Volunteer Story

Mama, >> I'm hungry. Mama, please get up. Mama, please get up. [Music] Hello. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] I want my sister. I want my sister. But my sister, >> this family came to the attention of our agency when the school called and requested the help of a social worker before I became a volunteer coordinator. I was a social worker who answered such calls. And believe me, I know how she felt on that first visit. I'm fold correctly. >> No matter how many times a social worker is confronted with a family in these circumstances, she can't help feeling compassion for the people forced by circumstances into a narrow, hopeless world. And perhaps frustration because there is so much to be done and so little help to do it. Consider this family. This woman, like so many mothers, sick, deserted by her husband, four children, nowhere to turn. A woman immobilized, trapped in this life of hopelessness, unable to cope with the world. Mary, the oldest girl, in school when she feels like it, the rest of the time, who knows? A girl already well along on the road, leading right back to the same life as that of her mother. Susan in school almost never. A child physically crippled by a bone defect and mentally crippled by her environment. Without proper medical treatment, it is probable that Susan will not live long enough to repeat that pattern of despair. But he will. The signs are already there. The circle of his world includes what he sees, what he hears, what he feels, and not one of these teach him how to break the pattern of his daily environment. This baby, though appearing healthy, is actually suffering from dietary deficiencies which can lead to early childhood diseases. The social worker can arrange for heat, for lights, for medical aid, and for food. >> It's plugged in. Your light's out. Electricity is off. All right. >> The Social Services Agency provides the necessary assistance for a family to survive. But the needs of many families such as this one cannot be fulfilled by a social worker alone. It was an all too familiar problem. No public agency can give all the support that some families need. That would require many more employees in a greatly increased budget. However, something had to be done for the Romero family. The social worker came to me since I was the volunteer coordinator in this area. My job was to find someone to help a volunteer. How old is Ro? >> After assisting Mrs. Romero to recover her health, the social worker brought a volunteer who wanted to help the family. >> Yes. >> Do you do finger painting? >> Yes. >> And you are. >> What is there that causes someone to care and is just caring enough? Can that concern be transferred to meaningful action? Consider this volunteer. >> What do you call it? She and the social worker have agreed that their primary goals are to overcome this family's feelings of hopelessness and despair. But how do you instill a sense of hope? How do you build a feeling of pride? The volunteer begins by making possible the small achievements such as selecting food for its nutritional value. [Music] The volunteer knows that to build a sense of achievement, she must not do everything herself. She must work with the parent, helping her develop a feeling of pride as well as the necessary skills. And when together they solve one problem, they go on to the next. >> It's very simple. All you do is follow the line and then it's usually a straight line. Very good. You're on the way to having a skirt. >> Consider transportation. This is a major problem for many of those existing on a substandard income. Of what use is a distant clinic expert hospital care when public transportation is not adequate and the family car won't run? Transportation volunteers are available on call such as this one driving Susan and her mother to the hospital. Transportation alone is often not enough. Child care is needed for the children left at home. The volunteer helps the parent. She does not become a substitute for the parent. We sometimes forget that people who have never been outside their own narrow world may not know how to cope with an alien environment. Coming into a large impersonal medical institution is confusing to anyone, but more so to someone of limited experience. The transportation volunteer can be of further help by guiding the family through the routines for admittance. [Music] >> How can a person escape from the limitations of poverty? For the young, the answer is education. But from the restricted point of view of their environment, the value of an education is not easily seen. >> Aristophanes was the father of satire. And very often when he would write his plays, the government, of course, the satire was against the government. They would lock him up because it was satire of course is one of the elements or one of the purposes of it is to destroy. It is difficult for Mary to concentrate and to be interested in school when there are so many problems at home. >> Then he looks like he hasn't yet. >> Get out. >> Why choose the long discipline of an education when she can more easily drop out? >> Get out here. >> Yes, Mrs. Wheeler. >> Well, I've been a family volunteer for quite some time, but I know that when I finished the volunteer training program, I was a bit worried about knowing exactly what to do. Perhaps you could explain how we work as a team. >> Good point. You're not left alone out there. You are a part of a team. You work with a social worker and the volunteer coordinator. And it is my job as a coordinator to supervise the overall program. The social worker requests specific types of help for the family and I determine which volunteer will help. The volunteer can discuss her observations with the social worker or me when she sees things that need to be done. The right of persons served includes privacy and respect. A volunteer does not talk to friends about the private details of any family they serve. >> Also, the volunteer must not promise anything that cannot be fulfilled. motivator