When I was a director I was always focused on recruiting what I will call “hands on” volunteers such as receptionists, client advocates, sonographers, people to help with the materials assistance program, people to help with fundraising events.As I spoke at churches to recruit volunteers many people would come up to me and express how much they would like to volunteer but they could not give the time required by the volunteer jobs I had mentioned. Others expressed interest in supporting the Center but did not feel their gifts and talents lined up with what we were asking for in terms of volunteer positions.For about 7 years I was the volunteer coordinator for a local hospice here in Pennsylvania where I now live. In order to meet Medicare requirements for hospice I had to reach a quota of volunteer hours each month based on the hands-on services we provided to [ Read more ]
Clients who come to the Center for services carry with them complicated stories and life situations. Fundamental #3 helps us to listen to their stories in such a way as to hone in and focus on their feelings, pressures and strengths.If we do not focus our listening for each client’s S.O.S. we can easily become overwhelmed. When we are overwhelmed we stop listening. When we stop listening empathy and compassion diminishes. When empathy diminishes so does connecting with clients in a meaningful way. It can become a down-hill spiral.But knowing what to listen for, using each client’s SOS as a guide, can keep us on track. We must remind ourselves it is not our job to fix the situation. Our job is to listen and respond in ways that show our client we care about them and want to hear their story. It is listening for and validating her SOS [ Read more ]
I am wondering if you, like me, can identify with this woman in the photo. “Please don’t tell me I have to attend one more meeting online!” But, as this pandemic rages on, looking like it will get worse before it gets better, it seems virtual connecting will be with us for quite a while.Adapting & LearningI have had some great connections on Zoom meetings and other times where I wanted to kick the computer screen and pull out my hair. In evaluating the meetings, I realized the “I want to pull my hair out” meetings were caused by the host not understanding how to use the program. The host also did not not take the time to explain to the participants how to navigate the program.I must confess, I created some of those “kick the screen” moments as a host of virtual meetings, ugh!I lead a community group at [ Read more ]
Survey VolunteersSurvey volunteers about their needs and issues and how they would like to receive on-going education & training. Try and find out their opinion on getting training via:In-person training at the Center (best days & times)Email lessons and worksheetsVirtual meetings on Zoom, Google Meet, etc.You can create surveys on platforms like Google Forms that you can email to volunteers and they can respond online and send back the surveyInformal survey by asking volunteers about topics for in-service while they are at the CenterUsing the survey results, decide on how often you are scheduling in-service training and the topics and publish the dates and topics a year ahead of time.Send reminders about the scheduled in-services one-month out, one week out, and two-days before the actual in-service. Team BuildingGetting to know you icebreakers so volunteers from different shifts and positions get to know one another betterTeam building interactive exercisesSharing of personal [ Read more ]
“There is power in a communication style that values relationship. It matters.”I worked towards my Master’s degree while I was director of the Pregnancy Center in Baltimore. At the beginning of most classes we sat in a large circle and everyone introduced themselves. Most classmates introduced themselves by sharing where they worked and their job title. During these classes, I would often by-pass that description. I would tell people a little about myself, that I liked art, I had an undergrad degree in fine art and that it had been a while since I was in a higher education environment but I was excited to be in the class.I often was hard on myself for not just coming out and saying where I worked and what I did. But the experience taught me how to be thoughtful about what I shared about my work and how and when I shared [ Read more ]
With all the other skills you must cover in the basic volunteer training, the Drama Triangle can often be overlooked. If you do not have time to give the Drama Triangle adequate coverage in your basic volunteer training it can be a good topic for an in-service training.Why is the Drama Triangle important?It helps advocates focus on what their job is and what it is not.It can help clarify the difference between ministry and manipulation and how we can easily fall into the role of rescuer which often leads to manipulation.It gives clear guidelines and helpful roles for self-evaluation.The roles are easy to identify with as most of us occasionally fall into the Drama Triangle with certain people in our lives.It can help advocates understand when and how boundaries can get blurred and how to change roles to establish better listening/advocating boundaries.Here are some ideas of how you can focus [ Read more ]
The Seven Fundamentals are the backbone of the Equipped to Serve training. Some of you may know my story. For those of you who do not know my story, it is important to know how and why the Seven Fundamentals were developed. I started as a volunteer in the Pregnancy Center ministry in its infancy. I attended one of the first trainings ever conducted by the Christian Action Council (now Care Net) back in the early 80s. We were filled with passion about saving babies back then and believed that information about abortion and abortion procedures would be enough to change people’s minds about abortion. Back then we were showing photos of aborted fetuses and the tools and techniques used in abortion procedures. It was so long ago that we used automated slide shows in the counseling room. Eventually I came on staff of the Pregnancy Center.As time went on, I realized that it took [ Read more ]
VisionIt’s a word we hear often. It is important in an organization to have a vision. It is even more important to know the, who, what, when, how and especially the why of that vision. Hopefully it will drive the way your organization makes decisions.Within the larger vision of an organization there can be smaller visions that will help achieve the larger vision. Every volunteer program should have a vision that will help the organization realize its larger stated vision.For example the organization’s vision might be to make abortion rare in your sphere of influence such as your town, city, county, etc. Defining the why, how, when and who will give direction to staff and board members when making decisions in almost every aspect of the ministry. For those of you who are responsible for the volunteer program in your Centers, it would help you to have your own vision [ Read more ]
The Seven Fundamentals are the framework upon which everything else in the Equipped to Serve training builds upon.If information alone changed people’s mind then providing information about abortion and the risks associated with abortion and abortion procedures would be enough. But we all know that it is not enough. In order to move from information-based interactions to connection-based interactions we need a clear set of mindsets and skills and a basis upon which to understand the nature of crisis to enable us to focus on building those connections.The Seven Fundamentals provide those mindsets and skills, each fundamental supporting the others. First, let us look at the mindsets and attitudes that are provided by the first two fundamentals. Next week we will look at the skills provided by the Seven Fundamentals.All the skills in the world do not create connection if the mindset and attitudes we hold towards our clients are [ Read more ]