PLEASE ANSWER THE QUESTIONS BELOW BASED OFF THE CONTENT BELOW. PLEASE RESPOND WITH AT LEAST 4 OR SENTENCES EACH. (IF NEEDED PLEASE USE SCHOLLARY PEER REVIEWED ARTICLES TO PROVE YOUR STATEMENTS).
Depth and Constraints of the Study
1.Summarize the strengths, weaknesses, and limitations of the study. Also, address how to overcome weaknesses and limitations.
2.Provide any expected and unanticipated limitations or outcomes and their potential impact on the findings.
3.Summarize the main points of Section 4. Provide a transition to what will be included in Section 5.
Introduction
After receiving IRB approval, I started the project’s data gathering and analysis stage. In this qualitative study, I intended to gather information, interview three staff and two volunteers, and then assess the issues of the FH Ministries volunteer program. For FH Ministries, performance gaps in the volunteer program were found and closed using needs assessment models in this pandemic. This part of the study aims to clarify important information in addressing the first RQ regarding how the FH Ministries can implement new policies and strategies as long-term safety measures to ensure the safety of staff and volunteers while also highlighting the appropriate components that should be included in a volunteer safety plan and creating a draft plan for FH Ministries as the study’s central objective. The practiced-focused RQs were as follows: Research Question 1: What has been the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on FH Ministries? Research Question 2: What long-term safety measure(s)/policies can be instituted for FH Ministries that may be implemented to safeguard the health of staff and volunteers during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as in future health-related challenges?
Although there is evidence that volunteering can improve emotional health, sense of self, and life satisfaction, Tierney and Mahtani (2020) noted that these associations’ studies frequently come from cross-sectional rather than prospective cohort or controlled studies. As a result, it is possible that those with better physical and psychological health and social well-being may choose to volunteer. Since the pandemic, FH Ministries volunteers have experienced several shifts.
Participant Demographic Summary
In this in-person interview, one of the respondents was African American female aged 50-60. The other was a Caucasian male aged between 20 and 30, whereas the other three were African American males aged between 45 and 60. The survey comprised eight open-ended questions that revealed several variables identified from the literature to assist with developing research competencies.
This section presents findings and implications from the engagement surveys conducted on the three staff andtwo volunteersfromFH ministries.
Findings I: Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic
WHO (2023) contends that “COVID-19 has brought unprecedented changes into our lives”. Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, one staff member explained that the FH Ministries are doing their best to ensure that each person is tested on a case-by-case basis and that case managers work closely with clients to assist them in finding the service(s) they need. Lenoir (2020) contended “many millions of working poor, unemployed, and homeless people are left to their own devices with no access to testing for the virus, no access to healthcare, and no relief for the economic fallout that is mounting daily”. The second staff member stated, “the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically held up operations at FH ministries as they are necessary to keep each person safe as they enter FH ministries”. The last staff member felt that the COVID-19 pandemic has altered everything, as individuals are now more aware of staying safe and protected. Drake (2022) stated “throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, social restrictions and health fears generated changes in behavior and communication”.
On the other hand, one of the volunteers perceived that volunteers at FH ministries should learn how to properly handle someone who is COVID-19 positive. Farish (2022) suggested that “a clear work health and safety policy would assist an employer in communicating the nonprofit’s obligations that is to provide a safe workplace and how it would meet individual’s requirements imposed on the business at hand according to the rules and regulations that are in place”. However, the volunteer stated, “they believed that individuals who contract the virus should be isolated from others”.
Considering the opinion of Medibank (2020), one may see that “the virus spreads easily in close contact, and there’s no specific treatment yet, it’s really important to take extra steps to protect everyone in your community (including yourself and the people you love)”. More so, the volunteer felt strongly that individuals should be tested and done in a quick manner. They believed that FH ministries should implement a new testing system and implement a new health assessment for all staff, clients, and volunteers to ensure that every person is adequately protected from the COVID-19 virus as well. The other volunteer, on the other hand, believed that the COVID-19 pandemic had provided a vast impact on FH Ministries as the organization tries to safeguard that everyone on their premises, in addition to those in isolation, is safe. “At this time, the number one priority is always the safety of people’s lives with good health” (Mahmud et al., 2021).
