How to Make the Most of Volunteers in Child- and Youth-Serving Agencies
Valentine's-makers, birthday-cake bakers, homework-helpers, lobbyists, outreach workers, marketers, fundraisers, financial mentors: need a little help expanding services to your clients in these tough times?
Since the early 1990’s, experts have been telling the nonprofit world that an advancing wave of retiring baby boomers would soon be landing on its doorstep, eager to give them all sorts of assistance, and for absolutely free. Now, due to demographics, the economy and evolving national policy, volunteers are here. But are child- and youth-serving nonprofits really ready for them? Can they use volunteers in ways that truly improve their program services, cut their overhead, and extend their reach?
The toolkit takes a clear-eyed look at what volunteers can really do in child- and youth-serving agencies, and how to get started growing or improving your own volunteer program.
'SEEING OURSELVES SUCCESSFUL':
A NEW PHOTOVOICE REPORT
'Seeing Ourselves Successful: The Worcester Youth Photovoice Project' is the second photovoice project NEN has coordinated in the last two years. In it, a group of young people from Worcester, Mass., make observations, ask questions, deliver advice, and ponder the meaning of life, all through photographs of everyday scenes from their community.|
PREGNANCY PREVENTION
I recently attended the Summer Sexuality Institute offered by Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. As always at PPNE events, I got lots of great information on adolescent sexual development and health. It's in the context of this recent learning experience that one article in the most recent issue of NEN's Into Practice newsletter particularly resonated with me: 'Study Uncovers Extent of Pregnancy Coercion by Male Partners.' VIA HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS: IT'S TIME TO TEACH IT If I could sigh in print, I would. It seems that whoever controls female reproduction rules the world, even if that world is as small as one couple or one family. Why, in 2010, is this sort of thing still happening — and, if this study is correct, happening frequently? It's fascinating that there's been so little research on male control of female reproduction, particularly as it impacts young women. As we all know, unplanned pregnancy is a very real problem for adolescent girls and young women, and one for which they themselves are generally blamed. This study clearly documents how misplaced this blame can be. It seems that even when young women are doing their best to manage their fertility, they are often victimized through sabotage, or more broadly, through the unhealthy relationships that produce and tolerate sabotage. And for me, that's the point: Too many pregnancy prevention programs focus on the mechanics of sex and risks related to pregnancy and STIs, but are still silent on relationship issues. |