I just need a moment

I just need to take a moment and vent.

PEOPLE! I cannot get volunteer groups for your site if you never return my emails.

OK, I feel better now.

Thanks.

Thanks, Volunteers, I Guess ...

How do you politely give not-so-great feedback about a volunteer group?

I had a group of 5 grad students come out from one of the area universities a couple of weeks ago. There were two projects we asked them to do

1. Set up an apartment for a new resident, and
2. Give the small group kitchen a thorough cleaning.

I wasn't able to stay and supervise the whole project, but I greeted them and - along with another staff person who was there the entire time - thoroughly explained the tasks that made up each project. I even left them written instructions on what to do in the kitchen.

And yet, when I asked the site director how the kitchen looked the following day, she hesitated and said: "It looks alright, I guess."

I had my doubts about the group. One girl came in a dress and espadrilles. Never a good sign. And the two girls (they were all girls) who made the bed didn't really know what they were doing... they didn't know to tuck the sheets in under the mattress. Who doesn't know how to make a bed?

I'm sure the kitchen cleaning would have gone better had I been there overseeing each step, but honestly, what part of "take items out of the cabinets, wash the cabinets, and put the items back in, getting rid of the expired foods" is hard to understand? And even though we asked them to also clean out the fridge, they didn't even touch it. And, I was told, the group left two hours early (after arriving an hour late - although that part I didn't mind because I got lost on the way to the site too).

I realize my blog is turning into a never-ending rant and whine about volunteers and volunteer coordination, but good grief!

I have had fantastic groups of grad students from this same university so I don't want to dismiss them entirely. But the so-so groups vastly outweigh the good ones.

My question is, how do I politely let the volunteer coordinator at the school know that the volunteers they sent weren't very good? Is there even a point in doing so? And how much is my fault? I thought I provided adequate instruction and supervision, but maybe I didn't.

Volunteer Hoardes: More work than help

Dear Boston colleges and universities,

STOP ORGANIZING YOUR SCHOOL-WIDE, CITY-WIDE VOLUNTEER DAY ALL AT THE SAME TIME!

Do you ever wonder why it's so hard to find placements for your hundreds and thousands of freshmen? It's because you all choose the same week - even the same day in some instances - to carry out this event.

Boston University is even competing with itself: I've received requests from BU FYSOP (Boston University's Freshman Year blah blah blah Program) whose program runs 8/26-8/28 and BU Law School whose volunteer day is 8/26.

MIT's City Days is mercifully Sept. 4th, but their Freshman program lasts a whole week: 8/25-8/28.

I know it seems all convenient and nice to pair up freshmen orientation with volunteering, but I've got news for you: most of the freshmen could care less. They usually come dressed improperly and last year, out of a group of 15 students, only one student actually did yard work while 14 others spent the entire time staring at a snail. I won't name the school, but our property manager won't take them back again, and yard work is pretty much the only thing a group of 15 can do for 4 hours (and even that's a stretch).

So stop calling me, stop emailing me, and stop talking about how you'd love to work with me to develop a project. I don't want to "develop" a project, nor do I have time. If we have a need that coincides with your day, time span, and group size, great. If not, that's just too bad.

Honestly, I pity the poor staff and unknowing student workers who are roped into organizing these events every year. They are not paid nearly enough. That said, why not consider a mid-semester community service holiday? Or better yet, forgo the school-wide days entirely. Let residence halls or departments pick a day, and coordinate them through the community service office to keep everyone from choosing the same day - or week, even.

Do you know when I need volunteers? February and March, and June and July. Just small groups to come in and socialize with the residents (maybe bring ice cream, or a movie, or practice your one-act play in front of an audience). These are the months when nobody thinks of volunteering (it's not the beginning of the school year, it's not Christmas, it's not the end of the school year). Guess what? People are hungry and homeless all year round, elders are lonely and isolated all year round. I am much more willing to sit down and develop a project during the volunteer "off season."

Just think about trying something new, OK? Or at least sneak a peek at the competitions' calendars and pick a different day.

Sincerely,

One very tired, overworked 1/4 time volunteer coordinator*

*The other 75% is divided between fundraising admin, communications, and being Human Rights Officer

AmeriCorps - Good Investment?

Despite the fact that I am an AmeriCorps and VISTA alum, I kind of agree with Lori's logic in her latest blog post - Should MA fund Americorps? My unpopular view - that funding more AmeriCorps positions may not be the best use of funds.

