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From the Desk of Marty Schaffel: Trying to Help Has It’s Challenges

When I was a student at the University of Florida in the 1970s, I decided I wanted to do some kind of volunteer work. I wanted to try and make a difference in the local Gainesville, Florida community where I was living. I settled on being a volunteer at the Suicide and Crisis Center Hotline.

It ended up requiring four intensive months of training before I was permitted to answer my first call. It was quite rigorous but very educational. Finally, I was trained and ready. I settled into the toughest shift, night shift. 10:00 pm to 8:00 am. Several days a week.

A couple of times a week, I truly felt like I made a difference. I positively helped someone during a difficult time in his or her life. However, sadly, the vast majority of the calls I got were from very regular and constant callers.

I would spend hours on the phone with them trying to understand their problems. Be an empathetic ear for them. Moreover, most of all, I would work to try and establish a plan to help them get to a better place.

But unfortunately, this overwhelming percentage of callers complained every week about the same things. And when I would ask what they did regarding the action plan we had from our last conversations, they had made little to no effort to progress.

This was extremely disillusioning to most of us volunteers. We wanted to help. We wanted to effect change. We wanted to make a difference. But we could only do that with the people who wanted things to be better. Who were willing to work collaboratively to improve their situations. Most volunteers like myself, burned out within a year and left.

Over the years, I have been involved in many non-profit boards. I noticed a high degree of departures from boards where the board members could not feel like they were moving the needle in their association. And those associations struggled and foundered. And as a result, the associations were worse off.

It is critical for the survival of any association that the membership cares about making progress and change. We cannot just complain about things. It is challenging to attract volunteer leadership if the volunteers cannot feel like they are able to make a difference. Members and volunteer leaders must ALL feel like they are making a difference.

If you are interested in helping make a difference, contact your ASHA Charter Club or send us a message at [email protected]. 

Marty Schaffel, ASHA Interim President