Volunteers are saving lives in Eastern Iowa

April is National Volunteer Month and to simply say thank you to the volunteers who keep The Crisis Center of Johnson County running would not do justice to the work they provide our organization.

Like The Crisis Center, so many non-profit organizations throughout the Corridor would not only serve far fewer people, they may not exist at all without the dedication of so many volunteers. The Crisis Center has more than 350 active volunteers who staff our 24-hour crisis line and keep our food bank running 5 days a week. The time and hard work these generous people put in would cost us more than $335,000 annually to replace with paid staff.

It's more than the efficient use of our financial resources by utilizing volunteers, however. New research published, perhaps coincidentally, just before National Volunteer Month recognizing the value of volunteers shows that crisis lines staffed by volunteers have better outcomes than those staffed by paid professional staff.

Last month, the study by Brian Mishara was published in the Suicide and Life Threatening Behavior journal. Its findings came as no surprise to those of us who work alongside our volunteers at The Crisis Center every day. The study, which conducted research on crisis centers in both the United States and Canada, states, 'The volunteer centers more often conducted risk assessments, had more empathy, were more respectful of callers, and had significantly better call outcome ratings.”

As so many crisis centers around the country have begun to move away from the volunteer-service models, this research reminds all of us at The Crisis Center and at other organizations who rely so heavily on the dedicated individuals who donate their time; that we are continuing to choose the right path with our volunteers. Finally, Mishara's study said, 'We conclude from these results and previous research that there is no justification for requiring that suicide prevention helpline workers be mental health professionals. In fact, the evidence to date indicates that professionals may be less effective in providing telephone help to suicidal individuals when compared to trained lay volunteers.”

Volunteers are the heart of our organization and have provided unmatched service to individuals in crisis since 1970. Without them, we wouldn't be able to provide food assistance to more than 1,000 families each week in our food bank or handle nearly 30,000 crisis calls, chats, and texts each year. The compassion, empathy, and strong desire to help exhibited by our volunteers does not come from their desire to receive a paycheck, but from their genuine desire to do good in our community.

So, thank you. Whether you volunteer at The Crisis Center or other organizations that serve our community, thank you.

Sincerely,

Keri Neblett is director of Crisis Intervention Services for The Crisis Center of Johnson County. More information: jccrisiscenter.org