Direct philanthropic investment in experienced volunteer recruiters and volunteer managers paid to serve on charity staffs may be a better route to increase volunteer engagement, versus “hiring” inexperienced people with limited training and resources for short stints without long-term vision and commitment to volunteerism from charity leaders.

Putting money in volunteer program infrastructure (yes, actually paying people to run volunteer programs!) for either actual charities who utilize volunteers or for organizations like PMD who organize volunteer projects for charities (best service ever!) is probably a better long-term investment.

However, I can't ignore the fact that upon graduating from college I had no direction. Not a clue what I wanted to do with my life. So I joined AmeriCorps and volunteered with the Greater Dallas Habitat for Humanity. I honestly have no idea where I would be - most likely I never would have come to Massachusetts or met my husband. And Habitat for Humanity is an organization that actually knows how to use AmeriCorps effectively and has the capacity to do so.

Even so, I must admit that I could not have survived my two years with AmeriCorps and the VISTA program if I didn't have the support of my parents. They helped me with rent and my car payments (Dallas is not a pedestrian-friendly city), not to mention other small emergencies that came up from time to time. It's not really fair to only partially fund the work AmeriCorps volunteers do. Especially as more and more people view it as something to do after college and not before which means they aren't (or not interested in) living at home with their parents. And a lot of people use it they way I did, as a way to move to a new part of the country (there actually weren't many AmeriCorps options I was interested in, in my home state).

Then again, most AmeriCorps alumni I know continue to work in the nonprofit/social services world. The few I know who switched over to the for-profit world continue to be heavily involved in community work (including urging coworkers and the companies they work for). So in that sense, funding AmeriCorps does provide a good return on investment as alumni continue to meaningfully contribute.

But who knows, maybe I'm just dwelling in my nonprofit bubble. There could be a ton of AmeriCorps alumni who stop volunteering or who choose to become investment bankers or are behind the million credit card offers I get each week (if there's no credit to be had in the current economy, why are credit card companies so eager to give me credit?).

My conclusion? The answer to the AmeriCorps investment question lies somewhere in the middle, as most answers do. Yes, the AmeriCorps program and its many parts (VISTA, City Year, SeniorCorps, etc) play an important role, though we should reevaluate the goals and structure (like focusing more on having local people work on local issues; I admit that given my own history with AmeriCorps, that can seem like a hypocritical stance for me to take). And yes, investing in lasting volunteer support infrastructure is necessary and overdue in order to fully take advantage of the very American, pioneering, can-do spirit.

So if there are any philanthopists out there looking for something "new" to support, how about supporting volunteer coordination programs?

If you build it, they will come - and stay!

Brace yourself, dear readers, I'm actually blogging about working at a nonprofit which was what the focus was supposed to be (as you can tell from the web address).

I've been the Volunteer Manager for just about a year now (in addition to my other job duties) - long enough to know that what I mange to accomplish is barely adequate. It's frustrating, but I'm learning to accept the limits of my time and energy:

I cannot be both a full-time volunteer manager/coordinator and also a full-time associate director of development and, additionally, a part-time Human Rights Officer and do any of these jobs to my satisfaction within a 40-hour work week)

A few months ago I joined the board of directors of People Making a Difference (PMD), an organization which promotes informed and responsible volunteerism by involving people in meaningful, one-time, hands-on work that meets the needs of local charities and by assisting companies and charities in building successful community involvement programs. This has given me the opportunity to spend more time with the founder and executive director, Lori Tsuruda, who is one of those amazing women that seem to have endless energy and the devotion to work 60 hours a week on a regular basis for a cause/job they love (I am not one of those people, at least not for more than a few months at a time). Most of the time Lori and I inevitably talk about volunteers and volunteer management.

Volunteer Management is the underdog of the nonprofit world. Few organizations (mine included, I'm afraid to say) recognize how important it is to have the proper management structure. Volunteers - the wonderful, generous people who give their time and talents to charities - need the same structure and support as employees. Businesses have Human Resource Managers to oversee employment. Nonprofits need to have an HR person and a Volunteer Manager.

I'm blogging all of this because, while looking for information on aging/elders/etc, I stumbled across a report from a 2003 conference sponsored by Harvard School of Public Health–MetLife Foundation entitled "Reinventing Aging: Baby Boomers and Civic Engagement." It's fascinating and it includes an entire section on the necessity of building proper volunteer management infrastructure and the current lack of it.

