When a Providence IT company laid off Christopher Harrell last year he turned to a job – multiple jobs, in fact – that don’t come with a paycheck.
Harrell volunteers for Save The Bay, Serve Rhode Island, the American Red Cross and the R.I. Department of Environmental Management as he attempts to keep busy while also making connections he hopes can steer him back to a paying job.
“It is a social imperative for people to contribute, to find something that matters and give your time,” said Harrell, who volunteered on a smaller scale while he was employed. “I wouldn’t describe it as fun. I’m definitely a driven kind of person, and I recognize that I’m looking for opportunity and in the course of that giving back.”
The R.I. Department of Labor and Training does not keep statistics on the number of people receiving unemployment benefits who also volunteer. But anecdotal accounts from those in the nonprofit world point to a changing demographic of volunteers, as those between jobs seek ways to keep busy and forge professional connections.
At the American Red Cross Rhode Island chapter, Jason Campagnone said so many people have offered their help the agency is starting to run out of jobs.
“For us it’s a good problem, because it gives us more people to work with,” he said.
A recent campaign to encourage people to become trained volunteers by attending five Saturday sessions drew 130 people, said Campagnone, the chapter’s manager of health education and community development. The exact same campaign, with the same amount of advertising, drew just 50 people last year. Similar examples abound.
Since the economic downturn of 2008, Save The Bay and the Volunteers in Providence Schools organization have seen a 10 percent increase in the number of volunteers, with much of the increase coming from middle-aged people. Women & Infants Hospital has seen about 50 more middle-aged volunteers than usual and Rhode Island Hospital is fielding about 25 percent more calls offering to help than it did a few years ago, said executives at the hospitals who oversee volunteers.
Lynda St. Clair, a professor of management at Bryant University who studies volunteerism, said it’s common during times of economic strife for volunteerism to increase. Some people do it out of boredom while others like Harrell are also looking to network. In any case, volunteering looks good on a resume and may signal to an employer an applicant’s willingness to go above and beyond.
For some people, volunteering also provides a chance to learn new skills or test-drive an industry before deciding whether to pursue employment in it. Denise Roncarati, director of the Volunteer Services Department at Women & Infants, said the experience provides a nice introduction to the health care industry and potentially a stepping stone to a job.
“I always tell people volunteering is a wonderful way to be known by staff, to see if you’re a good fit for the organization, but it’s never a guarantee of a job,” Roncarati said.
But the influx of volunteers can also have the unintended consequence of overwhelming small organizations or creating awkward situations between laid-off professionals with years of experience and ingrained habits, and nonprofits with different ways of doing things. Some volunteers may also come with lots of skills, but not the ones directly applicable to the organization.
“The further you get from what you really know about the context and the environment, the more difficult it is to add quick value to the organization,” St. Clair said.
But most of the organizations interviewed by Providence Business News said they are simply happy for the extra hands. The Rhode Island Food Bank had 91 volunteers between the age of 20 and 65 in 2008. Last year that figure stood at 219, said the food bank’s CEO, Andrew Schiff. While the number of volunteer hours has remained steady at around 34,000 a year because there is only so much time the food bank can afford to open its doors, Schiff said the extra help has been welcome.
“I think that if it was at any other time, we really would have struggled to find volunteers to do that,” Schiff said.
Schiff said he knows from conversations with many volunteers that they come from the ranks of the unemployed. Many will leave when they find employment, but Schiff said they leave with a greater appreciation for the food bank’s work and may support the organization in other ways down the road.
Some volunteers come after receiving support from the organizations after finding themselves in the unexpected position of not having a job. Jim Jahnz, program coordinator for Project Hope in Pawtucket, said he has seen people grateful for assistance offer to volunteer in lieu of a cash donation they cannot afford.
“They’re contributing with their time and with their talents, and at the end of the day it’s all very meaningful,” said Jahnz, whose program is run by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence.
The only thing that worries Jahnz and his peers at other organizations is what happens when the economy rebounds. Stephany Hessler, volunteer manager at the Save The Bay, said people in positions like hers are working hard to retain connections with volunteers after they leave.
Walsh, from the hospital, said management may need to return to the days of actively recruiting volunteers.
“Right now we don’t have to do a lot with recruitment,” she said. “They kind of come to us.” •
