Volunteer Opportunity: Kansas City Area Grandparenting Warmline Needs You

By: Source: AARP.org Date Posted: 2006-05-22 12:07:48.834308-04:00

AARP Missouri collaborates with area, statewide, and national organizations to address the needs of grandparents and other family caregivers raising children in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

In the Kansas City metropolitan area, more than 11,000 grandparents are raising their grandchildren. Many of these grandparents have assumed primary responsibility for their grandchildren's basic needs without the parent of the child being in the home.

AARP Missouri has joined with area, statewide and national organizations, including Children's Mercy Hospital's Family Friends Program, the LINC, the University of Missouri-Kansas City, ParentLink, and the New York Life Foundation, to address the needs of grandparents and other family caregivers raising children in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

This collaboration has borne the Kansas City Grandparent Warmline, which is a resource and referral line designed especially to help grandparents and other relative caregivers better provide for their children.

While the Grandparent Warmline has an enormous amount of resources ready and available to provide, it lacks the warm bodies necessary to staff it. Because of AARP's diverse membership base in the Kansas City area, we are seeking volunteers help.

We are asking you to consider sharing your experience and giving some of your time to help make the Grandparent Warmline a reality. If you can (or are willing to learn how to) utilize a basic online resource and referral database and are willing to share personal knowledge to provide information and support to callers, then you are just what the Warmline needs to get fully operational!

Ideally, we need volunteers who are, or have been, grandparents or relative caregivers (aunts/uncles/cousins/etc.) and who have had physical (formal or informal) custody of at least one grandchild/child at some point for a period of at least six months.

Volunteers must have an understanding of caregiver issues, should be a good listener and comfortable using a computer, fax and telephone system. These are the ideal qualifications—but if you have a strong interest in this position, we encourage to you fill out the attached Volunteer Application Form and send it in.

We want to be sure that Warmline volunteers understand that they will be supported and that training will be an ongoing priority. Volunteers will receive a copy of the Grandparents' Resource Guide for Kansas City and will be fully briefed on available resources, assistance and services. Upfront training will be provided in a number of areas including an introduction to the data system legal concerns for grandparents raising grandchildren, and other policy issues. The Program Coordinator will provide supervision and support for volunteers, as well as the opportunity to participate in exchange sessions.

The Grandparent Warmline is located at the Swope Ridge Geriatric Center at 5900 Swope Parkway Kansas City, MO 64130. The Warmline will operate during abbreviated business hours during the rollout phase, and will expand to regular business hours with the availability of volunteers.

Please download the attached Volunteer Application Form and return it to the address provided. We will then follow up with you. If you have questions or want more information on grandparents raising grandchildren outreach in the Kansas City area, please call (816) 444-0660.

We look forward to hearing from you.

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