Very often, the job of volunteer coordinator in community agencies is marginalized or nonexistent. Likewise, the costs of managing volunteers often are left out of agency budgets or funding proposals (Cobb and Johnson 2003). Unpaid labor is a resource, just as paid labor is, but unpaid labor is not free. It must be planned, managed, organized, and coordinated, just as paid labor is—and this requires an investment of time and resources.

I'm holding on to this for the day when I propose we hire a volunteer manager who does nothing but manage volunteers. I can't wait.

Pet Peeve O' The Day

And my pet peeve o' the day for Monday, May 11:

When you repeatedly email coworkers for the answer to a question, and they repeatedly not email you an answer (or call or anything!).

I'm not a mind reader, people! Especially when you're mind is located in an office on the other side of the city.

Human Rights Officer on the Case

About two weeks ago I took on the responsibility of Human Rights Officer for Hearth. Each organization that holds a Department of Mental Health contract is required to have a Human Rights Committee to protect DMH consumer rights.

This afternoon I met, for the first time, with a tenant about what s/he felt was a human rights violation. When the front desk phoned down and said that a tenant wanted to speak with me, I was terrified. My heart started pounding and my mouth went dry. Oh God! What do I do? What do I say?

Theoretically I knew what to do, of course. The prior human rights officer had thoroughly explained the process and procedures to me.

(DMH suggests that the position of officer is passed around periodically. Moreover, the officer is not supposed to have direct, service-related contact with clients. That is, the officer should not be a social worker, site director, nurse, etc, since it's most likely they would be the subject of a complaint. With a small nonprofit staff, there aren't many possible officers outside of fundraising and finance.)

Anyway, the tenant came downstairs - I'll call them Tenant A. Tenant A sat down with me and poured their heart out. In the end, I'm not sure if it's a true human rights violation, but s/he definitely has a cause for complaint. So we talked and I wrote up their complaint for them; s/he looked it over, agreed to it (actual words: "this is really nice,") and signed it.

Then I talked it over with staff. It's weird to confront a coworker and say, "Look, Tenant A feels like staff is discriminating against him because Tenant B continually gets away with saying hateful things about them." We mulled over possible actions, and agreed the best thing to do was keep everyone talking, including both Tenants A & B, although Tenant B especially has a very inflammatory personality and is easily worked up - and not easily calmed down.

So I survived my first meeting with a tenant about a human rights issue. It's really quite fascinating. I learned things about Tenant A that I certainly did not know before - and staff was surprised and slightly impressed that Tenant A spoke so openly to me.

As someone who has gone to counseling in the past, I certainly understand the benefits of having someone to talk to in confidence. But to be on the receiving end was new for me. Tenants have access to complaint forms; they can file a complaint without talking to me if they want to. But Tenant A greatly appreciated being able to talk to me. I could tell that it was both cathartic and difficult to express just what s/he felt. When I offered phrases like "verbal harassment" and "discrimination" Tenant A was so pleased. "Yes, that's it exactly." And to read my finished version of their complaint and say "that's really nice," was such a quiet but powerful compliment that I could interpret their feelings for them.

In the end, I realize that it's hard to defend yourself, to stand up for your rights, if you can't articulate your feelings. And that, for me, underscores the necessity of defending "free access to education" as a universal human right.

I hope that I won't need to wear my Human Rights Officer "badge" very often. I don't expect to need to. But this first experience has shown me that I can advocate for our residents because I have the power of language.

Genius!

There's nothing like learning a new trick to bright up your day.

I successfully took glare off of Peter's glasses in this photo from Hearth's 2008 annual meeting (photo credit: Jennifer Buchwald - thanks!)

I did it using Photoshop (from Adobe Creative Suite 3) and guidance from this handy article.

And thus I give you:

 

Before

After

From Mel to Mayhem

I never saw even a hint of a famous person (except maybe the fancy portable toilets they use) while they were filming on my street (one evening I watched them furtively from my porch but all I saw were bright lights and tech guys wandering about). Alas.

Now I'm so busy at work I barely see anything but piles of paperwork and database entries.

Fundraising: sucking all the fun out of fall.

Also, if anyone wants to sponsor Hearth's annual meeting, our funding from the state got cut by $100,000 about two weeks ago, so we could use some help.

I don't understand the economy ....

