MEMORANDUM

TO: Dr. Jim Henry

From: Ann Madu and Marie Ocampo

Subject: Term Project Proposal

Date: October 21, 2003

Request for proposal for Northern Virginia Family Service

Summary:

We, Ann Madu and Marie Ocampo, were notified by Heather Hare of the George Mason Student Service Learning Center that the Northern Virginia Family Services was looking for some volunteers to rewrite their Volunteer Handbook. This organization expects that we will be including in this document any other information that is missing. We will also be conducting research on the general information included in other organizations’ Volunteer Handbooks. This project will satisfy the final term project required by the Technical reading and writing course (English 410).

Introduction:

Northern Virginia Family Services (NVFS) concentrates on helping individuals and families to improve their lives and lead them to self-sufficiency.  NVFS was first established in 1924 by volunteers.   This private, non-profit organization specializes in professional counseling, social work, and community outreach. Northern Virginia Family Services is a member of the Alliance for Children and Families and is accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Services for Families and Children.  Their funding is through various foundation grants such as, individual and corporate donations, government contracts, counseling fees, and United Way. Northern Virginia Family Services offers a variety of services: healthcare, housing services, yearly childhood services, foster care, teen services, life counseling, financial services, and job training. Their assistance will further many participating families to strengthen their role in the community.  The programs NVFS offers will encourage, teach, and empower people to improve their lives. This organization is currently seeking volunteers to revise their Volunteer Handbook. This project was advertised through George Mason University’s Service Learning Center list of student internship sponsors, and emailed to students who are interested in volunteer work. We, Ann Madu and Marie Ocampo have chosen to revise this document for the organization. Ann contacted Teri Harbour Vito, the Volunteer Service Manager for NVFS and accepted the task.

Problem Statement and Needs Assessment:

The NVFS needs a critical revision of their Volunteer Handbook. Since the handbook was last revised in April of 2000, much of the information provided in the handbook is now outdated. There are also omissions of new information in the current Volunteer Handbook. This omission limits the ability of the volunteers to provide an efficient service to the organization. In addition, the visual layout of this handbook needs to be revised in other to meet the standards of today’s technical writing, and more information needs to be included such as: thrift shop locations, addresses of new regional offices, and new available volunteer positions. The revision of this handbook will enable the volunteers to perform at their peek level, thereby increasing the efficiency of the organization in general.

Objective:

The goal of this project is to make the NVFS Volunteer Handbook more usable for the volunteers, by providing them with the necessary information needed to perform their assigned tasks within the organization. The completion of this project will also give the volunteers a better understanding of the services provided by NVFS. To accomplish this goal, we will conduct research on volunteer services provided by different agencies. We will compare NVFS’ Volunteer program to other volunteer programs such as: The Red Cross and MADD (Mothers against Drunk Driving). Such comparisons will allow present and future volunteers to see what they are doing for their community and what they are doing for the organization. Furthermore, we will organize the language, content, and visual layout of this document in a consistent manner, and we will gather information from the staff members to update and include all the omitted information in the Handbook.

Plan:

In order to successfully complete this task we will begin work on the third week of October with an extensive research on the organization as a whole. We will research the services provided by the organization, including their history, client and company demographics, programs, and affiliations. Our methodological approach will be conducted by visiting three different site locations between the months of October and November and conducting interviews with staff, volunteers, and clients. By using this interview process we will be able to obtain valuable information and receive hands on experience on the daily activities of the organization. This project is intended to be complete by December 10, 2003. We foresee no delays in completing this task. We will also maintain the information we derive by entering them in Microsoft Word.

Evaluation or Quality Control:

In order to insure that the plan is achieving its objective, we have developed a tentative schedule that is included below. We intend to adhere to this schedule. We will work independently on different aspects of the project and maintain the information through a data system. We will separately visit the various agency offices at different intervals. Additionally, we will share this information through e-mails and phone conversations, and we will convene at the end of each week to evaluate our progress.

Personnel and Qualifications:

We believe that we can complete this project in a timely manner because of our adverse experience in volunteer work and knowledge in document designs.

1. Ann has done over 500 hours of volunteer work at different agencies such as: Mount Vernon Adult Day Healthcare and The Sunrise of Alexandria. She has also taken an extensive course load in writing and computer applications including: technical writing, research writing, computer applications: Graphic Design, Microsoft word, excel, Access, and, Power Point. Her knowledge also extends to the areas of Human and Family services. She currently works for the Fairfax County Health Department, providing the Fairfax County senior citizens with long term care, which includes bathing and respite services, as well as adult day health care.

2. Marie has done several volunteer works with different organizations such as: The Children’s Hospital of Richmond, Virginia, the Ronald McDonald House, SCAN (Stop Child Abuse and Neglect program), volunteer gift wrapping, and volunteer concession stands at various concerts and events.

Conclusion:

The completion of this task will benefit all participants involved with the Northern Virginia Family Services. The volunteers will be able to perform at an optimum level enabling the organization to focus on matters that cannot be attended to by volunteers. Furthermore, the clients and community will receive a more efficient service, and we, as students, can receive the benefits of accomplishing this task.

Schedule for Coordinating Activities for the Northern Virginia Family Services Volunteer Handbook Revision.

October-December 2003

Days of the Week	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6	Week 7
Sun	Oct. 26 OFF	Nov. 2 Review information derived from all sources	Nov. 9 Review information derived from all sources	Nov. 16 Last day for reviews and suggestions	Nov. 23 Last day for changes	Nov. 30 Begin final draft	Dec. 7 OFF
Mon	Oct.27 Conduct online research on the services provided by NVFS	Nov. 3 Visit Agency Sites	Nov. 10 End Site visits	Nov. 17 Begin changes to the document	Nov. 24 Send document to agency and begin final review of document	Dec. 1 final draft continued	Dec. 8 Go over document for any misprints
Tues	Oct.28 Conduct online research on the services provided by NVFS	Nov. 4 Visit Agency Sites	Nov. 11 Begin review of NVFS Handbook	Nov. 18 Continue changes to the document	Nov. 25 Continue final review of document	Dec. 2 Last day for changes	Dec. 9 Go over document for any misprints
Wed	Oct.29 Contact agency to clarify any misunderstood information research on the services provided by NVFS	Nov. 5 Visit Agency Sites	Nov. 12 Continue review of NVFS Hand book	Nov. 19 Continue changes to the document	Nov. 26 Continue final review of document	Dec. 3 Send document to Kinko’s	Dec. 10 Final Project Submitted
Thurs	Oct.30 Compare NVFS Handbook to other volunteer handbooks	Nov. 6 Visit Agency Sites	Nov. 13 Continue review of NVFS Hand book	Nov. 20 Continue changes to the document	Nov. 27 Continue final review of document	Dec. 4 OFF
Fri	Oct.31 Compare NVFS Handbook to other volunteer handbooks	Nov. 7 Visit Agency Sites	Nov. 14 Continue review of NVFS Hand book	Nov. 21 Continue changes to the document	Nov. 28 Review received from agency	Dec. 5 OFF
Sat	Nov. 1 OFF	Nov. 8 OFF	Nov. 15 OFF	Nov. 22 OFF	Nov. 29 OFF	Dec. 6 OFF