For many nonprofit organizations, volunteers are the lifeblood of operations. Here is a look at how three local nonprofits are adapting to the drastic dropoff in volunteers due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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Habitat for Humanity of Greater Chattanooga Area helps build affordable homes for low-income families.
* Volunteers are critical on home building sites and at ReStores, where new and used cabinets, furniture, appliances and building materials are sold to the public at 50-75% below retail prices. Volunteers also typically have a role in various family services and events. But in March, Chattanooga’s Habitat suspended all volunteer activity in order to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 – a move which is expected to have crushing ripple effects, as volunteers often become donors, says Phil Trammell, vice president of development for the local Habitat.
“We don’t expect to recover our volunteer force all at once – nor do we think that would be the safest option for our community. The pandemic has caused us to adapt the number of people we can accommodate safely. We hope that one day we can all socialize freely with our volunteers like we have in the past, but I anticipate that is going to be a long road ahead of us.” – Madison Bradford, Habitat development and communications manager