacier Gateway Elementary so he doesn't spend as much time at meetings.

For his part, Dean Chisholm volunteers for CASA by putting together multi-media presentations for his wife and setting up for events. Much of his time, though, goes to the school board.

He took a position on the board last year and plans to run for the position again during the next election. Dean also worked with a citizens group called Friends of School District 6 last year that advocated passing a school levy.

He periodically speaks about law to Columbia Falls High School classes. In the past he's participated in Drug Abuse Resistance Education programs and has volunteered to coach Odyssey of the Mind, a program that teaches children creative problem solving.

That opportunity came about as a result of his membership in Mensa, the international society that requires its members be in the top 2 percent of the population on a standardized intelligence test.

The Chisholms are kept busy with their numerous volunteer efforts, but they're careful to set family as the first priority, Dean and Penni Chisholm say.

The couple married in 1993 after meeting in their first year of law school at the University of Montana. They then moved to Great Falls where they both worked as attorneys.

They imagined they'd be big city lawyers living exciting, glamorous lives. But that lifestyle wasn't for them.

The recreation opportunities, the beauty of the Flathead Valley and the presence of Penni Chisholm's family in Columbia Falls was more of a lure to the young attorney. They moved to Columbia Falls when she was seven months pregnant with Henry.

"It's where we should be," Penni Chisholm said.

They set up their practice in Columbia Falls. Chisholm took time off when Henry was born. A flexible, family-friendly work schedule has since become a way of life for them.

They coordinate their professional agendas and juggle those with their children's schedules and their volunteer commitments. Designating one person as the sole stay-at-home parent and the other as the only lawyer wasn't an option, they say.

"He's too good a dad," Penni Chisholm says.

"And she's such a good lawyer," her husband quips.

Running their own practice enables them to be flexible and to spend time with their kids. Their clients don't suffer from the arrangement because they're careful to take on only as much work as they can do well, they say.

To her credit, Penni Chisholm was co-counsel on the largest personal injury lawsuit verdict in the valley a few years ago on a wrongful death suit a few years ago, Dean Chisholm says. And he has been in Who's Who of American Lawyers for a few years and also is named in the Best Lawyers in America, a biennial publication that lists lawyers who are considered by their peers to be among the top lawyers in the country.

Both attorneys do pro bono cases from time to time.

Henry and Ava, who will be joined by the Chisholm's third child in May or June, spend time in their parents' practice where they have their own "office" in which to play while Mom and Dad work. The Chisholms have a home office so they can work there as needs be.

"It's challenging because you have to coordinate and communicate to have two full-time jobs," Penni Chisholm said. "But (the children) get the best of both worlds, I think."

Bettering that world further is the influence of volunteering, they say. The children give hands-on help such as with stuffing envelopes. But their parents can see they are grasping the concept of philanthropy.

The children come up with ideas for assisting others, especially the children CASA helps. Henry set up a lemonade stand and donated its profits to CASA. When they had money left over they'd saved for a vacation, Henry and Ava told their parents they wanted to donate it to help others.

"I'm glad they're living with an eye toward helping other kids," Penni Chisholm said, "and not just thinking about their own needs."

United Way Executive Director Sherry Stevens-Wulf has witnessed the children's participation during numerous meetings an events. Henry and Ava aren't merely assisting with tasks, they're engaged and interested in what they're doing and who it's helping, she says. And the credit for that goes to their parents.

"They're nurturing volunteerism in their kids and in the community," she says.

Ava and Henry have their own volunteer time as well. They belong to the Humane Society's Crazy4Critters youth club. As club members they volunteer monthly at the shelter.

"I want to meet these children when they're 15 and 16 and see who they are," Stevens-Wulf says. She predicts they'll be seasoned volunteers by then.

And chances are, their parents won't have slowed down a bit.

Reporter Camden Easterling can be reached at 758-4429 or by e-mail at ceasterling@dailyinterlake.com