Every Hour Counts!

By Daniel Barber, Volunteer Manager

The community that supports Community LINC is a very generous one!  2015 was filled with fantastic acts of kindness and dedication from our volunteers.  These volunteers are essential to Community LINC’s ability to function and impact poverty.  Often times, individual volunteers can overlook or forget about the importance of their time.  But we know every hour counts!

2015 in Review

In 2015, Community LINC volunteers donated 5,427 recorded hours.  That time is estimated to be a $135,435 value to Community LINC.  Allow me a moment to recognize just a few highlights of the overall contributions of our volunteers.

Apartment Preparations:  Our volunteers spent 332 hours cleaning, re-organizing and decorating apartments to make them feel like a place our residents can call “home”.   On average, each apartments takes about 10 – 12 volunteer hours to get ready for the next family.  Without volunteers, that work would have to be done by employees. Which would mean: 1) Less time for employees typical duties (maintenance, or resident interactions), or 2) Community LINC would have to hire more employees to handle the duties, and 3) Probably most importantly, apartment prep would take longer, and families would have to wait longer to move in.

Budgeting: Last year, our budgeters clocked 233 budgeting hours.  That is time spent, individually, with residents and aftercare participants, helping them achieve their financial goals and attain stability.   Budget counseling is a big reason 93% of our program graduates from 2008-2013 have not returned to homelessness in the last seven years.

Maintenance: Our buildings are over 100 years old.  We have all the maintenance duties any other apartment complex would have, on top of the impressive age of our buildings.  As you can imagine, every single one of the 1,387 hours donated to maintenance was greatly needed.  Without these dedicated volunteers, our facility would not look nearly as nice and would be very far behind on routine maintenance.

Youth / Children: Throughout 2015, our volunteers spent 696 hours with the children of Community LINC.  The impact of homelessness on a child can be devastating; emotionally and developmentally.  The time our volunteers spent caring for and supporting these children has greatly impacted and improved each student’s ability to deal with their stressful circumstances.

Special Events: The Rent Party is a fantastic highlight of the year for Community LINC.  It is also responsible for one-third of our operating budget! To pull off such a fantastic evening of entertainment, it takes lots of time and preparation - 258 volunteer hours to be exact!  Volunteers are crucial for acquiring donations for the auction, as well as to make sure the event runs smoothly.  Without all of these hours, the Rent Party could not be as successful as it is.

These are just a few highlights of the overall impact our volunteers make at Community LINC.  Each hour donated means we can do a better job at ending homelessness, impacting poverty and removing barriers to self-sufficiency for the families we serve.  The volunteers at Community LINC clearly understand just how much community matters. We appreciate every one of our volunteers and every hour donated!