‘They’ve dropped like a rock’: Hamilton non-profits struggle to keep up after a pandemic-induced decline in volunteers

In a typical year, Welcome Inn Community Centre counts on about 20,000 hours of volunteer work.

When the pandemic hit in March, the organization had to send all of its volunteers home, leaving staff to sort and pack hampers to be distributed at the food bank - on top of their regular duties.

That's a very real strain for organizations," said executive director Jamie VanderBerg. We have a lot of volunteer hours and they've dropped like a rock."

In order to to cover thousands of volunteer hours with paid staff going forward, the organization would have to just about double its fundraising efforts, he said.

According to a Volunteer Canada report, about 75 per cent of organizations surveyed said the decline in volunteers amid the COVID-19 pandemic impacted their organization to some degree - 19 per cent said it had no effect. Twenty-five per cent reported providing services with fewer volunteers posed a great degree" of challenge to the organization.

Even though some of the pandemic restrictions have been lifted, Welcome Inn will continue with a staff-based model until further notice.

We're not comfortable with our ability to maintain a safe community space for our volunteers, given who our community is," said VanderBerg. And so we're opting not to."

Many of Welcome Inn's volunteers - about 350 in a given year - are from the vulnerable communities they serve, some spending upwards of 20 hours a week helping out on-site.

The vast majority of them volunteer with us and are accessing our programs at the same time," he said. They're vulnerable community members that you can't necessarily expect to follow the same safety protocols that others might or that staff might."

Volunteer Canada estimates about 20,000 volunteers took a long-term leave from volunteering during the pandemic. According to Statistics Canada, adults ages 55 and up are more likely to be top volunteers," people who volunteer more than 132 hours a year. This group is also one of the most vulnerable - both to COVID-19 infection and to isolation.

Organizations are feeling responsible for connecting with them and checking in on them," said Paula Speevak, president and CEO of Volunteer Canada. She said in many cases volunteering is one of their main connections to community and feeling of self-worth."

Though the pandemic has posed many challenges, it has also created opportunities. Other demographics, particularly youth who have been out of school or work during the pandemic, have stepped up to the plate, she said.

There have been other age groups and folks that have stepped in," Speevak said. Or the organization themselves has rethought how they engage and how they implement their program in a way that is safer."

In the spring, organizations were focused on day-to-day operations under the new normal of the pandemic. Now, they are facing the challenge of finding more permanent solutions as programs reopen.

It moved from What's our temporary two-, three-week solution?' to What are we going to do longer term?'" Speevak said.

Dundas Community Services, an agency that supports families, seniors and people with disabilities through an array of programs, has five staff - four full-time and one part-time -and relies heavily on volunteer hours to run programs.

Out of 17 volunteer drivers for the seniors' transportation program, just three have stayed on throughout the pandemic.

It was a huge strain on our staff because not only were they concerned about their clients and volunteers, they had to scramble," executive director Jane Allen said. We had to create a way of keeping our agency open."

The organization's Meals on Wheels program, which offers daily hot meal delivery for seniors, is set to resume in September after being cancelled for several months.

Allen estimates about half of the program's 100 drivers, the majority of whom are seniors themselves, will return.

They're scared," she said, adding that many have compromised immune systems and are unlikely to return until there is a vaccine.

If they can't recruit enough volunteers, they will have to reallocate staff to do deliveries.

We're all going to have to step up to the plate," she said. Because the need is out there."

Pre-pandemic, Barton Street non-profit St. Matthew's House would typically have about 100 volunteers a year.

We had to cease a lot of in-person activities and therefore that meant that we couldn't engage with people in the same way," said executive director Renee Wetselaar.

The organization hopes to reinstate its volunteer programs in January, and is working to find creative ways to re-engage people in the community who want to make a difference. This might involve distanced interactions, like food deliveries, virtual fundraising and increased safety measures for in-person programs.

People really do hunger for face-to-face contact," she said. And that's certainly what we're struggling with, is how we can bring some of that back again."

Kate McCullough is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach her via email: kmccullough@thespec.com