Volunteer jobs in Canada

About Us:
Hospice Toronto is committed to supporting individuals, families and caregivers who are dealing with progressive life limiting illness in our community. We work with a dedicated team of professionally trained volunteers who provide a wide range of support to enhance our client's quality of life. When you cannot add days to life, add life to days. Professional staff and volunteers support in enabling individuals to remain in familiar circumstances surrounded by those who care for them.

Hospice Toronto is committed to excellence in client and caregiver care and continues to respond to the changing health care climate. The successful candidate will be an energetic, highly motivated team member committed to the delivery of grief and bereavement support as a continuity of care to our clients of the in-home hospice program, and to outside referrals from our community partners.

Purpose of the Position:
Reporting to the Sr Manager, Community Programs, the incumbent of this position is responsible for the support and retention of our volunteers. The Volunteer Coordinator for Community Engagement and Retention engages in volunteer screening, recruitment, supervision and appreciation, assigning and coordinating volunteer roles and activities.

The ideal candidate will be organized, resilient, with customer service or social services experience. Excellent time management and communication skills are required. This role requires someone who can work independently and as part of a team. An estimated commitment of 15-20 hours per week, with flexibility for some daytime, evening, and occasional weekend availability to provide timely support is required.

Roles and Responsibilities:

Volunteer stewardship:

• In collaboration with the Sr Manager, Community Programs and the Clinical team, supports the matching of volunteers with clients, considering geography, interests and availability.
• Participates in Clinical team meetings and provides regular updates regarding status of volunteer resource availability.
• In collaboration with the clinical team, identifies areas of need and creates a volunteer retention strategy for the organization.
• Supports the Coordinator Volunteer Training and Education in screening, interviews, and reference checks of volunteers when needed.
• Acts as point person for volunteer supervision.
• Plans regular check-ins with program and admin volunteers offering support and providing clear annual goals.
• Provides regular performance reviews as part of performance management.
• Leads the planning of the annual Volunteer Appreciation event.
• Leads the development of an annual strategy for Volunteer Appreciation week.
• Maintains and updates Volunteer role profiles.
• Manages human resources functions for volunteers, including vacation and availability tracking.

Program Development and Evaluation:

• Participates in strategic and related service and program planning and development for Hospice Toronto.
• Contributes to conducting environmental scans of the community to identify and understand emerging local issues and opportunities for volunteer education involvement (e.g., issues of diversity).
• Plans and leads a volunteer feedback session annually to support the strategic planning process.
• Develops and implements annual volunteer Survey.
• In collaboration with the Coordinator, Volunteer Training and Education implements and evaluates post-basic training & other volunteer educational activities, including educational activities jointly organized with other agencies.
• Conducts educational needs assessments with individual volunteers and through regular management sessions.
• Participates in other volunteer-related program improvement initiatives, including evaluation of programs and services, consistent with organizational goals and objectives.
• Participates in Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) initiatives with the Clinical Team by identifying areas for quality improvement related to retention and implementing changes where appropriate.
• Contributes to setting and achieving objectives, and attaining outcomes that are aligned with overall service program directions.
• Demonstrates leadership within area of responsibility.
• Assists with the development of relevant program policies and procedures as required.

Volunteer and Special Events:

• Participates in, and supports planning where appropriate, for events that contribute to garnering support for Hospice Toronto and our volunteers.
• Ensures a plan is developed and in place to support volunteer resourcing for the Hike for Hospice and the gala and other events where needed.
• Plans and leads the Volunteer Appreciation and annual memorial events each year.

Administration:

• Maintains computerized volunteer service records in the database, providing timely and accurate updates regarding communications, matching and performance.
• Documents volunteer-related incident reports in collaboration with the Senior Manager Community Programs.
• Collects and maintains statistics regarding volunteer utilization and attrition providing regular updates for the Senior Manager Community Programs.
• Reviews current intake forms in collaboration with the Clinical team & recommends new forms as appropriate.

Communication:

• Proactively shares information with other staff formally and informally.
• Communicates effectively with co-workers, volunteers, senior staff, Board of Directors, the general public, representatives of public and private organizations and others sufficient to exchange or convey information.
• In collaboration with the Marketing Coordinator, develops a format for the Volunteer newsletter, Appreciation week messages and other internal and external communications including Social Media, related to our volunteers and provides relevant and timely content.
• Communicates in writing and verbally in a manner that influences support and engagement internally and externally.

Other:

• Engages in ongoing learning and stays abreast of current trends and directions in volunteer engagement and education relevant to Hospice Toronto.
• Attends relevant network meetings.
• Participates in staff meetings and program development meetings.

Reporting Relationships:

• Reports to the Senior Manager, Community Programs.
• Supports the functions of all other Hospice Toronto staff and the Board of Directors as described above/or as assigned.

Job Qualifications/Experience:

• University education or equivalent education in Human Resources Management or related field.
• Volunteer Management Certification with 3 years of experience, or equivalent experience.
• Experience in project management and evaluation.
• Current Ontario driver’s license, auto insurance, and access to a reliable car preferred.
• Two (2+) or more years’ experience in hospice or health-related field an asset.
• Computer literacy in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel.

Core Competencies:

• Highly motivated, energetic self-starter: proactive, creative and enthusiastic; achieves goals and objectives within agreed timeframes relevant to their area of responsibility.
• Uses effective personal and interpersonal behaviors: positive, self-aware, demonstrates maturity, exudes integrity, acts on values, inspires others, communicates effectively with co-workers, volunteers, senior staff, the general public, representatives of public and private organizations; relates well with diverse populations and age groups.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and ethically with little supervision, as well as interdependently, as a member of an interdisciplinary team; team-oriented with ability to facilitate/assist with volunteer team coordination/supervision.
• Effectively manages area of responsibility: organizes effectively, puts quality first, is outcome-focused; demonstrated ability to manage demanding and stressful situations with diplomacy and confidence.
• Understanding of and commitment to volunteer and staff partnerships.
• Ability to create and maintain client focus: understanding of and commitment to client-centered care resource to volunteers in advocating for clients, anticipates client needs, establishes credibility through effective communication with clients and family/other members of the care team, ability to solve problems.
• Results/outcome-oriented, measuring client satisfaction regularly.
• Flexible approach to work planning and implementation.
• Capable problem solver, tailoring approach to situation – receptive to feedback.

Application Process:
We thank all applicants for their interest. We will only contact those applicants selected for further consideration. No telephone, walk-ins or agency inquiries please. Please note that submissions will be reviewed on an ongoing basis and individuals may be invited to conduct an advance tele-screen or interview. Therefore, early submissions are encouraged. Deadline to apply is February 14, 2025.

Note:
Potential employees will be required to complete reference and security checks as part of the pre-employment process.