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The Incredible Win-Win of Volunteering, and How UAServe Can Help

Oct 26, 2018 | UA News

With the pressing demands of busy day-do-day schedules, the idea of volunteering can be pushed aside and given little priority. After all, how can a person whose plate is already full find time to do one more thing?
 
But, what if lending a helping hand could help reduce stress and combat depression, provide skill-building opportunities, and create avenues to meet new friends, make connections in the community?
 
Here’s the good news: it can.
 
While volunteering helps meet critical needs in our community, the benefits expand to include both the people being served and volunteers.
 
Volunteering can counteract the effects of stress, anger and anxiety through the social, meaningful connections that are established by helping others. Researchers have discovered that being helpful to other delivers immense pleasure. Volunteering promotes self-confidence by providing a sense of accomplishment. And, studies have shown that those who volunteer have a lower mortality rate than those who do not.
 
While it’s true that the more a person volunteers, the more benefits they’ll experience, volunteering doesn’t have to equate to an overwhelming commitment of time.
 
In fact, Urban Alliance’s volunteer program, UAServe, provides an easy on-ramp for people of all ages and abilities to find a place to serve that matches with their interests and schedule. Since the program launched in 2013, hundreds of UAServe volunteers have contributed nearly 17,000 hours of service through a broad range of opportunities.
 
“Urban Alliance matches volunteers with a number of host sites in the Urban Alliance network,” explained Sarah Thompson, UA’s Director of Communications and Volunteer Mobilization. “What makes this unique is that a volunteer can try out multiple volunteer opportunities to see where they fit in best, before making a commitment.”
 
“Our goal is to help volunteers find opportunities to serve that excite them and where they can dig in an build relationships over time,” she added.
 
Research shows that volunteer just a few hours a week—or about 100 hours a year—can result in the most benefits for you and your host site. UAServe is here to help you find an opportunity that is a comfortable fit for you.
 
There are currently more than 50 opportunities to make a difference through UAServe, with critical needs for administrative assistants, after-school program tutors, delivery driver assistants, food pantry inventory assistants and in-school mentors/tutors.
 
Interested in learning more? The next two UAServe orientations will be held on November 7 and November 20 at Urban Alliance. Registration is required. If you are unable to attend an upcoming orientation due to a scheduling conflict but are still interested in volunteering, please contact Rosa McGuire, Urban Alliance’s Volunteer Manager.
 
 

The staff at Urban Alliance are familiar with Pastor Frank because he is a regular attendee to many of the trainings Urban Alliance provides on subjects like domestic violence, addressing childhood trauma, and better counseling techniques. “That’s been so valuable to me to be able to bring that back, not only in my counseling but also in my teaching and preaching ministries, “ shared Termine.

Pastor Frank was also one of the original members of the Micah group, a group of pastors that meets at Urban Alliance to discuss and strategize about challenging issues that face the church today. One of those earlier discussions on justice, incarceration, and returning citizens was particularly memorable. “We all lamented the fact that these men and women were coming out of prison into our churches and just kind of being thrown there,” said Termine, “We could do better than this.” That discussion planted the seeds that eventually led to the creation of Second Chance Churches – an opportunity for churches to provide support and mentoring to returning citizens that continues today.

When we asked Pastor Frank what he would say to another church that was unaware of Urban Alliance, he said, “If you are looking to get out in the community and make a difference in the community, Urban Alliance is a super way to do it. We’re a small church … we can’t do everything. Urban Alliance is a pathway to get our people involved in ministries that are already doing it, doing it well, and just need extra volunteers.”

Pastor Frank Termine’s story embodies many things we are trying to accomplish at Urban Alliance: supporting organizations in the communities they serve with training, resources, and opportunities to make a difference. Pastors and non-profit leaders face a wide range of challenges and, therefore, need a wide range of help and resources. Your support can help turn stories of struggle into stories like you find at Calvary Church.

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