Pathway Program

Central Volunteer Bureau of Ottawa-Carleton

This program promotes the involvement of individuals with mental health disabilities as volunteers. It offers continuing support to the placement organizations to maintain the volunteer in position or to make adjustments or changes as needed.

The program has been operating continually since 1984. It was funded by Health and Welfare Canada (National Welfare Grants Program) from 1984 to 1987 and by the Department of the Secretary of State of Canada (Disabled Persons' Participation Program) from 1988 to 1989. The Ontario Ministry of Health is providing financial support from 1991 to 1993.

Transitional Volunteer Program

The Volunteer Centre
Community Service Council, St John's, Nfld

This supported volunteer program is designed to assist people with a variety of special needs. These include individuals with physical, intellectual or mental health disabilities, as well as those who are socially or economically disadvantaged, and the long-term unemployed.

Support is given by assessing the interests and abilities of volunteers, arranging appropriate placements in volunteer positions, and providing ongoing follow-up and evaluation. Vocational counselling (including career planning, résumé-writing and job-search skills) is also offered.

One full-time counsellor and a part-time assistant work with approximately 80 volunteer a year. The program has been in existence since 1985, and is funded by the Outreach Program of Employment and Immigration Canada.

Volunteer Work Support Program

Independent Living Resource Centre, Winnipeg

This program assists people with all types of disabilities and of all ages to find volunteer jobs of their choice within the community. Run by and for people with disabilities, this program encourages volunteers to explore options and make their own choices. It also incorporates the concepts of peer support and peer learning.

Established in 1986, the program provides personalized support that ranges from practical advice to personal assistance. Training and support are also offered to the coordinators of volunteers in the voluntary organizations where the volunteers work.

Multicultural Outreach Program

Volunteer Centre of Metropolitan Toronto

This volunteer project encourages the participation of members of ethnocultural groups as volunteers in mainstream voluntary organizations. Students in the final stages of ESL (English as a second language) programs are a major source for recruitment.

The program manager works with community organizations to increase understanding of cultural differences and to encourage organizational change that will make volunteer organizations more receptive to volunteers from various ethnocultural and racial backgrounds.

The program has been in existence since 1986, and has been funded by various sources.

Integration Through Volunteering Program

Greater Coquitlam Volunteer Bureau

This program provides individual training and support to volunteers with intellectual disabilities. Managed by a part-time coordinator, the program has been running since 1988 under a contract from the British Columbia Ministry of Social Services (on a fee-for-service basis). It has served approximately 200 individuals during that time.

A similar program for individuals with mental health disabilities is being set up with funding from the Ministry of Health.

Supported Volunteering Program

Central Volunteer Bureau of Ottawa-Carleton

This program aims to provide volunteer opportunities for individuals who have severe physical disabilities. Continuing support is available to both the volunteer and the placement agency. Counselling is available to the volunteer both before and after placement. Depending upon availability, a `buddy' (a volunteer, student, or staff member) may be assigned. A monthly travel allowance is also provided, if needed.

The program began in 1988 under a grant from the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services and was still operating in June of 1992.

The Volunteer Access Project

Victoria Volunteer Bureau

This is a program to encourage the involvement of volunteers with a variety of special needs, with particular emphasis on individuals who have mental health, intellectual or physical disabilities, and individuals for whom English is a second language.

Managed by a part-time coordinator working 21 hours a week, the project deals with about 110 individuals a year. Some 50 per cent of these were successfully placed in volunteer positions (equivalent to the Bureau's results for all volunteers).

The project began in January 1990 and continued until June of 1992 with funding assistance from the Vancouver Foundation and the Disabled Persons' Participation Program of the Department of the Secretary of State. Funding from September 1992 to March 1993 has been secured from the B.C. Ministry of Social Services. It is hoped that funds can be found to continue the program permanently.

Community Integration Project

Richmond Volunteer and Information Centre

The volunteer program offers personalized support for individuals who are making the transition from a mental health environment to the larger community. The program is run by one full-time coordinator, who provides support to both the volunteer and the agency during the training process.

Based on a seven-month pilot project that took place in 1990, this program formally began in September of 1992. It is jointly run by the Richmond Information and Volunteer Centre and the Richmond Branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association, with funding from the Greater Vancouver Mental Health Services Society.

Project Positive

Volunteer Action Centre
and Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital, Edmonton

TBA (for volunteers who have brain injuries).

Ethnocultural Project

Central Volunteer Bureau of Ottawa-Carleton

This project aims to identify and overcome barriers that discourage newcomers to Canada from volunteering in mainstream organizations, and to promote volunteerism among ethnocultural minorities. Personalized support is offered to volunteers with special needs.

The project was launched in the summer of 1992, with funding from the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton. It is managed by a part-time coordinator.

Volunteer Support Program

Independent Living Resource Centre of Calgary and the Volunteer Centre of Calgary

This joint program is designed to help people with all types of disabilities find volunteer placements within the community.

The program will provide personalized support to the volunteers, as well as training and support to the organizations receiving them. It also incorporates the concept of peer support between participants.

