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ROflER1 T. JOtlES. JR . F RANC I S M. B IRD ARTHUR HOWELL EUGEtlE T. BRANCH EDWARD R . KANE R08(RT L . FOR E MAM, J R. L AW OFF I CES JONES , B[RD & HOWELL FOU RTH FLO OR HAAS - H ·OWELL BUILD I NG RO BERT P. JONE S LYM AN H. HILLI ARD FRAZER DU RRETT, JR . E ARLE B . MAY. JR. T RAMMELL E.VICKERY RA LPH VllLLIAMS.J R . J . OON A LLY SMITH ATLANTA , GEORGIA 30303 WILLIAM B.\'IASSON C, DALE HAR MAN P EGRA M HARRISON CH ARLES W. S MI T H CH ASE VAN VAL KENBURG RI CHARD A.A LLI SON F. M. BIRD. JR . PEYTON S. HAWES.JR. RAWSO N FOREMAN MARY AN N E. SEARS ARTHUR HOWELL Ill VANCE O. RANK IN Ill C YRUS E . H ORtJSBY Ill R ICHARD M. A SBILL 1879- 1956 RALPH W ILLI AM S 190'.3 · 1960 May 28, 1969 TELEP H ONE 522-2508 AREA CODE 404 Honorable George W. Romney Chairman, Cabinet Committee on Voluntary Action c/o Department of Housing and Urban Development 451 Seventh Street, S. W. Washington, D. C. 20024 Dear Secretary Romney: I am Chairman of The Community Council of the Atlanta Area, Inc. and was among those present at the meeting held in your department on last Friday, May 23. We appreciated very much the opportunity of meeting with you and Mr. Fisher and some of the · members of the staff which has been formed to move forward with the Voluntary Action Program. The proposal and the meeting could not have b een more timely from our standpoint. Our Council and other organizations in the Atlanta area have been working for fourteen months on the organization of a facility to effectively .and efficiently recruit, train and place volunteers. We enthusiastically support the idea proposed by the President as we understand it. I enclose a Memorandum which sets out the procedure which we followed in organizing and funding an agency designed to use individual volunteers and groups to expand , supplement and enrich programs of existing public and private voluntary agencies and to stimulat e the deve lopment of n ew and innovative pr oj ects or programs to solve specific problems in specific areas. As ·s tat ed in the Memorandum, we b egin our operation on June 1. Aga in, let me say how much we appreciated the opportunit y of meeting with you. I am today writing to Mr. Roger Feldman and will send him a copy of this Memorandum . We look forward to �I ·.,' . . Hon. George W. Romney May 28, 1969 Page Two working with your corrrrnittee. Yours very _truly, 1 ., . c-;--··/ 4 .-,)l .,. , .'l-----e,.-L/ t_ _ ~ 1., VL/ { '- VEugene T. Branch Chairman, The Community Council of the Atlanta Area, Inc. ETB:j s Enclosures JONES , BIRD &. HOWELL �MEMORANDUM May 28, 1969 TO: Honorable George W. Romney Chairman, Cabinet Committee on Voluntary Action FROM: Eugene T. Branch Chairman, The Community Council of the Atlanta Area, Inc. This is to review briefly the background and present status of a planned volunteer citizens service project in the metropolitan Atlanta area. This area - encompasses five counties in the metropolitan Atlanta area. The project is being spon- sored by the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, Economic Opportunity Atlanta, the Atlanta Junior League, the Community Chest, and the Community Council of the Atlanta Area, Inc. It also has the strong backing of the Office of the Mayor of the City of Atlanta. The Community Council convened the meetings of the organizations which lead to the formation of the project and the Council now serves as the umbrella organization under which the project is operated. 1. Background. The proposed project for the training and placement of volunteers arose from the realization that in the Atlanta urban area we are not likely to be able to expand services as rapidly as needed unless we effectively tap some presently untapped resources. If we undertook to expand the exist- ing services of public and private agencies in the traditional way, it would be years before we would have sufficient funds and trained personnel to make any serious impact on our problems. s •" 1"" 'l ~ .., �The largest untapped resource appears to be individuals and organizations whith would like to make a contribution. Effic- iently and effectively channeling this resource is not an easy task but it has been done in a number of cities and it was believed Atlanta has a unique opportunity to demonstrate an effective use of volunteers. In the late spring of 1968, we had a meeting of organizations which were being flooded with calls from citizens and groups which wanted "to do something." We met with representa- tives from EOA, the Mayor's Office, the Atlanta Junior League, and the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. From this early meeting, it was decided that we should sponsor a luncheon meeting of organizations which might be helpful in either using or recruiting volunteers. This larger meeting included representation from about seventeen organizations. At that meeting a Steering Committee was formed and has been functioning ever since. 