Volunteerism began to change from the haphazard neighbor-helping-neighbor concept to the highly organized structure it is today during the 1960s with the Peace Corps and VISTA, said Ani Russell, program director and trainer of community volunteers for the Chicago Alliance for Neighborhood Safety. The alliance is a crime prevention organization that teaches Neighborhood Watch volunteers throughout Chicago.
”Also, people learned organizing skills and the value of organizing through labor unions and neighborhood organizers like Saul Alinsky,” Russell said.
In a society where there is greater density of population, the crime rate is rising and federal dollars for social services are shrinking, there is a greater need for people trained in specific ways to help agencies do their jobs better, Russell thinks.
In addition to her work with Chicago Alliance, Russell, 48, who holds a master`s degree in management and development of human resources, conducts workshops for churches, private organizations and the federal government on how to start a volunteer program and maintain and motivate volunteers. She recently ran one for the center for Development in Ministry in Mundelein.
Before a program starts, she tells managers, they must have a specific goal and target potential volunteers who will be able to help them reach that goal. New volunteers should be familiarized with the organization and made to feel a part of a team in a pre-service orientation. They are taught skills in structured in-service training.
Most Lake County agencies follow this procedure. The Lake County Literacy Program, for example, requires tutors to attend 18 hours of class before working with a student. Connection Crisis volunteers actually pay $40 for their own training.
Russell, who has done a lot of volunteer work herself with VISTA and neighborhood-based organizations, also tells program managers that it is important for volunteers to have a job description, a clear picture of how many hours they will be required to work and a cutoff date for service. ”Many will commit again and again,” she said, ”but it`s a good idea to stop periodically, say at the end of a year, and reward them in some way and let them decide whether to continue.”
Rewards can be as small as a certificate or a banquet. They don`t cost the organization much, Russell said, but they make the volunteer feel respected and appreciated. ”For some people the affiliation with the group is a reward in itself,” she added.
