What's It Worth?

By Sue Chess
      Executive Director

Janet came into my office with a big happy grin and said happily “that was fun!”  She had just been with a client, so suspecting a great story I said, “Tell me more!”  Janet went on, “My client just told me her time with us is the highlight of her week.”  When I asked her to explain, Janet said that the client described losing her home during Hurricane Irma because the apartment building where she lived was destroyed by floodwater.  All of her things were gone and then she found Care Net.  The connections she needed were reestablished and she began taking parenting classes to rebuild her baby supplies.  Over time she has developed a close mentoring relationship with her volunteer as she has come in each week. This was what she meant by highlight.  But, it was not JUST the much needed stuff, but also the love and acceptance she’s found in “this place.”   Janet and I both had tears in our eyes as we reflected on our grateful client’s gift to us today.  This kind of feedback makes it all worth it.  Knowing the investment of time is not only saving lives but rescuing lives in so many other ways as well.

As we’ve just come through Volunteer Appreciation month, it has been pure joy to focus on the amazing people God has filled our Stuart and Port St. Lucie Centers with.  Trying to describe the hearts of love in our Centers leaves all of us a bit speechless—they really ARE that good!  So, when we came across an article describing the “Value of Volunteers in 2017” of course I read it! 

Did you know that there is a way to put a value on their work?  Until reading this article, we’d been measuring their worth way too low!  According to nonprofit leadership network Independent Sector, the estimated value of an hour of volunteer work rose to $24.69 per hour in 2017. 

Imagine hiring someone to teach, sort donated baby items, lead classes, peer counsel, enter data, solicit donations, provide ultrasounds, schedule medical staff, provide STI testing, and process a bulk-mail.  Now imagine paying them $24.69 per hour/per person for all of these services on a budget that’s already stretched thin! 

Our volunteers sign in and out when they come to Care Net.  This keeps our insurance company happy, but it also gives us how many hours have been donated.  We tracked 4900 hours in our two Centers in 2017.  At $24.69/hour it would have cost us an incredible $120,941.00 just last year to pay our Volunteers.

 

Janet’s story at the beginning measured the “eternal metric” of what the investment into our client’s lives accomplishes.  The Independent Sector has measured the “earthly metric.”  Either way, we’ve managed to show you just how deeply in debt we are to the wonderful men and women who do so much here at Care Net.

The next time someone tells you they volunteer, tell them “thank you,” would you?  They really are “a work of heart!”