Cities are in a bind. The recent NLC report on City Fiscal Conditions in 2009 noted that nine out of 10 cities face significant shortfalls in the coming year. In this climate, it is easy to think in “deficit mentality.” However, many cities are tapping into a reservoir of human capital — volunteers — to continue delivering services and driving economic recovery.
Despite financial conditions, cities must maintain core programs and respond to citizens’ pressing needs. In Phoenix, the Blight Busters program links neighborhood volunteers with training and tools to eliminate graffiti, conduct clean-up projects and report code violations. Blight Busters works hand in hand with the city’s Neighborhood Services Department to extend the reach of code inspectors, police officers and other law enforcement officials. Similar programs in Detroit, New Orleans and other cities stretch the municipal dollar and invest citizens in the safety and health of their own communities.
Similarly, the H1N1 outbreak has stretched resources for schools and public health departments. When the Health Department in Nashville was faced with the need to conduct mass inoculations, officials turned to a partnership with the local volunteer action center, HandsOn Nashville. Together, they are training 4,000 POD (Point of Dispensing) volunteers to assist with school immunization clinics and community education efforts. With volunteers, the department can scale service quickly and rely on residents who have familiarity with their neighbors and cultural competence to support mass dispensing in multicultural communities.
Volunteer-municipal partnerships are playing a critical role in economic development and recovery. To spur small business development, the City of Dublin, Ohio, established the Dublin Entrepreneurial Center, where potential business owners can find support for strategic planning and leasing assistance. Volunteers “staff” the center, overseeing events aimed at job creation and economic growth.
“The city’s strong, coordinated volunteer corps enables Dublin to continue to offer above-standard customer service and amenities to its residents and deliver premier events despite rising costs and decreasing budgets,” said Dublin Mayor Marilee Chinnici-Zuercher.
In Portland, Ore., volunteering is central to the mayor/council community campaign, Portland Is Better Together. The campaign brings together nonprofit partners and local businesses around the mantra, “Give Help. Get Help. Choose Local.” Volunteers are connected to a citywide calendar of events, and companies are asked to make a “buy local” pledge and commit to give employees volunteer time to projects that support families struggling with job loss.
Volunteers can bring scale to strapped programs, enhance city identity and lead activities that drive family and community recovery. Volunteerism also builds a sense of shared purpose and collective action, across neighborhoods and politics. That action is the energy needed to green cities or invent next-generation creative economies that will sustain communities. In that spirit, dozens of leading mayors joined together to form the Cities of Service coalition, a group led by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, that is dedicated to positioning volunteerism as a key ingredient in the renaissance of American cities.
Cities are at the nexus point between citizens and change. Those that succeed will leverage volunteers to deliver solutions in times of uncertainty. The truly innovative will reinvent citizen service as a fundamental part of the city fabric. It will mean a new day for the power of creative, human capital and this ignition of human spirit just might be the spark that revives growth and stability in our country.
To find out how cities can connect with volunteer resources in their areas, contact Jennifer Cole at HandsOn Network at jcole@handsonnetwork.org or go to www.handsonnetwork.org.
The following are additional volunteer resources.
- Blight Busters: www.phoenix.gov/nbhdpgms/grafbust.html
- Point Of Dispensing: www.health.nashville.gov/EmergencyPreparedness.htm
- Portland Is Better Together: www.portlandisbettertogether.com
- Dublin Entrepreneurial Center: www.dublin.oh.us/volunteer/index.php
- Cities of Service: www.citiesofservice.org
- National Association of Volunteer Programs in Local Government: www.navplg.org
Michelle Nunn is the CEO of the Points of Light Institute and co-founder of HandsOn Network.