Volume46,Number27 WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. THURSDAY, March 26, 2020
Local nonprofits adapting to provide
services without senior volunteers
BY JUDIE HOLCOMB-PACK
THE CHRONICLE
Before the COVID-19
crisis, any time you walked
into an art gallery, hos
pital, community service
agency, library, or other
organization, you would
see older adults working
- for free - volunteering
their time to support these
community organizations.
According to the National
Community Service, peo
ple age 50 and over make
up nearly 35% of those
who volunteer on a regular
basis.
According to The Bu
reau of Labor Statistics,
volunteers are worth on av
erage $24.14 an hour. That
can amount to a substantial
savings for nonprofits that
depend on financial dona
tions to cover the cost of
their services.
Barbara Campbell is
just one ofthose volunteers.
Campbell and her husband
the thrift shop closed
temporarily because of
the Coronavirus,” said
Barbara. “I look forward
to my Fridays at the shop.
I will miss the comradery
of working with other
volunteers, but I especially
will miss the people who
come into the shop, many
who are regulars. Not only
do customers enjoy finding
treasures, many just need
someone to listen to their
stories. Most of all, I will
miss the opportunity to
do something to make my
community a better place.”
What are local non-
profits doing now that
these senior volunteers are
staying home to protect
their health?
Samaritan Ministries is
one such organization that
depends on older adults
to help with such things
as preparing and serving
meals to the hungry and
overseeing their homeless
shelter during the evening.
Submitted photos
Cynthia Mickle, Crisis Control Ministry’s food pantry manager, puts out prepacked food orders for clients to pick
up outside the food pantry.
Tina Adkins, Crisis Control Ministry’s Director of Client Services, conducts a phone
rather than an in-person interview with a client.
Bob volunteered for
over 20 years at Crisis
Control Ministry. Now
she volunteers at The
Solus Christus (“in Christ
alone”) Thrift Shop
or at least she did until
last week. “This week
Sonja Kurosky, executive
director, said they have
asked volunteers age 65
and older to not come
to the shelter. They are
currently passing out lunch
meals at the door, but need
10-12 daytime volunteers
to help. They need eight
volunteers every night to
monitor their overnight
shelter. These regular
volunteers are hard to
replace.
Like most other places,
they have stepped up their
cleaning and are following
guidelines from the city
and Forsyth County
Public Health, such as
disinfecting common
www.wschronicle.com
areas more frequently
and practicing social
distancing. Overnight
volunteers sleep in a
separate dorm room away
from the shelter residents.
They use people who
need community service
hours, such as offenders
with mandated community
service, but that still does
not fill the need. College
students who are now
home would be a godsend
for Kurosky. For more
details or to volunteer, visit
www. samaritanministry,
org.
Margaret Elliott,
executive director of Crisis
Control Ministry, said
their older volunteers are
no longer coming in and
they have made changes
to how they are providing
services to protect not only
their clients, but also the
staff. They have closed
their lobby, shortened their
hours to 9 a.m. to noon
Monday through Friday,
and are doing phone
rather than in-person
interviews. With the
recent news that eviction
notices will not be served
over the next few weeks
and water and electricity
will not be turned off
due to nonpayment, they
have seen some decrease
in requests for financial
assistance. However, she
expects these to go up
Paul Cribb, Crisis Control Ministry’s operations manager, packs food donations for
distribution to clients.
significantly when the
crisis is over and the past
due bills will need to
be paid. Currently, staff
instead of volunteers is
handling phone interviews
and prepacking food
orders in the food pantry
that are being handed out
at the food room door. The
pharmacy is still operating
with staff only and is
dispensing 60-day supplies
of medications.
Elliott said this is the
first time in the history
of the ministry that they
have had to cut back on
serving clients and it is
heartbreaking. She said
that staff is currently
working full time, but
with an expected drop
in donations, she is not
sure how long this will
continue before they may
be forced to cut back
hours. Donations can be
made online at www.
crisiscontrol.org.
Senior Services is
another agency that
depends on volunteers,
especially to distribute
meals-on-wheels.
According to information
on their website, they are
in touch with Meals on
Wheels programs across
the nation to determine
best practices during these
unprecedented times.
In an email from Joel
McIver, vice president of
community engagement,
See Nonprofits on A2
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