The nature of community literacy work requires special attention in the development of policies and procedures. Much of the literature on policy development is geared for larger organizations where the volunteer department is an added, but non-essential, part of a central institution. In Ontario community-based literacy organizations, the volunteer is integral to the very functioning of the organization. Our work could not be done if there were not a volunteer workforce to carry out the labour intensive, client-centred work of teaching adults to read and write. Collectively, the effort of community literacy agencies is the management of volunteers in order to deliver an essential service to the citizens of Ontario who require literacy training.
The Specialized Quality Standard on Program-Volunteer Relations ties in with development of written policies and procedures. The following statement was developed in a collaborative effort of a broad cross-section of communitybased literacy workers.
A quality literacy program provides volunteers with the resources to be valuable members of the organization. They are given initial and ongoing training, direction, and supervision.They are given written information about their rights and responsibilities.They are encouraged to contribute based on their skills, time, interests and the needs of the program.They are recognized for their work.The literacy program encourages respect for volunteers at all times from students, staff, and fellow volunteers. (From Volunteer Management Resource Guide for Literacy Programs, CLO, 1997)
In community-based literacy organizations, the work could not be done without the mobilization of volunteers. Any policies and procedures developed in our agencies will be concerned with the values and operations related to the management of volunteers. To a greater extent than in other social service or education systems, community-based literacy policies must reflect the distinctiveness of the use of our volunteers.
Creating a positive “volunteer-friendly” environment will be an important theme underlying your policy development. Saving money is not the only reason that literacy organizations use volunteers.Volunteers are, in fact, doing real work, carrying out the agency’s mission to deliver literacy training in that community. The small group or one-to-one situations in which they work require a high level of competence, autonomy, interpersonal skills and trust. They also need sensitivity, caring and resourcefulness as no two adult learners are the same. A dramatic increase in literacy funding would never diminish the need for volunteers, although it would certainly go a long way to enhancing the support which can maximize that volunteer potential.