Findings II: Changes in The Order of Operations
Arvidson and Lyon (2014) contended that “non-profit organizations can proactively and voluntarily use social impact measurement for learning and promotional purposes, and as a way of exerting control over their environment” (p. 869). The first staff member, FH Ministries, have been restricted in its capability to service all its clients as the organization has implemented various security measures and the social distance policy. However, these two guiding strategies need some improvements. The second staff member claimed that the pandemic has adversely contributed to negative impacts at FH Ministries as the organization could not attain long-term volunteers. The staff member suggested that the organization should reinforce suitable long-term safety measures and guidelines. Those who have the virus should be isolated from clients and staff to prevent the further spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Lastly, the next staff member expressed that a change needs to take place for the daily operations concerning volunteers assisting FH Ministries in offering the more ideal and essential services to homeless individuals. The staff also articulated that however the slothful authorization of the social distancing rule, the arranging needs to reaffirm the procedure more and amplify all security measures more tactful and seriously.
Changes in the Order of Operations
| Changes | No changes | |
| Staff | 2 | 1 |
| Volunteers | 2 | 0 |
Figure 3
Changes in The Order of Operations
Note:Thischartshowshowhasthepandemicchangedtheorderofoperationsregarding volunteers assisting FH Ministries with providing optimal and needed services to the homeless community.
Nonetheless, the first volunteer reported that “the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the organization’s order of operations about volunteers helping FH Ministries with offering the most optimal and desirable services to the homeless individuals as the organization has augmented the services that they offer to individuals, plus the number of clients have also amplified promptly”. According to this volunteer, the organization has laid in place various policies, including sterilization, wearing of masks and gloves, and ensuring that every staff member follows the set-basic safety measures and employs them to their full capabilities.
The second volunteer believed that the pandemic had changed the organization’s order of operation concerning volunteers assisting FH Ministries immensely as the spread of the COVID-19 virus has promptly augmented and is anticipated to continue surging in all regions, particularly in the homeless populations. The volunteer further proposed that the order of operations at FH ministries needs to be revamped when dealing with first-time clients of the organization. According to this volunteer, the organization should conduct some background health evaluation on everyone to ensure that all individuals working in this organization are safe and protected from the coronavirus.
Findings III: Support Expectations
The first staff member stated that the FH Ministries had greater support expectations from the staff, volunteers, leadership, and business community members all since the start of the pandemic. Some of these expectations included offering shelter for the homeless, ensuring that the organization’s mission statement is implemented in a compassionate way for every individual , providing service provision to all entities and ensuring that their requirements are met on a personal basis, empowering people to seek help and be responsible, treating all its clients like family, and helping every individual to progress but then again it is up to the mindset of an individual.
The second staff member claimed that FH Ministries usually prioritize their volunteers, workers, and clients. The organization ensures that it offers all its clients’ professional healthcare and safety services. The last staff member attested that FH Ministries offers convenient services to its clients. According to this staff member, the organization is more compassionate to the client’s requirements, aids its distressful clients, and has amplified and enhanced the services and resources they deliver to its clients. Its responsiveness is keener to the wants of its customers, volunteers, and workers.
On the other hand, the first volunteer declared that the FH Ministries’ support from their staff, volunteers, leadership, and business community members during the onset of the pandemic is that the organization expects to get various donations soon, and volunteers who are community driven. More so, the two volunteers believed that the FH Ministries adequately meets and fulfils all their expectations of support from their staff, volunteers, leadership, and business community members. For instance, the FH Ministries offer housing, resources and services to persons who need assistance and offer openings to assist their clients in having a much healthier life. According to the second volunteer, the FH Ministries have many improvement opportunities for the surrounding communities, such as employment opportunities and temporary living arrangements.
Findings IV: Importance of Health Safety
According to the first staff member, the FH Ministries should remain vigilant and try to contain the virus immediately to prevent it from spreading to the homeless community, volunteers, and staff as it spreads to the community. The second staff member, however, suggested that it is essential for FH Ministries to adequately safeguard the health and welfare of the homeless community, volunteers, and staff, as this helped save lives. In addition, the other staff member stated that the large client population that the FH Ministries serve makes it necessary to have a healthy and safe environment daily because everyone’s life is in danger and at risk. There should be some type of free testing provided for COVID-19 virus. Furthermore, the staff explained that the FH Ministries also offers various individuals’ self-help, housing, and other services.
