WOMA: Don’t Think You Have Time to Volunteer?

When we think of volunteering, we usually think that it is a good, right and necessary thing to do. What may hinder us in actually engaging in community service is finding the time to do it. Women are busy, whether we are at work outside or inside of the home. In our efforts to manage our personal lives, professional lives and now even our social media presenceand internet lives, when does one actually find the time to volunteer?

Although there seems to be no end to our responsibilities and not enough time to complete them, volunteerism is more crucial in helping you accomplish your goals and managing your life than you may think. There are limitless opportunities for personal and professional growth through volunteer service. Volunteerism may be the missing aspect in your life to help you reach personal fulfillment or to develop the professional skills and obtain the career of your dreams. How can that be possible? Consider the following common issues we face in our lives and the ways volunteerism can help.

Challenge #1 – Finding Balance in Family/Personal Life vs. Career Life through Volunteering

According to the U.S. Department of Labor women today comprise over 46% of the entire labor force in the United States and over 51% in management and professional occupations. There are more women in the workforce than ever before. However, despite the increase in numbers of women that work outside of the home, responsibilities within the home have not decreased. Even in the most cohesive of households, there is simply not enough time in the day nor energy to accomplish all that we would like to for our families, ourselves and for our careers. Regardless of how many hours of sleep you may have missed to tend to a sick child, that project is still due, that meeting must happen, the show must go on. Add to the equation the challenges in assisting a child with different abilities, caring for elderly parents, or single parenthood, managing our schedules ends up becoming an art form in itself. Women that work primarily inside the home face similar challenges in balancing life’s tasks as they carry the responsibility of being an unpaid Chief Executive Officer of their particular Department of Family Affairs (insert your home address, Anytown, USA). Given the demands, lack of time, and constant state of physical and mental fatigue in which we must manage our lives, how can we fit volunteer service into our schedules and, more importantly, why should we?

As for the when, you don’t find extra time to volunteer, rather you incorporate community service activities into your daily routine. For instance, volunteer at your child’s school, your church, local shelter or food bank and bring your family and friends with you. What better way to teach those you love about your core values or discuss solutions to socio-economic problems than by showing them the need and what an individual can do to help. As for the why, whether you are a paid but unappreciated professional or an unpaid CEO of a DFA (see above), staying involved in your local community can help prevent feelings of isolation, lack of appreciation and serve as an unexpected source of inspiration. We all know that on some level our families, friends or maybe even employers appreciate us, but when a perfect stranger tells you they would not have had a meal that day if it weren’t for you or that they are grateful for the bed they can now sleep in because of your help, something magical happens. You experience a new sense of purpose and meaning that you can take back with you to better handle your own affairs. You may even find that some of your stress triggers are not as significant as you think. After all, it becomes difficult to complain about the inconveniences of a temperamental Blackberry after helping someone who has to share a phone with others at a shelter. Volunteerism in this respect offers perspective which can provide meaning to all the other things you must balance in your daily life.

Challenge #2 – Overcoming Personal Loss or Health Problems? Try Volunteering

There is no magic pill to overcoming tragic experiences, circumstances or illness in our lives. Whether the challenge comes through the loss of a loved one, divorce, financial hardship, difficulties in child rearing or dealing with an illness, the challenge itself can leave us feeling as if we are at a standstill. As we try to cope with hardship, the tendency to withdraw and retreat can lead to other more serious issues such asdepression, substance abuse and other disorders. Volunteering becomes the furthest thing from our minds as we tend to believe that we have to be at our personal best in order to give anything of value to anyone else.

What if I were to tell you that your hardship or illness is of great value? Sound crazy? Consider this, your personal challenges enhance and increase your capacity for an underrated quality, empathy. What’s so important about empathy? Empathy according to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary is, “the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner.” There is a great deal of power in the ability to understand and relate to the experience of another, and it is often one that is overlooked. This power can be lifesaving and can be quite effective in changing the trajectory in someone’s life and maybe even your own. The lifesaving claim may seem far-reaching, however, each challenge you face can serve as a guidepost or marker for someone else in a similar circumstance. Empathy is the key to opening the ears and hearts of persons in need.

They can receive your help and overcome their challenges because they know you understand.

You also receive an added benefit as you assist others. According to theCorporation for National and Community Service, there are documented physiological and psychological health benefits to engaging in volunteer service. There is no more profound salve to assuage the pain of dealing with your own challenges than in providing encouragement and comfort to others in similar circumstances. There are people that only you can reach because of your particular understanding of their situation. Name your hardship; is it physical or sexual abuse, substance abuse, depression or having a different ability or particular illness? Whatever it is, know that at all times you are one step ahead of someone who simply needs a listening ear or just a visual of how they can make it to the next day and eventually move on with their lives. The world is not waiting on you to have it altogether or to have all the answers; rather the world is waiting for you to just give of yourself.

