Book Description

Volunteers-skilled, sensitive, and filled with integrity, sincerity, and perseverance-are often a vital component to the success of any thriving service organization. Their tasks are at the very heart of the organization and communities they serve, yet most volunteers receive little or no formal training before their first assignment. Training Volunteers for Community Service is a much-needed manual for leaders who are charged with the task of training, and preserving, their organization's most valuable asset. . . its volunteers.

Techniques presented in this manual are based on expertise gained over 25 years of training, managing, and retaining 12,000 volunteers at San Francisco's Shanti, an internationally recognized provider of volunteer training and direct services to those with chronic and life-threatening illness. Sixteen program modules enable volunteer managers to train their volunteers to provide high quality, compassionate service while increasing volunteer retention. Comprehensive and flexible, Training Volunteers for Community Service is a step-by-step guide for creating a training program that is sourced in an understanding of volunteers' primary motivations and offers trainees a uniquely rewarding training experience. The Trainer's Guide and Participant's Workbook provide methods for instructing volunteers in critical issues-such as listening and communication, psychosocial issues, the volunteer/client relationship, cultural diversity-and offers the tools and information agencies need to train, motivate, and retain volunteers.

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Book Description

The only book expressly for agencies about how to incorporatechildren into an adult volunteer program and find creative ways to usechildren's fresh perspectives.Includes examples of actual volunteerprojects accomplished by youngsters, models of child-adult teams andtips on family volunteering.Learn how to recruit, train and designassignments for volunteers under the age of 14. BIO: Susan J. Ellis,recognized internationally as a leader in the volunteer field, has beenconducting workshops on volunteer management for the past 19 years. She is founder and president of Energize, Inc. and is a nationalcolumnist on volunteerism for THE NONPROFIT TIMES. Katherine NoyesCampbell currently serves as Director of the Virginia Office ofVolunteerism.She has over 22 years of experience in the field ofvolunteerism, both as a program manager and as a trainer andconsultant. ... Read more

Book Description

Volunteer for Life! is a guide to help individuals experience the rich rewards that are received when you embark on a journey in volunteer service.Young people can test drive a career before deciding upon a college major.Retirees can benefit from passing their years of experience on to their specific community projects while maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle.This title includes a resource guide of nearly 100 volunteer organizations brimming with opportunity for ages 7-97.Enlist your skills in the new age of volunteering through virtual volunteers by putting the Internet to work for the benefit of community. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

It is Easy!
This book is a great follow up for your New Years Resolutions. Jahner-Byrne outlines in a simplistic and engaging manner the "how to's" of volunteering and getting involved in LIFE! She redefines failure as success turned inside out.

In the volunteer victories section I was interested in her choices of story lines. The three individuals profiled come from different walks of life and offer a different reason for becoming involved in their communities. It is a gentle reminder to get involved in our own community and become richer for it.

This is an easy read. It's so very nice to read an inspiration book that helps us in our civic and professional lives. Get a head in your business, personal life, professional and volunteer work. If you need resources the write offers many in the last section along with websites. I thought this was a terrific read.

New Year's Resolution
This was a Christmas present that will be used today and in 2003. I have many years experience from Cub Scouts to community theatre. I didn't realize some of the volunteer organizations that are out there.

As I sit down today to write my thoughts about what I would like to do in 2003 I was given several inspiring hints where to go for advice. The websites listed in the book made it so easy to get started. Idealist.org is terrific and one I wouldn't have known about without this book.

This is an area of my life that has been missing. We can learn from Volunteer for Life! I did.

A good book to read and pass along.
The book is simple and written for all ages. I would have liked to have read more about the author's exciting experiences and the not-so-exciting volunteer adventures. The reference section has many ideas for a start in your own community no matter what your interests are.

Achieve!!
What a great story! How inspirational! Kelly's book is so simple as is her story. A winner never quits. Having had the opportunity to see this author speak for a volunteer group and now get the book...that's winning combination.

Winning!
Volunteer for Life is a neat book. I was at an event recently where the author spoke about achieving goals. The book reveals a goal setting exercise that's helpful. She is an eloquent speaker with a message that is timely! The book is interesting, fun and thought provoking as well as helpful in finding a match for a new volunteer organization to apply your time. I was pleasantly reminded that volunteering SHOULD be fun and CAN be truly rewarding. I will use the reference guide to find a new opportunity to serve my community. We could all use a little more service in our lives and our communities will benefit! ... Read more

Book Description

Arguing that government controlled bureaucracies are not effective in addressing the social and economic concerns of developing nations and regions--because they are more concerned with organizational survival than with helping people--Jedlicka develops an alternative solution that relies on volunteer efforts. He asserts that, free of the corrupt influences that affect bureaucracies, volunteers are often more successful in directly helping their target audience because the environmental factors that impede that process--greed, institutional survival, and indifference--are not present. ... Read more

Book Description

Leading scholars examine how the church, community organizations, and the government must work together to provide for America's poor in the aftermath of welfare reform. Not since the 1930s was the question posed by the 1996 welfare reform law so dramatically restated: Who in this new, post welfare-state era is responsible for social provision? This legislation up-ended our familiar notions of government and charity. Emerging from The Center for the Study of Values in Public Life at the Harvard Divinity School, the essays in Who Will Provide? address several important aspects of this challenging situation. They trace the long history of American social programs, voluntary associations, and religious organizations. They explore the need for a new kind of public religion that faces the plurality of America today. They focus on social action as a calling. They examine the Roman Catholic Church's involvement in welfare and look at the perils of the charitable choice provisions outlined in the welfare reform law. Working beyond the policy squabbles of the 1990s debate to the historical, moral, legal, and philosophical issues raised, these Harvard scholars argue that all of us, at some level, are called to step into the breach.

