Representation

A key part of recruiting program participants is ensuring that both staff and volunteers represent the community being served. Representing the community being served builds trust, makes community members participating in the program feel safe and welcome through shared lived experiences.
Engaging volunteers, staff members and Community Health Workers who understand the local culture is extremely important. Staff members who are bilingual can support onboarding volunteers and participants in a culturally sensitive manner. Offer programs in the communities’ primary language as well as in English.
The types of assistance provided should align with the community’s culture and the functional levels of community members. Offer opportunities for high, middle and low functioning participants and volunteers.
To facilitate continued engagement and volunteer retention build and foster a culture of support with volunteers as key stakeholders and consistently reinforce this throughout the volunteer’s tenure. This can include periodic volunteer feedback sessions that provide communication and information exchanges related to experiences, best practices and programmatic updates.

Community churches can be a great source of volunteers with various interests and cultural knowledge.
Research the needs of each population you intend to serve. Consider developing an advisory council or focus groups to ensure your program identifies the community’s need, provides necessary supports, and is indeed culturally sensitive.
When creating your work plan, be as accessible as possible, for example: include bilingual programming to support non-English speaking community members and provide sliding scale payment plans for individuals with varying income levels.
Find opportunities to connect and collaborate with key community members and leaders. When offering a new program to a new community, these leaders can provide recommendations on how to make the program more meaningful, attractive and accessible to their community members.
Be present at different cultural events. Bring a bilingual volunteer or staff member to these events who can act as a program ambassador. Provide culturally sensitive materials to those in attendance.
Be aware of national and community wide culturally recognized celebrations when scheduling. Some examples include Martin Luther King Day, Ramadan, Jewish holidays, etc.