We know the challenge of the labor shortage, but recruiting volunteers is also increasingly difficult for organizations. At Suicide Action Montreal, there are far fewer people volunteering their time than before the pandemic – and more needed than ever.
“If tomorrow morning, I don’t have any more volunteers, we don’t function properly,” says Sylvie Boivin, executive director of Suicide Action Montreal.
The Press visited the small room of telephone operators, who respond day and night to calls from suicidal people or worried relatives.
Unknowingly, those who call the hotline are often talking to a volunteer.
The organization has about 145 volunteers who offer a few hours a week. Before the pandemic, they were more than 200 people.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
The Executive Director of Suicide Action Montreal, Sylvie Boivin
It is mostly retirees and seniors who have left in recent years, argues Mme Boivin – valuable volunteers who had a lot of time to offer.
“They stopped coming because they didn’t want to be exposed to COVID-19,” explains Sylvie Boivin.
At the same time, requests for help exploded.
In 2021-2022, Suicide Action Montreal responded to 25,192 requests for telephone assistance, an increase of 24% compared to the previous year. Interventions jumped 31%.
And if the trend continues, the number of interventions should increase by 30% again this year. (The organization distinguishes between the two, because one call can lead to several interventions.)
“The increase really started a few months after the start of the pandemic. It took off and it hasn’t calmed down since,” observes Sophie-Charlotte Dubé-Moreau, director of philanthropic development, communications and events.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Sophie-Charlotte Dubé-Moreau, Director of Philanthropic Development, Communications and Events, Suicide Action Montreal
We know that the isolation and uncertainty linked to the pandemic have increased psychological distress. Mme Dubé-Moreau observes it particularly among young people.
It is very young people who are calling us now. We didn’t have children under 13 calling us or it was very rare. There they are in distress.
Sophie-Charlotte Dubé-Moreau, Director of Philanthropic Development, Communications and Events, Suicide Action Montreal
In short: there are more calls, and fewer volunteers to answer them. The organization is never safe from a break in service.
“Every day, I’m worried,” drops Sylvie Boivin.
Lack of funding
In an ideal world, volunteers would be an added value for Suicide Action Montreal. Currently, they are essential.
The organization employs about 70 people – which is far from enough to adequately meet the demand, denounces Sylvie Boivin.
As a result, volunteers often find themselves on the front line.
We couldn’t afford not to have any more volunteers right now. It’s impossible.
Sylvie Boivin, Executive Director of Suicide Action Montreal
The trained worker, who has more than 20 years of experience in the community, deplores the chronic lack of funding for organizations.
“Community groups are never well enough funded for the work we do. We do a lot with little,” she says.
With better funding from the government, it could hire a greater number of interveners and benefit from the help of volunteers elsewhere than in crisis intervention, such as in postvention services with bereaved loved ones.
“As a society, we should say to ourselves: suicide prevention, we take care of it, and we invest in it adequately,” pleads Sylvie Boivin.
A long process
The Executive Director stresses this on several occasions: “I am blessed to have people who invest their time on a voluntary basis. »
Not just anyone can become a volunteer with Suicide Action Montreal. “You have people’s lives in your hands”, illustrates Sophie-Charlotte Dubé-Moreau.
Those interested must pass an interview and then undergo training for several days. New volunteers are then supported for 150 hours.
It’s a long process, but well worth it, says Ms.me Boivin: “The intervention is important, but there is a richness in experiential knowledge. It is very complementary to the work of the stakeholders. »
Need help ?
If you need support, if you are having suicidal thoughts or if you are worried about someone close to you, call 1 866 APPELLE (1 866 277-3553). A suicide prevention worker is available to you 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
A widespread phenomenon
The challenge of recruiting volunteers is not unique to Suicide Action Montreal. The professor emeritus at the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières André Thibault launched a vast investigation – of which he finished collecting the data – on the phenomenon last fall. His first impression: there is indeed a shortage of volunteers. Mr. Thibault explains it in particular by the fact that the pandemic has put volunteer activities on hold and, consequently, recruitment. There is also a generational challenge: the volunteers are often older people, notes Mr. Thibault. However, “they aged during the pandemic”, he underlines. To address the shortage, organizations must recruit from active groups, such as young retirees, says the professor. And they must make sure to offer the three winning conditions for attracting volunteers: the feeling of being useful, of being recognized and of having fun at work. “I think it’s a shortage which is temporary, which represents challenges and which poses demands”, he summarizes.