in this. You know how many pints in one quart? >> 16. >> A volunteer tutor may be able to help Mary with her immediate studies, but more importantly, the tutor can help Mary develop a desire for an education. >> One pint equals 16 oz. One quart equals two pints. So if one quart equals 2 pints and one pint equals 16 oz. >> So how many ounces in one quart? >> 32. >> Right. >> Often those who do realize the value of an education require special help. And for this reason, volunteers from groups who understand the problem. Groups such as the future teachers of America club are tutoring children from lowincome areas in classes organized by the volunteer program. Volunteers working through private institutions like the settlement house are also helping in these programs. Working with younger children, they are countering the effects of poverty by broadening the child's horizons, creating a new environment before hopelessness and apathy become a way of life. [Music] The share a trip volunteer program provides the opportunity for a child to go places with other families and other children. >> Here a volunteer family of four is sharing their day with Roy Romero. a bigger than a heart. >> Most of these children, like Roy, come from homes where there is no father and they desperately need to learn the father role. >> Are you going to get a hot dog? >> You are. >> I'm not. >> We're going to get everybody a hot dog, right? >> Roy will become an adult and have his family. But if he has never known a father, will he be a good father to children of his own? >> No. and they'd run away with you. >> Look at the >> big one. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> In many cases, people are unable to cope with the outside world because of language barriers. This woman is unable to get help for her sick daughter. She wants medication for her daughter's earache, but she is unable to communicate her needs. >> I'm sorry, I don't understand Spanish. Do you want this? Volunteer speaks both English and Spanish and can help by teaching. I want to buy some aspirin. in English. Aspirin. Aspirin. Repeat that in English. >> Aspirin. >> Aspirin. >> Aspirin. >> Aspirin. >> Aspirin. >> And that's why you, the volunteers, are urged to keep your eyes open for people who will help. just people who know how to meet the everyday problems of living and people who are willing to share that knowledge with someone who doesn't. Many of the women volunteers are able to interest their husbands in becoming volunteers. >> My husband has been helping me. He works for the telephone company and he's talked a lot of other men into being share a trip volunteers. Hey kid, what do you hear about Saturday? Everything set 10:00 in the morning, we pick the kids up. For a group of fatherless boys, this is a special day. Ladies and gentlemen, the Dodgers are happy baseball. However, we must request that you refrain from going off to the same field at any time. >> Dodgers had an edge at home. They won six9 and a turn around in Atlanta. And they've got a pretty good ball club. Montreal beat Pittsburgh 4 to2 winner the loser. Montreal might be the best expansion team. There's the wild. >> Clubs can work as a group to take children to places they have never been. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] A woman alone may not be able to make even the simplest repairs to the house or car. When the situation seems without hope, a man of the community, another volunteer, knows how to draw upon community resources. >> Well, these two little gems right here would do just the trick. >> Listen, if you if you put those new tires on your car, I'll send all my friends to you for business and make it up to you that way. >> Well, that sounds like a good deal. And for that, I'll throw in a tank full of gas. >> Oh, Alex, that's swell. Gee, that's swell. I'm going to go tell them. >> Fine. What if you don't feel like you can work with a family? Are there other kinds of volunteers? >> Not all volunteers work directly with families and children. Many provide indirect services such as recruiting foster homes for homeless children. Now you take for instance this poster. This poster will be used to recruit foster families. Even making a simple poster requires the combined efforts of a number of volunteers. Someone must take the picture. [Music] Someone selects the shot. Someone designs the layout. Someone does the lettering and lays in the background. Someone obtains the printing. This is a foster family picnic. It takes many volunteers to organize such events. Large numbers of foster parents are needed to care for homeless children. Volunteers carry out many promotional activities to recruit new foster parents. Telephone inquiries from prospective foster parents are screened by volunteers. In programs such as these, volunteers can take the calls in their own homes. Therefore, some of these telephone screeners may be confined to wheelchairs. >> Hello. or in this case blind. >> I'd be very glad to. Just a minute. I'll put the tape recorder on and we'll uh go from there. There is such a variety of people and such a multitude of tasks that no volunteer ever has to worry about not finding that assignment that is exactly right for him. Volunteers are needed to help children who are and those who are blind. [Music] Many older people feel isolated and lost. Volunteers are needed to visit them on a weekly basis and sometimes to chat with them daily by phone. someone to come in the times of need and also to share the times of success. Susan's doctor says she may be able to walk without crutches, hopefully in time to see her sister's graduation. [Music] These programs are all we have now. Hopefully, your awareness of poverty and your growing knowledge of poverty will bring about the needed changes. Volunteers have proven that hopelessness is not always inevitable. People can achieve independence and freedom from poverty and despair. They need the help of someone who cares. They need you. [Music] [Applause] [Music]