According to the first volunteer, FH Ministries must keep everyone safe and secure. They do this by ensuring that everyone adequately follows the healthcare and safety guidelines and provide their clients with doctors and nurses to aid them in maintaining good mental and physical health. “I would give them an “A” for all their efforts.” Next the other volunteer, the FH Ministries are embracing the notion of numerous clients receiving governmental and federal assistance. The volunteer further states that deaths have increased upon the onset of the pandemic. The FH Ministries are already housing individuals who do not have the capabilities to take care of themselves. The organization has a relief program set in place to assist those individuals who are still in hardship. Nevertheless, the FH Ministries are generally trying to enact what their mission states and offer safety in all possible ways that they can.
Findings V: Impact on The Homeless Community
The first staff stated that since the pandemic outbreak, the FH Ministries has made its services available to the homeless community, and they have been accountable for their actions. He believes that they have had a significant impact on this population. According to him, the company takes precautions and safety measures to ensure the safety of every individual who walks through its doors. According to the second staff, when FH Ministries opened their new building, they could service more clients and do their best to accommodate and feed every client that comes through the door. For instance, they could service 130 individuals in one single night. The third staff believed that the organization’s employees and administration go over and beyond to adjust to render services and resources to the homeless community. For instance, the company offers shelter, temporary housing, employment opportunities, training and other resources to assist the individual(s) moving forward.
The first volunteer believed that the organization was getting by regarding them having greatly impacted the homeless community since the onset of the pandemic because they only needed to house self-independent individuals. According to the second volunteer, he believes that FH Ministries has greatly impacted the homeless community since the onset of the pandemic. He was once a client, but now he has become a volunteer and has seen great results. For instance, he has only been there in the organization for fewer than 100 days and graduated. Still, he has already been certified by OSHA and is also an ordained minister.
Findings VI: Retention and Recruitment of staff and volunteers
The first staff believes that the FH Ministries have been fairly stable and flexible and have found ways to work around the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization have been able to offer volunteers and staff who provide services that individuals require daily. Based on the second staff, the impact on the retention and recruitment of staff and volunteers has been positive as the organization has already responded to the donations that supporters have contributed, is always consistent in offering the wants and services that their customers require and can recruit volunteers and staff despite the pandemic. The other staff believed retention and recruitment had been a huge problem in regard to volunteers keeping their commitment with FH Ministries since the pandemic. FH Ministries has a special way of recruiting and retaining staff and volunteers. Besides, this staff also stated that the FH Ministries always gives back to the community, as the organization provides food and blankets to their clients.
Retention and Recruitment of Staff and Volunteers
| Problem | No problem | |
| Staff | 1 | 2 |
| Volunteers | 1 | 1 |
Note:Thetableaboveshowsiftheretentionandrecruitmentbeenahugeproblemfor FH Ministries since the pandemic.
Retention and Recruitment of staff and volunteers
Note:ThischartshowsiftheretentionandrecruitmenthasbeenahugeproblemforFH Ministries since the pandemic.
On the other hand, the first volunteer believes that there has been a manageable issue with the retention and recruitment of staff and volunteers for FH Ministries since the pandemic, as the number of those who need help has always been a revolving circle. Also, according to this volunteer, “the FH Ministries is always promoting new staff or releasing some of their workers for better employment opportunities while recruiting new staff within their team”. The second volunteer believed there had been a problem with the retention and recruitment of staff and volunteers for FH Ministries since the pandemic, as people are always paranoid. For instance, there are many of men who sleep everywhere
within the facility. According to this volunteer, most people fear contracting the COVID-19 virus. These individuals claim that volunteers “only” show up once and they never return to assist FH Ministries.
Findings VII: Recent Actions Taken to Combat the Retention and Recruitment of Staff and Volunteers
According to the first staff, the recent actions of FH Ministries have combated the retention and recruitment of staff and volunteers since the ongoing onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This has opened many doors for employees to transition out, be promoted, and add to their staff. Furthermore, the second staff states that some of the recent actions FH Ministries have combated the retaining and recruitment of staff and volunteers since the ongoing onset of the COVID-19 pandemic are that the organization has always ensured that it is always filling in the vacant positions of volunteers and staff. It does this by rotating three of its staff members every time smoothly. Based on her, “there have been an increase of staff and volunteers in the organization in the past few years. Some of the services the FH Ministries offers include the Beacon Assessment, Recovery Program, Daily Classes, Housing Voucher, UAB etc.