So as you are enduring your trials, don’t wait for the trial to end before you reach out to someone else in a similar circumstance, your difficult moments are extremely valuable to an individual, local organization or a support group. The inspiration you provide by sharing your experiences has a reciprocal effect upon yourself. You might find yourself beginning to feel better mentally and even maybe even physically, as the meaning of your experiences becomes clearer and clearer. Who knows, you might even be inspired to start your own support group in the hardship of your choice.

Challenge #3 – Finding Professional Development and Career Opportunities through Volunteer Service

We are conditioned to believe that our ongoing professional success is contingent upon our personal drive, educational credentials and job experience. All play a major part in ensuring we have the stamina as well as the basic requirements to be a success in our particular field. However, even if all of the above aspects are in order, career advancement requires something more, it requires mentorship. No matter what industry you are in it is difficult to advance without mentorship. Mentorship is the key in finding the individual guidance needed to hone your skill, avoid unnecessary pitfalls, give you the encouragement to keep pushing past failures and provide the honest feedback needed for you to nail that interview, presentation or project. Mentors help introduce you to other persons that can get you one step closer to your dream job or maybe even a job if you’re seeking employment.

But what if your current job doesn’t offer a mentorship program, or even if they do, your mentor is less than enthusiastic about ensuring your professional development? What if you are seeking employment and do not have direct access to training or mentorship programs through an employer? The answer is simple. Find your mentor through volunteer service. Join a club, committee or group in the industry and/or cause of your interest. Seek out tasks and projects that can develop and increase your skill set. As you are serving others, ask fellow volunteers and leaders of those organizations for feedback on your performance. Volunteers are an inspiration to the organizations they serve. Leaders of those organizations are, for the most part, more than willing to provide guidance to you personally as you assist them in reaching their organization’s goals.

What type of job are you searching for? What skills do you need to develop to take your job to the next level? Is it leadership, organizational management, public speaking or presentation skills? Whatever skill is needed, there is an organization in dire need of your time and more than willing to accommodate your learning curve. If you are unemployed or are interested in entering another field altogether and need to test the waters, try volunteering with a company in that field. You will feel more confident as you stay active and gain valuable inside knowledge in order to make a more educated decision on your next move. In addition, nothing impresses interviewers more than an interviewee that not only has prior knowledge and experience at their agency, but has freely given their time and services to further the mission of that organization. It shows investment on the part of the prospective employee and leads to their investment in you by way of employment. Who knows, you may be able to volunteer your way into your dream job.

Conclusion

Opportunities for personal and professional growth abound through volunteer service at no cost to you except in the cost of your time. However, the cost in time is far outweighed by the benefits of personal gratification in knowing you have served and helped others and also now have access to professional development opportunities that did not otherwise exist. In volunteering, your personal and professional growth will never be capped. As long as there is a need (and there always is), therein lies an opportunity, for the betterment of all. 

Melissa Maddox-Barnes serves as Vice Chairperson on the Womanifesting, Inc., Board of Directors and is a passionate advocate for the empowerment of women and children. Ms. Maddox-Barnes is the General Counsel for the Housing Authority of the City of Charleston, SC which administers affordable housing programs for low to moderate income persons. Ms. Maddox-Barnes’ volunteer experience includes fund raising for world mission’s projects, Volunteer Attorney for Pro Bono Legal Services in Charleston, SC, Project Coordinator for the South Carolina Bar’s Voices Against Violence Committee and as Guardian Ad Litem for abused and neglected children, the incarcerated and disabled. Ms. Maddox-Barnes has facilitated several workshops on a wide range of topics, including leadership, team-building, corporate governance, social media, disability law, affordable housing law and domestic violence. Ms. Maddox-Barnes also serves on several local and national boards in various capacities. Ms. Maddox-Barnes is most proud of her role as the mother two children, one having an Autism Spectrum Disorder and in serving as an advocate for children with disabilities.

WOMA is a non-profit organization incorporated in Washington, D.C. WOMA’s mission is to develop and promote programs that impact women and girls, particularly those in transition (homeless, jobless, recent survivors of domestic violence, etc.). WOMA organizes events and provides workshops around the following causes: Health and Wellness, Career Development, Financial Literacy, and Civic and Cultural Engagement.

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