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ROERT T. JONES, JR. LAW OFFICES
FRANCIS M. BIRD
ARTHUR HOWELL
EUGENE T. BRANCH JONES, BIRD &® HOWELL
EDWARD R. KANE
ROBERT L. FOREMAN, JR. FOURTH FLOOR HAAS-HOWELL BUILDING
LYMAN H. HILLIARD . ROBERT FP JONES
FRAZER DURRETT, JA. ATLANTA, GEORGIA 36205 ERT P. JO
EARLE 8.MAY, JR. . ice
TRAMMELL E.VICKERY
RALPH WILLIAMS.JR. By aul
J. OONALLY SMITH
C.DALE HARMAN. May 28 3 1969 TELEPHONE 522-2506
c.DALE HARMAN
PEGRAM HARRISON
CHARLES W. SMITH
CHASE VAN VALKENBURG
RICHARD A.ALLISON
F. M. BIRD, JR.
PEYTON 5. HAWES, JR.
RAWSON FOREMAN
MARY ANN E. SEARS
ARTHUR HOWELL Ill
VANCE ©. RANKIN Mil
CYRUS E.HORNSBY Ill
RICHARD M.ASBILL
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 de-
partment 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 been 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 enthus-
iastically support the idea proposed by the President as we under-
stand 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 stimulate the development of new and innovative projects or
programs to solve specific problems in specific areas. As stated
in the Memorandum, we begin our operation on June l.
Again, let me say how much we appreciated the opportunity
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
Hon. George W. Romney
May 28, 1969
Page Two
working with your committee.
Yours very truly,
2h
ee
Crngindel Kove
~ Eugene T. Branch
Chairman, The Community Council
of the Atlanta Area, Inc.
ETB: js
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 ser-
vices as rapidly as needed unless we effectively tap some pres-~
ently 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.
)
The largest cabepned resource appears to be individuals and
organizations which would like to make a contribution. Effic-
iently and afgaccively channeling this resource is not an easy
task but it has been done in a number of cities and it was bex
lieved Atlanta has a unique oppoxtunkty to demonstrate an effec-
tive use of volunteers.
In the late spring of 1968, we had a meeting of organ-
izations 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 recruit-
ing 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, Community 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 sponsored by
the Junior League, the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, Community
Chest, EOA, and the Community Council. Other interested groups
would be "members."
Funds for the support of the project would
flow through the smiley Council and be specifically designated
for is 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 con-
sist of some classroom activity and some on-the-
job training.
(d) Provide leadership on the effective use of volun-
teers 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
Executive Director. One committee, with the Atlanta Chamber of
Commerce, sought a suitable location for the operation. The
Junior League, in conjunction with a subcommittee, undertook to
recruit the Chairman of the committees which will be responsible
for the various functions of the agency. It is contemplated that
the project itself will be staffed almost entirely by volunteers.
One of the most encouraging developments is the ex-
pressed 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.
Bs Funding The Project. The enclosed outline of the pro-
ject has been revised from time to time. Of course, EOA has
been added as a sponsor. 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 snprort 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
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 communicated frequently with Mr. Dan Sweat in the
Mayor's Office, and I am confident that we will be able from
}
ahs
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. The project has been
named "Volunteers Unlimited." 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 ex-
pressway, is near the complex of predominately Negro univer-
sities 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 functions and getting our building in shape for opera-
tion. When we are equipped to recruit, train and place volun~
teers effectively, we will have a concentrated eeae designed
to give full publicity to the purposes of the agency. The agency
will be run by a Board which will encompass representation from
every segment of our population.