Moreover, the last staff claimed that the recent actions the FH Ministries has taken to combat the retaining and recruitment of staff and volunteers since the ongoing onset of the COVID-19 pandemic are that the organization is more concerned about retaining people, it gives off-times to its workers, and always fills in the void of required assistance consistently. The first volunteer contended that some recent actions in which the FH Ministries has taken to combat the retention and recruitment of staff and
volunteers include advertising, clothing drives, publicizing through word of mouth, using case workers, donations, and volunteers. The second volunteer stated donations, volunteers, clothing drives, advertisements, and networking are the most recent actions the FH Ministries has taken to combat the retaining and recruitment of staff and volunteers since the ongoing onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Findings VIII: Resignation of Staff and Volunteer Workers Due to Working Conditions
The first staff stated that staff and volunteer workers at FH Ministries are not resigning due to working conditions. The organization is offering an overabundance of new prospects to retain its workers adequately. Minahan (2021) stated that “a common awareness that resilient workers are a business’s genuine lifeblood was followed by the realization that a business’s staff is essential to business recovery”. For instance, FH Ministries offers its employees advancement opportunities within and outside the organization. Even with this, the second staff believes that employees at FH Ministries may resign due to their mental health condition and inadequate pay, and some may opt to search for new opportunities. This staff stated that the FH Ministries progressively assist their staff and volunteers in improving their professionals. On the other hand, the third staff believes that the staff and volunteer workers are not resigning because of working conditions at FH Ministries, as the organization is genuinely concerned about the well-being and self-advancement of each staff member.
The first volunteer believes that the staff and volunteer workers are not resigning due to working conditions. FH Ministries offers them better opportunities and places them in their respective duties to progressively advance their careers. The other volunteer reported that staff workers and volunteers at FH Ministries are not resigning due to the
pandemic. The organization always seeks advancement opportunities to volunteer workers and full-time staffs.
Resignation of Staff and Volunteer Workers Due to Working Conditions
| Resigning | Not resigning | |
| Staff | 1 | 2 |
| Volunteers | 0 | 2 |
Note:Thistableshowsif staff andvolunteerworkersatFHMinistriesresigningdueto working conditions.
Resignation of Staff and Volunteer Workers Due to Working Conditions
Note:ThechartaboveshowsifstaffandvolunteerworkersatFH Ministriesresigning due to working conditions.
This section of this qualitative research study has provided a detailed description of the results and recommendations that were found during the data collection process with the staff and volunteers of FH Ministries. “Qualitative research gathers participants’ experiences, perceptions, and behavior” (Tenny, Brannan, & Brannan, 2022). Hence, one on one interviews were done with three staff members and two volunteers. The various perspectives of both staff and volunteers will be discussed as wells as the commonalities that were among staff and volunteers.
Staff
All three staff members generally reported that since the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, the pandemic has been fatal and has intensified rapidly. More so, the health conditions of some clients at FH Ministries have worsened, and thus there is a need for the organization to address this concern promptly. Besides, there has been a surge in fatalities as the organization is not adequately armed to handle the various cases of COVID-19 reported. The pandemic’s first onset changed the healthcare system’s dynamics for what they were accustomed to receiving. According to Blumenthal et al. (2020), “the new coronavirus pandemic has given rise to four interconnected health crises that expose and exacerbate serious structural issues with the American health care system”. However, these staff members reported that they needed to be sufficiently equipped to offer the required services to clients contracting the COVID-19 virus as they have less acquaintance with the pandemic. Nonetheless, they were now trying to figure out the appropriate strategies to help minimize the increased cases of mortality they had experienced.
According to them, there has been a decline in local officials and pastors following through with volunteering as the pandemic has truly impacted how these local officials and local pastors offer their voluntary services compared to and before the pandemic, where their concentrations on volunteering were more hands-on. “Past research has shown that while over 90% of us want to volunteer, only 1 out of 4 Americans actually volunteer.” (Yotopoulos, n.d) Nevertheless, the COVID-19 pandemic has translated to more monetary support and overuse of community resources. Most
volunteers became permanent workers when the pandemic was reported to be an international disaster and are now offering their services through permanent employment.