I mean, it's not a fabulous monster. We're not talking unicorns and dragons. It's a man-made, man-run, man-conceived thing (too many men, that's the problem). If everyone stopped panicking, stopped selling off stocks like there's no tomorrow, stopped freaking out (then there would be no pundits .... or Fox news), then wouldn't everything be reasonably OK (minus all the no-good, greedy banking/mortgage people)?

We are the economy. So everyone stop screaming and just shut up and take a 10 minute time out.

Of course, on the upside, gas is a lot cheaper now.

Onions

While searching for a file on the shared drive at work, I came across the following Word file named "Onions." I have no idea who made this or why (although it's clearly a shopping list or the beginning of a recipe).

The entirety of the Word file:

Onions,
Green peppers
Chicken
parts
Potatoes
Eggs
Cheese
Barbeque
sauce
Noodles
Carrots
CelerySoap

Personally, I am most curious about "celerySoap."

Ah ... work

Everything I need for a productive day is close at hand ....

I am a Photography Genius!

My 2008 calendar finally arrived. I feel like I've been waiting forever! And just as I began to despair of the US Postal Service, voila - one, custom-made calendar.

Although Shutterfly deserves credit for its choices of page layouts and backgrounds, it's my photography - and knack for photo pairings and placements - that make my calendar fabulous.

I was so pleased with my calendar that I showed-and-telled it to everyone I could find. You can see it here.

I'm also in a good mood because I've made progress on the dreaded newsletter ("making Jenny miserable twice a year since 2005") and helped create 3 press releases and one letter to the editor (we know a guy who knows a guy at the Globe).

I Can Help You

I love this story. It perfectly illustrates (in a rather unorthodox way) why my organization is so great.

At one of the residences there is an elderly tenant whom I'll call Clara. She is the sweetest lady, but she does have some issues (who doesn't?). She has the usual assortment of ailments for a woman in her 80s such as arthritis and diabetes, but she also has some untreated mental health problems (she won't accept help). The staff is used to her quirks - like when she discusses her pregnancy. She's in her mid eighties. And for the past 20-some years she's been pregnant with 10 children (at the same time, I mean). She'll readily tell you how hard that is.

We smile and nod. After all, that would be hard work.

One day Clara came to see the nurse. "My feet hurt." The nurse took this seriously. After all, Clara is a diabetic. But after carefully examining Clara's feet, the nurse couldn't find anything wrong, other than dry skin.

"They're not fine," insisted Clara. "The mice come in my room at night. They nibble my feet and lick my toes."

The nurse wasn't quite sure how to respond to this, but the social worker was right there. "I can help you with that, Clara" she said. The SW left the room and came back with a small bottle of lotion. Affixed to the bottle was a label that read Mouse Cream.

"If you put this on your feet every night it will make them feel better and help keep the mice away. And I'll be sure to have maintenance double-check your room too."

Clara was so grateful. She thanked both of them profusely. The mice left her alone and her feet didn't hurt at all.

What was this magical mouse cream? The social worker took a bottle of lotion (most of the sites have a stash of donated toiletries to dole out to residents as needed) and made a special label for it. Clara got lotion for her feet and her worries assuaged.

So, when I'm having a bad day, I just give myself a little mouse cream, and I feel much better.

Ah, mouse cream. For what ails you.

Names

I love names - weird, quirky, funny, and plain bizarre. In fact I used to resent my name. Jennifer is so ordinary. And rarely did anyone in Wisconsin spell "Hibbard" right. I was always transformed into Hubbard (forced relations: "Old Mother" with the cupboard) or Hibbert.

I would like to add that I've never met a Hubbard or a Hibbert, so I don't know why Wisconsinites insisted on changing my name to either one of them.

Today while organizing the annual report and logging in annual meeting sponsorships I ran into two fabulous names:

Krista Pickle
Neil Grabowski

How great is the name Grabowski? Great in the sense of: it's really funny and I'm glad it's not my name.

And there's something about the perky name "Krista" with the last name "Pickle." She should be a cartoon character ....

Donation Follow-up

Apparently not everyone on the list serve was amused by the offer to donate a collection of 50 Playboy magazines.

I received an email from the business behind the list serve (they are rather prominent in the community) profusely apologizing for any "inappropriate" offers that were made without their knowledge.

Still, as "offensive" as some people may have found the offer, I find it far less offensive than the rubbish many people try to pawn off to charities: broken appliances, clothes with holes ... honestly. Just because people are down on their luck doesn't mean they want to dress in rags.

Donate? That?!

