Special Settings/Fields

There has been considerable development since the April 2004 Along the Web article on “Volunteers in Arts and Culture." In this 2015 issue, Along the Web returns to the topic and explores a range of recently created resources that have been developed either by or on behalf of museum volunteer programs.

This article focuses specifically on museums around the world, rather than looking at the broader cultural sector in general, because there are such interesting and current materials easily available online from museums. The Web sites of the worlds’ major museums are well worth browsing in their own right. As a start, take a look at the British Museum’s site, including its volunteer page.  

Even if you don’t work in a museum or heritage setting, author Arnie Wickens notes that there is still plenty for you to enjoy and learn from in this Along the Web. Many of the research studies, training designs, or technical and practitioner resources that Wickens features can be applied widely to any setting engaging volunteers. 

The BBC News Web site reports that the worldwide prison population stands at around nine million, with the U.S., China, and Russia ranked as the three countries with the most prisoners. Together, these three nations imprison half of all the world’s prisoners, with the U.S. having the highest ratio of prisoners per 100,000 of the population.

The Russian writer Dostoevsky noted that “the degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.” Around the world, states take varying approaches to the purpose of prison for those who are convicted, adopting approaches from liberal at one extreme to authoritarian at the other in their treatment of prisoners. In many countries, all prisons are state run, while others use private providers or a mixture of both. Some solely exist for punishment and exclusion, some attempt rehabilitation and skills training.

Ten years after Susan J. Ellis’ Voices from the Past, ‘On the Inside: The Tradition of Volunteers in Prisons,’ this edition of Along the Web offers an update of Web sites about volunteerism behind prison gates and what they reflect about the ‘degree of civilization’ volunteers encounter.

Ask care providers of chronically sick children or adults how they are coping, and Kathryn Berry Carter bets that they will say they are tired, stressed, and worn out. During her tenure as the Volunteer Services director of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Berry Carter has witnessed first hand how caring for someone with complex medical needs can be tough physically and emotional.

Berry Carter often wanted to find an efficient way for hospital volunteers at St. Jude to help parents get a meaningful break. For years, she notes, “we limped along, providing some respite care for pre-scheduled needs.” In the fall of 2010, Berry Carter’s team became determined to take a hard look at this logistical challenge and to find a way to fix

In this article for e-Volunteerism, Berry Carter explains the steps she took at St Jude to implement a thriving and successful on-demand respite care program, one that has become an integral component of St. Jude’s family-centered care approach. Though the article mainly discusses respite care in a children’s hospital, Berry Carter describes how the same principles can be applied to respite care in settings ranging from senior nursing care facilities and Alzheimer day care facilities to hospital organizations and other pediatric programs.The St. Jude experience can be replicated in any of these settings, notes Berry Carter, who also provides tips on implementing any pilot program that explores new roles for volunteers, regardless of theme. 

For nearly a decade, Susan J. Ellis, the publishing editor of e-Volunteerism, has been encouraging (read: nagging) Andy Fryar, the journal’s manuscript developer, to write about an innovative volunteer program that he oversees in Adelaide, South Australia. After nearly 10 years of resisting, Fryar recently concluded, “I find myself completely out of excuses!”

In this feature article, Fryar presents a rather unique structural model for volunteer engagement and the innovative method of volunteer recruitment employed at the Lyell McEwin Regional Volunteer Association, a 750-strong, health-based volunteer involving agency based in Elizabeth, a northern suburb of Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. Fryar has been chief executive officer of the Lyell McEwin Regional Volunteers since 1997, growing the organization from a workforce of around 180 volunteers to its current 750 members. Though volunteering at Lyell McEwin Hospital began in fairly typical hospital fashion, Fryar explains why the Regional Volunteer Association today is an outstanding example of new and innovative ways to run a volunteer program – in hospitals and other volunteer-dependent organizations. And he thanks Susan Ellis for 10 years of nudging and nagging to tell this story.

During the 1960s, interest surged across the United States for the engagement of community volunteers on behalf of juvenile and adult offenders in the courts and corrections systems. What was then the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare funded a range of initiatives and studies to support this movement. This Voices from the Past article quotes from various official reports that detail the results of this volunteer involvement and recommend future actions. Many of the points raised in the 1960s remain relevant and e-Volunteerism wants to help them stay in circulation. Granted, much has changed involving this topic over the past 50 years, but other things have very much stayed the same. 

Bicycles? In a journal about volunteering? Of course! As pedal-powered transportation continues to gain popularity in urban centers throughout the world, long-distance cyclist Tristan Dahn (who also happens to be on the Energize, Inc. staff) takes a look at the many volunteer activities surrounding this two-wheeled trend. While all are interesting as projects, some activities have elements applicable to any sort of volunteer management. For instance, how can your organization benefit from the outreach strategies used by “bicycle ambassador” programs? Might your organization engage with a broad cross-section of your community the way that many volunteer-led bicycle safety, instruction and maintenance programs do? In this Along the Web, Dahn connects the two-wheeler to the world of volunteering. 

In 2004 and again in 2010, Along the Web explored the topic of volunteers in arts, heritage and culture.  In this issue, we revisit that sector to look at volunteers’ input that relates specifically to public library services. Whether funded by governments, philanthropists, donors or private subscription, libraries are universal and one of the most egalitarian of services in their reach and access. But surprisingly, the extent of involvement of volunteers in library services varies widely, from a great deal to very little at all. In this article, Arnie Wickens explores how trying to discover the real impact volunteers make on library services – beyond just the numbers of people involved, what they do, or the hours that they give – is almost impossible.

The National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (later known as the March of Dimes) was founded by Franklin Roosevelt in 1938 and immediately engaged thousands of volunteers in a two-decade struggle against the dreaded disease of polio. And it was successful, ultimately having to face the question: What happens to the energy and devotion of volunteers when their job has been accomplished?

In his 1957 book, The Volunteers, Columbia University researcher David L. Sills examined the phenomenon of the March of Dimes, particularly its devoted corps of volunteers, and raised issues still pertinent today.

At the Regional IAVE Conference in India early in 2002, Dr. Kiran Bedi, the first and highest ranking woman in the Indian Police Services, shared some of her experiences in helping the poor of Delhi. In this first-person article, Dr. Bedi discusses a very special organization that she helped to found:

"There is a saying 'where there is a will, there is a way.' Whenever such sayings are put into practice in any appropriate form these become an example for others to emulate. I will share with you one such story which proves this.

"Fifteen years ago, fourteen serving police officers - and I was one of them - of Delhi Police, came together and registered a non-governmental organization called 'NAVJYOTI'. It was set up to prevent crime through methods of prevention, correction, treatment, rehabilitation and social development."