Volunteers at FH Ministries are residents sometimes. The pandemic has adversely impacted the volunteers as they have witnessed many mortalities within the organization. FH Ministries must implement procedures to help keep everyone safe. Volunteers are still working to secure and improve the organization’s health conditions as various ongoing and constantly evolving safety measures are anticipated to keep customers and volunteer staff safe. “Many organizations go above and beyond to protect volunteers by checking for symptoms, monitoring temperatures, ensuring physical separation, and sanitizing equipment between users”(Keating, 2021). Thus, this would also help retain them. The pandemic shift has drastically evolved the FH as the volunteers claim that the organization is still more flexible in servicing all its customers. The volunteers do not anticipate the environment being safer for anyone if it is not safe.
According to these volunteers, the mental health status of most clients has changed as most of them are more violent. FH ministries have installed metal detectors to ensure adequate safety within the facilities. Moreover, compassion, care and service remain prominent at FH Ministries. However, the pandemic has intensely changed the forces at work and shifted the care’s bottom line. This was a mystery to the nation regarding how to be equipped to treat individuals. However, with the strict safety measure put in place, the process has improved now since the initial impact of the pandemic. The volunteers also reported that more loss of jobs, lockdowns, and means of income had shifted individuals’ mental health since the pandemic.
Commonalities Among Staff and Volunteers
Both staff members and volunteers share a common bond as the FH Ministries has already put in place and implemented various COVID-19 rules to ensure that their workers are safe. Besides, both are also embracing the necessary precautions and safety measures. Nevertheless, it would benefit them if they adequately improved the already set measures despite meeting most of 10their goals. The staff and volunteers reported that services for the homeless have promptly increased owing to the necessity of the organization to their customers, such as sterilization, wearing of masks and wearing gloves. The FH Ministries should continue to improve and learn how the organization can implement better safety measures and be more consistent with ensuring that everyone working there is safe from the virus. Although the organization has appropriately set the proper measures for reducing the COVID-19 virus, the staff and volunteers still want to see more changes to keep the virus under control.
As donations, volunteers, and the community drive the FH ministries, the organization should regularly conduct a health background check on all its workers. Although the pandemic is still the same as in the beginning, the FH Ministries is implementing new housing resources for individual advancement opportunities at a much larger scale. The organization requires its clients to strictly follow the set guidelines, as various opportunities available meet everyone’s needs. According to the and volunteers, they are doing the best they can to fight the pandemic. They have greatly impacted more independent and self-reliant individuals who are self-reliant and independent. However, there are a few challenges for those who are dropped off and require special care.
Dissemination Plan
Responses from the staff and volunteers contributed to numerous reasons an individual would still be involved and why an individual would remain engaged as a volunteer at FH Ministries even with the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. Most of these whys and wherefores are accurately articulated in the literature, whereas other reasons are not. Even though the literature tells of demands in time, a change in leadership, and social demographics, the research discovered other reasons. With the constant progression of the comparative analysis, this is where the concept of return on involvement arose (Malinen, Algera, & Mankkinen, 2020). In this literature, return on involvement refers to consumerism. Although this may be suitable in the corporate arena, it can still be applied in the field of social sciences, given a person’s return on involvement in the framework of sunk cost or opportunity cost.
Any person who decides to volunteer at FH Ministries and continues to be a volunteer even after the emergence of the pandemic should adequately address what they have personally attained past volunteering. Some volunteers joined the FH Ministries when they were still single or when their children needed ample attention when they were more in need and younger. The phase of their lives contributed to their considerable decision-making between family.
The outcome by which a person becomes a volunteer at FH Ministries hinges on one’s life influences and circumstances that arise during an individual’s life experiences. For instance, the impact of family and friends influences the values system of an individual in different ways and at various stages in a person’s life (Schmidthuber & Hilgers, 2019). At an early life stage of an individual, the impact is expressed by the ethos of public service, even though some people may take more years to manifest than others. Irrespective of if a person got into volunteering at FH Ministries early before the emergence of the pandemic, remaining in this service is still a personal choice. The FH Ministries relishes a long-lasting custom from a historical framework that frequently encompasses family generations. For instance, a volunteer at FH Ministries may have joined the organization since his father was also a company member. The legacy of volunteers is only impacted by the influence of family (Holmes, 2020).