The consultation and planning has been completed, and it is hoped that the program can be launched by January 1993.

Anyone who intends to pursue this subject should be aware that, because supported volunteering is a new area, the terminology is still evolving.

A variety of terms have been used in the literature to refer to `supported volunteerism'. The most commonly used terms are `special-needs volunteering', `equal-opportunity volunteering', `equal-access volunteering', `transitional volunteering' and `difficult-to-place volunteers'.

However, precise definitions of these terms and the target groups to which they are applied differ greatly from one source to the next.

The term supported volunteerism has not been widely used until now, but seems to best convey the concept without pulling a train of other connotations behind it. I have used it here to refer to the personalized support offered to individuals with special needs, without regard to the particular type of disability or support required.

This usage parallels `supported employment' and `supported integration' (referring to the assistance given to individuals with special needs in the paid workplace and in regular classrooms in schools, respectively), which are now accepted terms.

As with those two concepts, the focus in this text is on the individuals themselves and on the special support and accommodations they require to integrate successfully into volunteer positions.

By this definition, targeted recruitment programs (such as those focusing on youth, seniors or ethnocultural populations) would not necessarily be considered supported programs simply because they are targeted. Only programs which make a special effort to accommodate the on-the-job needs of individual volunteers would be so defined.

Nevertheless, there will certainly be individuals from these other groups who, because of disabilities or special circumstances, could also be described as `special-needs' volunteers as the term is used in this text.

In a recent publication from Volunteer Ontario entitled Special-Needs Volunteering: A Directory of Programs in Canada, (Linda Graff, 1992), the terms `special-needs volunteering' and `supported volunteering' are used more broadly. They encompass all programs which make a special effort to recruit and place volunteers from specific target groups that have traditionally been under-represented in volunteering.

On-the-job support to the volunteer is not the determining factor in that definition. Rather, the emphasis is on the organization and the special effort that it makes to include all sectors of society in volunteering.

It should also be noted that the Volunteer Ontario publication makes a distinction between `supported volunteerism' and `special-needs volunteering'.

The term `supported volunteerism' is used in that publication exclusively for programs which serve a brokerage role (primarily volunteer centres), recruiting special-needs volunteers in order to refer them to other organizations.

`Special-needs volunteering', on the other hand, refers to activities undertaken either by the receiving agency or by an organization which recruits its volunteers directly.

Individuals with learning disabilities are rarely included in the groups targeted by existing programs that offer supported volunteerism. Since this group would seem to be seriously under-represented in volunteering, it appears that more attention would be warranted here.

As `invisible' handicaps, learning disabilities are very poorly understood by the general public. Essentially, they are information-processing disabilities that affect one or more of the following areas: reading, writing, and oral language (for example, comprehension, sequencing of thoughts, expression of ideas). Not uncommonly, there are associated difficulties with attention, memory, organization, psycho-motor coordination and social skills. However, the individual is usually within the normal ranges of intelligence.

Because there are many different types of learning disabilities and many possible combinations, it is perhaps more difficult for the average person to understand the precise nature of an individual's particular learning style and needs. For this reason, it can be challenging to integrate individuals with more severe or more complex learning disabilities into volunteer jobs.

To be effective, a program must be specifically designed for a particular learning-disabled individual. It must take into consideration the various facets of his disability and the interplay between them, as well as the particular learning style and the specific strategies required to compensate for the disability. As with all special-needs volunteers, it is also important to encourage these individuals to use and develop their areas of strength as much as possible.

Some individuals with learning disabilities will need only minimal assistance at the outset to make the adjustment, while others will require ongoing support and an adapted environment to function effectively. Depending on the needs of the individual, the volunteer position may have to restructured and a distraction-free work space may have to be provided. Additional time to do a task and special guidance may be also be necessary. Instructions may need to be given in a very clear way and broken down into smaller tasks that involve a limited number of steps at one time.

A volunteer with learning disabilities may need instructional and other basic information in alternative forms or media. For example, someone with a reading disability may benefit more from oral or taped information rather than written material. Someone with a language disability may work much more effectively if information is presented in written form rather than orally. Similarly, these individuals should be given the freedom to do their reports in the form that is best suited to their needs, whether that is oral or written.

Misperceptions tend to abound where learning disabilities are concerned. Difficulties with expressive language, reading, or writing may be equated with lack of intelligence or a lack of interest in the job. Difficulties with organization may be viewed as laziness or inefficiency, while difficulties with concentration may be interpreted as lack of initiative or motivation.

As well, the more subtle aspects of learning disabilities (particularly, a lack of savoir faire in social activities) could impede success on the job unless those working with the volunteer are tactfully made aware of this.

There is a general tendency to underestimate the potential of individuals with learning disabilities. And, as noted above, it may be somewhat difficult for those unfamiliar with learning disabilities to understand why accommodations are needed and how to make them.