"Our nation finds itself in the midst of an unexpected vigorous public discussion about what happens to those in need now that 'welfare as we know it' is gone. Much of that discussion however is historically ill-informed and philosophically thin. [Who Will Provide?] supplies the necessary ingredients to enrich and deepen the debate, and to give it focus."-Harvey Cox, Harvard University ... Read more

Reviews (3)

great context
With the recent appointing of a faith-based alternatives advisor to the White House, Who Will Provide is essential reading for anyone who wants to have solid grounding on the important relevant issues. In this thoughtful, provocative book -- constructed after several years of discussion among some of the brightest people thinking on these issues -- the issue of how religion must take a more prominent role in American social welfare is tackled head on. The voices and stories of the contributors vary, but the underlying intent remains to find viable solutions in an environment that cries out more strongly for them than ever before.

Good Works
A useful range of perspectives on the current debate over faith based organizations and the provision of social services. Helpful in terms of framing the issues broadly, and thought-provoking from a moral standpoint.

too little, too late
Four years after the fact, a group of academics gets together and offers a solution to the fallout from the 1996 welfare reform? Hah! Where were these guys when the real work was being done? Where were their bright ideas when they were really needed? As is typical of academia, they prance in pretending to have answers when what they're really doing is pontificating, analyzing, and providing precious little in the way of useable ideas. Talk's cheap. Where were they when we needed them? ... Read more

Book Description

These essays provide historical studies, sociological surveys and analyses of policies and practices in the philantropic community in the United States, Mexico, and Argentina. This collection identifies opportunities for more and better involvement in serving Latinos. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Henry A.J. Ramos-The "godfather" of Latino Philanthropy
This wonderful book explores a new and emerging area of philanthropy. A wonderful book for anyone wanting to learn about Latino giving trends. Henry A.J. Ramos has captured the essence of Latino philanthropy. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews the entire process for the Academy of Certified Social Workers (ACSW) and describes the certification examination for this most widely recognized and respected social work credential. An essential reference for anyone planning to take the examination, the study guide takes the reader through the entire certification process and describes the examination. Licensing candidates and professionals preparing to take any standardized test will find it useful.

Special Features *Test-taking strategies *Tips on how to analyze questions and choose options *Insights on avoiding common pitfalls when under testing stress. ... Read more

Book Description

Ill-defined jobs, entrenched bureaucrats, and resentful hosts were just a few of the difficulties facing Peace Corps volunteers in the early days. On the other hand, life as a volunteer was sometimes more comfortable than expected. Prepared to dig ditches or build houses, more than half served as English teachers or worked in offices. Trained for a spartan existence, many volunteers found themselves living in well-appointed homes and even employing servants. These experiences often left volunteers with a less idealistic perception of how cultures interact. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Thoughtful and evocative of another era.
This book brought back untold memories to me. I volunteered in Guatemala from 1967-69 and Mr. Fischer has reminded me of the waves of human suffering I witnessed. In one brief shining,moment we sought to stem the flow of crimes against humanity. This was a time long before profit margins and balance sheets ruled the day, when success was measured by the lives saved and babies fed. I thank Mr. Fischer for taking me back to a simpler time, long before day trading and front page presidential fellatio. Thank you, Fritz Fischer, for rocking my world!!

Awesome.
Mr. Fischer has done us all a favor with this book. His analysis, combining history and real life experience, rings true. More than that, the book evokes an earlier, more idealistic America, one where, in JFK's words, one "asked not what your country could do for you, but what you can do for your country."

Read this. It could change your life.

Fuel for Pessimists and Cynics
Unlike the author, I WAS in the Peace Corps. I was in Togo, West Africa as a health volunteer from 1968-70, the time his book includes. I found very few points with which I could agree in his repetitive, one-sided compilation of quotes and opinions.

I do appreciate the acknowledgment of the work and committment put in by us as volunteers. In 68 we had no anti-communist indoctrination, no Marine-like physical boot camp, and (unfortunately) no Outward Bound experience.

I did finally learn French (after 3 useless years of it in school) through the intense, effective Foreign service language training. I would say the phrase "The toughest job you'll ever love," which was a Peace Corps slogan, is fitting. The two years I spent in my village, the only white person, working side-by-side with the village midwife, form the most vivid experience of my now 53 years.

I returned once, 20 years after my stint in Togo, finding my village "family" as warm and appreciative as ever. My 16 yr old son and I are going back this Dec/Jan, so he can taste what I've talked about his whole life.

Don't bother with this book. ... Read more

Book Description

"In July 2004, I traveled to Romania to work as a volunteer at a summer camp for orphans. Every evening after an exhausting and emotionally draining day with the children, I spent hours writing in a journal. I detailed the day's activities, explored my deepest feelings and recorded the heartbreaking stories of the lives of the children. I have written "Journey of the Heart" as a tribute to the orphans of Romania. Their strength and courage in the face of adversity was truly inspiring."

The proceeds from the sale of the book will help Children on the Edge continue to send volunteers to Romania as well as other parts of the world to help the neediest children. ... Read more

Book Description

Helps employees and volunteers work together successfully by exploring the reasons for conflict between volunteers and employees. Scheier eases the all-too-common stresses of this relationship with a step-by-step process for analyzing tasks and work preferences for both paid and unpaid staff. Offers a great number of creative and practical solutions. Contains lots of useful planning guides. ... Read more