In addition to legacy, other fundamental influences are demands in time, strict training necessities, change in population, shift in the dynamics of a community, leadership issues within the organization, and a deterioration in public responsibility. Leadership, ethos, divergence, and other aids are essential aspects that support the retention and recruitment of staff and volunteer at FH Ministries. Their efforts have largely enabled the organization to recognize new plans and opportunities (Holmes, 2020). Volunteers who contemplate the homeless community benefits are not excessively enthusiastic when their time investment returns or reimbursement from an extent of service honor program adds no abrupt value and is in the distant future (Colibaba, Russell, & Skinner, 2021). The appropriate way of safeguarding the quality of volunteering services at FH Ministries, even with the COVID-19 pandemic, can only be attained by the organization retaining and recruiting highly driven and dedicated people (Lantz & Runefors, 2021).
Volunteers at FH Ministries comprehend the demands of time needed to serve people whether they have the virus or not, and that has no illusions. However, it remains a challenge for the organization to account for and manage that time and ensure some abundant volunteers can enthusiastically respond to the cases of COVID-19. When considering volunteering services, the COVID-19 pandemic, the code of public service, time commitment, drive, and other different aspects, volunteers should contemplate their contributions to the organization rather than what they may come up with on the way or obtain in return. The leadership of FH Ministries should consider the returns on involvement when recruiting volunteers and staff.
Every person has exceptional reasons for joining the FH Ministries as a volunteer. Thus, the pandemic should not be an appropriate reason for a volunteer to resign from work and should only quit their duties when they have diminished returns on their involvement. Unless the FH Ministries works with the volunteers to put up what keeps them involved past the recruitment stages, volunteers need to obtain all-out contributions from the organization even though they are eager and capable of contributing.
The FH Ministries should establish the appropriate ways to keep volunteers involved despite the pandemic. For instance, the organization should determine the involvement return for the volunteers and staff they are recruiting and whether they are time flexible. Return on Involvement (ROI) necessitates the organization’s engagement at the entry stage (enrollment) or through the retention of volunteers. The FH Ministries should know that every volunteer’s return on involvement can vary over time.
Volunteers recognized at FH Ministries when the pandemic hit the world were either single, married with no kids, or married but with independent kids. Full involvement was apprehended during the stages of recruitment in their service with the organization. Once the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, volunteers at FH Ministries were less tied to community roles and were assigned fewer responsibilities that could not inhibit their engrossment. Thus, the volunteers had adequate and ample time to attend the basic certification programs for combating the virus. However, these volunteers were limited to time restrictions on work or school and yearly events such as birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, and other breakthrough events.
Volunteers at FH ministries need to learn how to appropriately handle someone who is COVID-19 positive. The FH Ministries should do their best to ensure that every person is tested on a case-by-case foundation and that case managers work with customers to assist them in finding the services they need. As the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically held up operations at FH ministries, the organization must keep each person safe (O ‘Halloran & Davies, 2020). Moreover, as the COVID-19 pandemic has altered everything, people must be more conscious of staying safe and protected.
More so, tests on suspected persons should be done quickly. FH ministries should implement a new testing system and health assessment for all staff, clients, and volunteers to ensure that every person is adequately protected from COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted FH Ministries as the organization ensures that everyone on the organization’s premises, along with those in isolation, is safe.
The individual volunteers express how much an individual takes part in the organization’s undertakings concerning balancing work, family, and other pursuits of life and realizing the requirements and level of involvement irrespective of the COVID-19 pandemic (Lantz & Runefors, 2021). The findings and literature of this research establish that factors impacting the involvement of volunteers at FH Ministries include work, family, school, personal interests, requirements, and objectives but not the cases of COVID-19.
This research describes the volunteer’s levels of involvement at the FH Ministries as follows:
- Level 1: No Involvement (NI): volunteers have stopped attending the organization’s voluntary services of emergency calls and activities.
- Level 2: Some Involvement (SI): the involvement of volunteers to work obligations is restricted to fewer responses to emergency calls and assembly turnout.
- Level 3: Moderate Involvement (MI): volunteers participate in all happenings in the organization when available.