2. Steering Committee Recommendations. The Steering Committee consists of representatives from the Atlanta Junior League, the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, EOA, Corrrrnunity Chest, and the Community Council of Atlanta. From time to time we have also had present representatives from the Women's Chamber of Commerce. The Steering Committee after a number of meetings reached the conclusion that the most desirable procedure was to sponsor a demonstration project to extend over a two, maybe three - year period. The project would be jointly spon~ored by the Junior League , the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, Corrnnunity - 2- �Chest, EOA, and the Connnunity Council. would be "members." Other interested groups Funds for the support of the project would flow through the Community Council and be specifically designated for the Volunteer Service project. . ' I enclose a copy of a docu- ment entitled "A Coordinating Agency For Volunteers" and this sets out the general procedure which will be followed. This was simply an outline document from which we worked and does not purport to be a blueprint for organizing an agency for placing volunteers. In essence, the purpose of the organization is as follows: (a) Recruit and register volunteers and volunteer groups. (b) Screen such individuals and groups for placement. (c) Provide training for volunteers. This would consist of some classroom activity and some on-the j ob training. (d) Provide leadership on the effective use of volunteers and work with agencies and programs in which they would be used. The experience which we have had, and that of volunteer programs in most other cities, illustrates that the most dif ficult part of the job is training agencies to use volunteers effectively. (e) Evaluation. We would provide a procedure by which we would periodically evaluate the using agency and the volunteers. The Steering Committee was divided up into various task forces. One committee reviewed applications for the job of Ex ecutive Director. One committee, with the Atlanta Chamber of Connner ce, sought a suitable location for the operation . The Junior League, in conjunction with a subcommittee, undertook to rec r uit the Cha i rman of the committee s which will be responsible fo r th e var ious func tion s of the agency. It is cont emplated t ha t the pr oj e c t i tself will b e sta ff ed almos t entirely by volunt e ers. I I -3- �. __,_ ~ I One of the most encouraging developments is the express ed desire of the Junior League representatives to support the project not only with money but with a considerable amount of volunteer time by its members. 3. Funding The Project. The enclosed outline of the pro- ject has been revised from time to time. been added as a sponsor. Of course, EOA has Also, we have reached the conclusion that the first, and possibly second, year of the project could be adequately supported by $40,000.00 a year. The Atlanta Junior League has voted to support the project by a contribution of $15,000.00 during the first year and $10,000.00 during the second year. The Atlanta Chamber of Commerce has voted to provide $10,000.00 during the first year. The contribution towards the second year operation has been left open. The Community Chest is contributing $5,000.00 for the first year's operation. Local foundations are providing the balance of the funds. The Community Council has provided some staff assist ance and will continue to do so. EOA has also provided staff and consultant support and has pledged to continue to do so. I • 0 enclose a copy of a letter from Jim Parham dated March 12, 1969 indicating the willingness of EOA to be one of the sponsors of the project. I also enclose a copy . of a letter from Mayor Allen dated April 10, 1969 expressing the City 's interest in the pro ject. We have corfllTlunicated frequently yJith Mr. Dan Sweat in the Mayor's Office, and I am confident that we will be able from /: -4- �time to time to obtain assistance from the City. Mr. Sweat's office has been flooded with people and organizations calling to find out what sort of project or program they could work on and they have not been able to respond as they would wish. 4. Present Status of the Project. named "Volunteers Unlimited." The project has been We have had donated. to us until September of 1970 a building which fits the description set out in the document entitled "A Coordinating Agency For Volunteers." The building has adequate adjacent parking, is just off an expressway, is near the complex of predominately Negro universities in Atlanta, and is easily located. We have employed an Executive Director who is now working on a voluntary basis but goes on our payroll on June 1. The Chairmen of the committees charged with the different responsibilities of the agency have been named ·and are enlisting their committee members. We will spend about two months educating our committees on their functi6ns and getting our building in shape for operation. When we are equipped to recruit, train and place volun~ teers effectively, we will have a concentrated program designed to give full publicity to the purposes of the agency. The agency will b e run by a Board which will encompass r .epr esentation from every segment of our population. / I -5 - �