Volunteer Now - In Wayne and Holmes Counties
Volunteer Now - In Wayne and Holmes Counties
Although my family has lived in Wayne County for the last several years, it wasn’t until I began working at United Way of Wayne and Holmes Counties (UWWH) that I truly began connecting to the community. Volunteerism has played such a key role in this connection. I have gained so much through volunteering in both Holmes and Wayne Counties; meeting new people, learning about new organizations, and continuing to grow my connection with others in the community. Before working at UWWH, I always wanted to volunteer, but didn’t really have a great understanding of how or where to even begin. The times I reached out to various organizations to volunteer, it took days to hear back or stop the “phone tag” game. I’d call them and leave a message. They’d call me and I’d miss the call. I would see a social media post about volunteers needed, but by the time the contact got back to me, the need was filled, or the event already passed. When I found out that part of my role at UWWH was to not only manage volunteers, but to also get a new volunteer platform for our two counties up-and-running, I was so excited! Our community needed a one-stop place to easily sign-up and manage volunteers. After hearing the needs of our partners and other local organizations regarding the lack of volunteerism post-COVID, and discussions with College of Wooster (COW) students, Volunteer Now – In Wayne and Holmes Counties was born.
United Way of Wayne and Holmes Counites, in collaboration with College of Wooster, received a multi-year grant from Wayne County Community Foundation in 2022 to implement a new volunteer platform accessible to the public as a one-stop shop for all volunteer-related opportunities. Volunteer Now – In Wayne and Holmes Counties is a reliable, web-based volunteer management system that assists in managing volunteers and growing community impact. UWWH manages the administration for the site and approves organizations that are created as Agencies on the platform. These organizations can post their volunteer needs, with volunteers signing up using desktop and/or mobile app versions of the site, so long as the opportunity is in Holmes or Wayne counties. This robust platform features hours tracking, volunteer check-in, scheduling, waivers & eSignatures, event planning, group & team management, volunteer profiles and resumes, and more. Pretty sweet, right? The best part is that COW will also have their own separate landing page, tied into the student organization Wooster Volunteer Network (WVN). There will be capabilities to funnel registered student users to review and access volunteer needs posted on Volunteer Now – In Wayne and Holmes Counties! While it’s the responsibility of each approved Agency to follow their internal volunteer protocol, UWWH is there to assist as needed. It takes our whole community committing to filling a gap like this, and the only way for it to work is if volunteer needs are being posted on the site and if we are spreading the word about where to sign-up for these needs.
One of my favorite parts about this platform is the APP! The app allows you to easily access and review local volunteer needs in our community, in real time. This is so crucial. People have such busy lives; we do not want to create additional obstacles for already willing community members to volunteer.
To sign up your organization or sign-up as a user, go to https://www.volunteernow.info/ or scan the QR codes to download the app! (See picture below) And as always, if you have questions or concerns, feel free to email me at kayley@uwwh.org or call our office at (330) 264-5576. The time is NOW to Volunteer!