- Level 5: Full Involvement (FI): The volunteers partake in all organization’s happenings and avail themselves even when inaccessible.
Nonetheless, these levels may fluctuate over the life cycle of a volunteer from recruitment to retirement.
Abbadia (2022) explained that the limitations of a study of research involves the way in which methods or designs influences the interpretation of the internal and external findings of the research. For this research study, the limitations were characteristically connected to the small sample size that was used to establish the findings of the research. The study only involved three staff members and two volunteers. Thus, the future research should include a larger sample size. Another limitation was linked to the application of interviews to conduct the research due to the researcher’s unfairness. Nevertheless, the researcher steered the interviews cautiously to evade complicated questions that could alter the responses attained. Henceforward, researchers of future studies need to use other appropriate data collection methods when conducting research of this type.
Factors influencing the safety of volunteers at Firehouse Ministries during the COVID-19 pandemic include roles assigned, volunteers’ balance to serve, and time demands. As volunteering service is one of the most unsafe works in the community, volunteers should articulately fathom how they can balance work and family against response to emergency occurrences such as COVID-19. The safety of volunteers at Firehouse Ministries during the COVID-19 pandemic can be improved by incorporating the traditional strategies of volunteer recruitment and retention, as these approaches can yield positive nominal outcomes for the organization.
Given the consequences of the decline of volunteers due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the FH Ministries need to consider the following applied and scholarly research recommendations. The applied recommendations emphasize probable and present volunteers and staff at FH Ministries. On the other hand, the focus of future scholarly research contemplates whether the COVID-19 has impacted the volunteer’s decisions and if there is an affiliation between the recruitment and retention of workers at FH Ministries.
Recommendations to Potential and Present Volunteers at Firehouse Ministries
No solitary plan can be recommended to the existing and potential volunteers at FH Ministries as the balance of responsibilities is unequal for everyone. Balance of responsibilities is all about individual selections and their time and energy allocation across the significant parts of their life cycle. When considering joining the FH Ministries as a volunteer, the person needs to outline and prioritize the aspects that are most imperative to them.
With time, the balance of responsibilities would vary, and transformation is earned due to the persons involved with the under takings of the organization. The appropriate balance of responsibilities for a single volunteer is different when the individual has a companion or children, is starting a new profession, or retiring. Identifying factors like idealistic demands, unforeseen situations, and time constrictions throughout their cycle of life with the organization can permit an individual always to contemplate time to clear family time, or work time, from the organization even when it is one day in every week or one weekend in every month for instance.
Recommendations to Firehouse Ministries
The FH Ministries ought to consider how the volunteers prioritize their working time and adequately support them from their time of recruitment to their retirement period. Working within the organization’s requirements structure, the FH Ministries must be flexible enough to establish alternate determinations in managing its volunteers. As workers may feel entombed in an inflexible system like public services, volunteers also may feel entombed in a stringent system to make precise responses and turnout requirements (Kettl, 2021).
This can be a fractional catch-22 concerning working out, response, and meeting turnout. Nevertheless, the organization should appropriately consider the lifestyle and life cycle of volunteers and staff. For instance, some individuals joined the FH Ministries as volunteers or part of the staff in their early twenties or late teens, whereas others joined the organization later. On the other hand, some volunteers joined the organization to follow in the footsteps of their friends and families since they desired to give back to their local society.
Once recruited, some volunteers had ample time to be entirely involved and devoted to attending numerous emergencies calls at night and during the day, meetings, training, and supplementary events. At some given point, every volunteer at FH Ministries had to create informed choices regarding their involvement levels over time. The triggers they encountered when making these decisions involved different issues relating to work, family, and leadership. Some activities encountered by these volunteers,
drove them outside the FH Ministries. Those who remained were forced to regulate their involvement levels regarding the things that mattered to them most.
Understanding this, volunteers can jointly work with one another to ensure they fully understand their readiness and conduct their designated activities within those restraints to capitalize on their involvement in the organization. This necessitates the organization’s determinations from a management perception of a volunteer. It begins during the stage of the recruitment and stays all over the tenure of a volunteer with the organization. The work performance of a volunteer should not be conducted immediately after the recruitment. It should be carried out in the setting of a yearly performance review set in professional establishments of every field.