For this reason, it is advisable to forge a partnership with a local or provincial chapter of the Learning Disabilities Association of Canada and seek the active involvement of people who are trained in the field. In some cases, the involvement of an outside advocate may be useful to give credence to the reality of the invisible handicaps.

Employment and Immigration Canada sponsors a free service called the Job Accommodation Network, or Jan. Jan is a joint Canada-US telephone consulting service with a data bank containing thousands of examples of how organizations have successfully accommodated workers with disabilities.

Counsellors are also available to provide detailed information and advice on how jobs and worksites can be adapted to compensate for functional limitations of employees or volunteers. (Jan's toll-free number is 1-800-526-2262. Services are available in French or English).

In addition, some provincial government departments offer consultative services and grants covering the needs of people with disabilities. Community agencies and local branches of organizations dealing with specific disabilities will also be able to provide advice on options for accommodation.

The following resources are highly recommended for anyone interested in supported volunteerism. They are all recent publications available free of charge or at a modest price.

Anderson, Ruth, and Nell Smith. In Search of Volunteer Opportunities. Edmonton: Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital and the Volunteer Action Centre, 1992. (Unpublished manual for a volunteer development course for people with head injuries.)

Applebaum, Seymore. Recruiting and Retaining Volunteers from Minority Communities: A Case Study. Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 1991. (Unpublished doctoral thesis.)

Baker, David. “The Next Generation: Anticipating Equality Issues in Employment” in Rehabilitation Digest, November 1989, pp. 1-9.

Brown, Dale S et al. Pathways to Employment for People with Learning Disabilities. Washington, DC: President's Committee on Employment for People with Disabilities, 1990.

Haberek, Judy. “Involving Special Groups, Meeting Special Needs” in Voluntary Action Leadership, Winter 1986, pp. 25-29.

Honeck, Jack. “IBM's Focus: On Employees' Abilities — Not Their Disabilities” in Journal of Career Planning and Employment, volume LI, number 2, January 1991, pp. 68-71.

Ilsley, Paul. Enhancing the Volunteer Experience: New Insights on Strengthening Volunteer Participation, Learning and Commitment. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1990.

Learning Disabilities Association of Canada. Learning Disabilities. Ottawa: 1987.

MacKinnon, Jean. “Volunteer Access Project” in The Journal of Volunteer Resources Management, volume 1, number II, Summer 1992. (Published by the Ontario Association for Volunteer Administration.)

Martin, Duncan and Nairn Galvin. Multiculturalism and Voluntary Action: Report on a Preliminary Study. Hamilton: Voluntary Action Centres of Hamilton and District, 1988.

McKay, Shona. “Willing and Able” in Report on Business Magazine. October 1991, pp. 58-63.

McLaren, K Louise. “Accommodations: Access to Opportunities” in Canadian Banker. November-December 1990, pp. 58-63.

Minnesota Office on Volunteer Services. “Equal Access to Volunteer Participation” in The Journal of Volunteer Administration, Fall 1984, pp. 1-6.

O'Brien, John. Working On: A Survey of Emerging Issues in Supported Employment. Lithonia, Georgia: Responsive Systems Associates, 1990.

Pike, Sue. Stronger Together: Recruiting and Working with Ethnocultural Volunteers. Ottawa: Central Volunteer Bureau of Ottawa-Carleton, 1990.

Richmond Information and Volunteer Centre and the Richmond Branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association. Volunteer Placement Project (Community Integration Service). Richmond, BC: 1990. (Unpublished manual on integrating volunteers who are making the transition from a mental health setting to the larger community.)

Schindler-Rainman, Eva. Transitioning: Strategies for the Volunteer World. Vancouver: Voluntary Action Resource Centre, 1980.

Secretary of State of Canada. A Way with Words: Guidelines and Appropriate Terminology for the Portrayal of Persons with Disabilties. Ottawa: 1991.

Simpkins, Karen and Rochelle Kaplan. “Fair Play for Disabled Persons” in Journal of Career Planning and Employment, volume li, number 2, pp. 40-46.

Smith, Maria P. “Taking Volunteerism into the 21st Century: Some conclusions from the American Red Cross VOLUNTEER 2000 Study” in The Journal of Volunteer Administration, Fall 1989, pp. 2-10.

United Way of Greater Toronto. Multicultural Development Handbook. Toronto: 1988.

Volunteer: The National Centre. Involving the Handicapped as Volunteers: A Guidebook. (Report of the Citizens Involvement for Physically Disabled Youth.) Arlington, VA: 1984.

Volunteer Centre of Calgary. Project Kaleidoscope: Cross-Cultural Partnerships in Volunteerism. Calgary: 1992.

Volunteer Centre of Metropolitan Toronto. Volunteers from the Multicultural Community: Programs That Work. Toronto: 1992.

Wilson, Marlene. You Can Make a Difference: Helping Others and Yourself Through Volunteering. Boulder, Colorado: Volunteer Management Associates, 1990.

YWCA of Metropolitan Toronto. Multiculturalism at Work: A Guide to Organizational Change. Toronto: 1987.

isbn 0-662-20106-x

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