I haven't been writing about work much lately because there hasn't been much to write about. It's Annual World Season, and I'm working to keep the mailing on schedule, get the meeting scared away, and write/plan the report. Same old, same old.

But then I got a notification from a donation clearinghouse. Someone is looking to donate their Playboy collection.

Pray tell, what organization is looking to obtain 50 issues of Playboy?

It's amazing what people try and donate ....

Welcome, Jenny, to the 21st Century

Holy cow! I got a new computer at work! Wow!

I cannot possibly use enough exclamation points!!!!!!!!!! (Or "excitement points" as my second grade teacher - Ms. O - used to say. She had braces and found "exclamation" difficult to say. She sounds dorky, I suppose. But we thought she was the coolest. She wasn't 100 years old like the other teachers at the now defunct Lincoln School in West DePere.)


It's a Dell with a Pentium 4 processor and a flat panel monitor and tiny keyboard! It even has a CD-writable drive!

It's beautiful!

My desk looks so much bigger now .... and I shall quickly fill all my new-found space with stacks of file folders. (Will the paperless office ever really happen?)

To make my new computer look even jazzier, I still have my trusty HP Deskjet 842C color printer. Which does not garner an exclamation point. But at least I have a color printer.

I have a new computer!!!!
I have a new computer!!!!
I
Have
A
New
Computer
!
!
!

(And yes, there's a dance to go with that)

I'm Obnoxious

Finding Nemo is one of my favorite animated movies. And one of my favorite scenes is when Nemo meets the other "kids" on his first day of school. The last fish declares: "I'm obnoxious!"

That's how I feel today. I just finished my half-hour yoga session (I love working at a place where yoga comes to you ... excellent), I'm really energized, and I just figured out how to play "hot cross buns" on the emergency whistle (the kind of thing groups hand out so that if you're ever in trouble, you can blow on the whistle and people will run to your aid - yeah, right.) Let me tell you, it's not easy to play individual notes on the whistle.

I'm pretty proud of myself.

So, between serenading the office with "hot cross buns" and whistling the chorus of Chicago's "Does Anyone Really Know What Time it Is?" (it was on the radio upstairs - that wasn't my fault!) ... I'm feeling pretty obnoxious. I think I should just leave everyone in peace. It's after 5:00m, so anyone still here really wants to get work done. I don't want to disturb them.

I'll just quietly sneak out .....

GOOD BYE!

Hooray!

Starting Monday I will no longer be "Interim Associate Director of Grants and Volunteer Management."

Yeah, short and sweet, no?

I'll go back to being an Institutional Advancement Assistant. That doesn't really describe what I do, but oh well.

Really, I'm Associate Director of Miscellanious Projects.

That's much more accurate.

And the countdown to my new address countinues: 31 days.

Wahoo!

My fault?

After writing my post yesterday evening, I packed up my belongings and headed out of the office. I considered putting the invites in the mail, but I knew I had more to send and they wouldn't be picked up until 1:00pm anyway.

As I put down the box of invitations, I looked them over lovingly. They're my creations, my art projects, my babies. (Look what I made! Can we hang it on the fridge?) Then, my heart stopped. It was if I suddenly noticed my baby had an extra finger (the six-fingered man!).

There was a TYPO on the invite.

Oh God no. No, no, no, no, no! This isn't happening. I'm not see this. I'm hallucinating. It's evening, I'm hungry, my blood sugar is low.

No, no, no!

But it's there. In dark teal letters: "You can help even more elders by donatine nonperishable food ..." Donatine?

DONATINE!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Did I do that? How could I do that? How could I not have noticed? Why didn't anyone else notice?

Evil Jenny whispered in my ear: "Send them out. Pretend you didn't notice. It's not a big deal."

Oh but Good Jenny was just as insistent: "That would be wrong. And you don't want to offend the sponsor whose name is on the invite. Who is paying for the invite and the event. You can't send them."

I shuffled out of work, completely defeated. Just earlier that day I had been complimented on keeping the office running smoothly during my solo reign.

Of course I would screw up. It figures.

------------

However ......

IT'S NOT MY FAULT!

It's not my fault. It's not my fault. It's not my fault. (all together: It's not Jenny's fault. She didn't mess it up. Tra la la la.)

The printer messed up. I don't know how or why, really, but I don't care. They're going to reprint - FOR FREE - and it's going to be the speediest job ever.

So there.

(It's not my fault. It's not my fault. Tra la la la. It's no my fault.)