The FH Ministries need to consider executing a yearly review of involvement, like an annual work performance review. This should concur with longitudinal approaches to assess what impacts the life of a volunteer. The FH Ministries should be practical in conducting their operations more collaboratively with the volunteers identifying the stage of life the volunteer is at during the time of recruitment and, if possible, continuing with the process till the individual retires (Evarts & Stein, 2020). By continuing such a process and involving the volunteers in its activities, the organization w be in a healthier position to accomplish the full involvement capacity of a volunteer over time.
Recommendations to Communities Served by Firehouse Ministries
The research questions did not address the issue of if the communities served by the FH Ministries understood the type of volunteer service delivery the organization offered to the local communities and the possible problems the organization has faced since the outbreak of the virus, nor how the pandemic has impacted the local communities economically. The study questions were only based on the impact of COVID-19 virus on homeless communities. Considering the overall need for sufficient awareness of the support expectations the communities served by FH Ministries anticipated from the organization, there is a need for further research to be conducted, which would take into even the perspective of the communities the organization serves. The potential implications to positive social change for FH Ministries staff, volunteers, and clients is to continue to be more consistent with improvement strategies with security and safety in regards to protecting them from COVID-19 and building security. Also, they should provide more community outreach programs to assist them with more donations and volunteers that will promote citizen participation and fortify communities by addressing the needs of the homeless community that they serve. (ASP, 2023)
Future Research Recommendations
It is important to circumnavigate the connection between the FH Ministries and its volunteers by identifying that work-life balance is challenging for volunteers and staff at the organization, especially during these tough times of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Firehouse Ministries should adequately involve its volunteers in monitoring and mentoring programs, which is essential to the organization’s success (Evarts & Stein, 2020). This study provided findings that led to solutions to the problems of volunteer safety. Implementing appropriate strategies has assisted in keeping volunteers healthy and minimizing their chances of contracting the novel coronavirus. In this study, the theory was developed to describe the changes that need to be implemented in the volunteer program in FH Ministries and suggested a strategy that should be followed in effecting these changes. By implementing and enforcing wearing masks, and gloves, isolating individuals that are sick by placing them in another area of the organization, and by sterilizing everything in terms of keeping everyone safe from the coronavirus. Also, implementing an assessment for evaluation from preventing danger, to deterring danger, and responding to physical security abuses in a safe and effective manner.
The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic led to an extreme decline in volunteer services at FH Ministries. Also, the pandemic has affected the organization’s capacity to provide dependable and efficient emergency safety and services to the communities it serves. The issues recognized in this literature review influence the
volunteers and staff’s time and energy in the organization’s running. Researchers need to continue to recognize the factors that influence the efforts of volunteering and the impact it has on balancing their lives. There is a need to understand how to keep volunteers long term and understand the selfless motive of communal service in retaining and recruiting volunteers (Rielage, 2021). Additionally, further research should be steered concerning the non-answered questions of how the safety of volunteers at FH Ministries can be improved even after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The study also showed that FH Ministries volunteers prioritized their everyday volunteer work while juggling it with their separate and successful lives. This affects the volunteer’s levels of participation in voluntary services over the course of their lifetime. The organization’s return on engagement to the volunteers and the individual’s level of involvement were the two major themes that came out of this research on how the safety of the volunteers might be improved during these times of COVID-19 pandemic. Further studies should be done to assist expand on these emergent themes.
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, voluntary services in the United States have drastically declined. The decline in voluntary services should be a red flag to every community that obtains various voluntary services from the FH Ministries. Demands of time and changes in personal undercurrents and work plans compel a person’s time to offer voluntary service (Perry, 2021). Nevertheless, the Firehouse Ministries is one of the many organizations offering essential public, voluntary services to communities in the United States.
Services of volunteering have a long-established U.S. history in the delivery of public services. Numerous individual volunteers are not part of non-profit organizations, such as those in the government, profit organizations, and community-based organizations. The decline in volunteers due to the COVID-19 pandemic should be a major worry for all communities that totally depend on free resources to accomplish their undertakings. Njapa (2022) stated that “the nonprofit industry has suffered greatly as a result of this loss”. By understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the FH Ministries and the homeless communities, the organization is placed in a greater position to address various prospects that may play a vital role in developing innovative approaches to the retention and recruitment of staff and volunteers.
