Remember those old phone company commercials with the slogan, “Reach out and touch someone”?
Phone volunteers for Oxford/Orion FISH (called PhoneFISH) do that everyday by dialing a few numbers from their homes to help their fellow man in need.
On the other end of the line are local needy families and individuals, who thanks to that call will be able to eat or pay their rent and/or utilities this month.
However, like any charitable organization, FISH needs volunteers – like you – to ensure others receive the help they need.
The phone line is the local charity’s main life line.
“We couldn’t do anything that we do if we didn’t have the phone volunteers,” said FISH spokeswoman Pat Gall.
Gall explained what’s involved with being a PhoneFISH.
“Clients” (those in need) call FISH at 693-0638 and leave messages with an answering service that collects them 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Volunteers then call the answering service at “predetermined times” during their 24-hour shift. The volunteer manual says to call in at 9:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., but Gall said they can call “as often as they want to.”
Phone volunteers then “call the clients and try to determine what the problem is and whether or not we can affect a solution,” Gall said.
If a client needs food, financial assistance to help pay rent and/or utilities or transportation to the doctor’s office or a family independence agency, phone volunteers can arrange for the necessary help through FISH.
However, if the scope of help needed is beyond that of the services FISH offers, each phone volunteer is given a list of various other organizations and agencies to refer the client to.
“Often times that’s the case,” Gall said of the referrals. “Food we can help with no problem. But rents and utilities are almost always so large that it takes more than one agency to help.”
Gall explained that FISH sets a limit on financial assistance that “usually fluctuates between $100 to $150 per family per 12-month period,” based on the organization’s budgetary constraints.
“Right now, it’s at $100 per family for a 12-month period,” she said.
Clients can receive food from FISH once every 30 days.
PhoneFISH currently consists of 16 volunteers who are responsible for pre-scheduled 24-hour shifts all month long, except on Sundays.
“A lot of folks can do two days a month and that’s not a problem,” Gall said. “But it gets kind of tight sometimes scheduling 30 days with basically 16 people.”
“We would really like to see one day a month per person,” she said. “That’s the ultimate goal, but even if we get just three or four new volunteers from your article, it will be such a blessing.”
A few more phone volunteers would give FISH “a lot more breathing room,” Gall said.
To ensure the privacy of phone volunteers is protected and maintained, anonymity is the rule with FISH.
“All volunteers are anonymous to clients,” Gall said. “They use first names only, no last names. No personal phone numbers are given out. Volunteers are instructed to use *67 when they call clients” in order to block their personal numbers from caller ID.
Training to be a PhoneFISH takes only 1? hours and is done “one-on-one” at the volunteer’s home, Gall said.
Being a phone volunteer is “perfect for someone who has to stay at home for a lengthy period of time” such as a person who’s recovering from surgery, Gall said.
The work’s also well-suited for retirees and stay-at-home mothers, she said.
“It doesn’t take up your entire day,” Gall said. “We try to work with your schedule as much as possible.”