FAQs
Sidelines National Support Network
http://www.sidelines.org
Tracy Hoogenboom, Administrative Director
Annie Douglas, Email Coordinator
Sidelines is a pregnancy-support group with more than 5,000 volunteers, more than 250 of which are online volunteers. Sidelines - so named because women with pregnancy complications can feel stuck on the sidelines of life - have counseled approximately 31,000 people during the organization's six-year existence. Sidelines volunteers provide emotional support to pregnant women coping with long term hospitalization or home bedrest, pregnancy complications, leaving a job or "normal" life due to pregnancy complications, etc.
Most of the volunteers are young moms who have other children in the home, and many received assistance from Sidelines during their own pregnancies. They come from all backgrounds, all cultures, all areas, all educational backgrounds, all different types of pregnancies.
Sidelines has 35 chapter coordinators throughout the U.S. who deal with the volunteers in their geographic areas. Volunteers stay in contact via phone, eemail and newsletter. In addition to helping with support and counseling, Sidelines' online volunteers have helped with staff-support projects, such as submitting the website address to various search engines, creating web pages, grants research and proposal writing, etc. Six online volunteers also serve as coordinators for other online volunteers.
When a mom or family calls in to their local Sidelines chapter requesting support, they are assigned a volunteer based on similar medical and/or social backgrounds. "If we receive an eemail request, we assign by condition," says Tracy Hoogenboom. "Volunteers then communicate with their referral on a daily, bi-weekly or weekly basis (depending on what the referral requests). When the mom delivers, the volunteer then notifies the chapter or online coordinator with the information, as well as gestational term, baby's weight, and overall outcome."
"Our online volunteering program has grown bigger than we even imagined, and currently we have more requests for support than we can handle! Most volunteers are taking 2-3 moms per month."
"Most of our volunteers are young moms who have other children (usually toddlers) in the home. Usually we are asking for moms to support other moms- that is our main focus. But we also ask for help on special projects or needs as they arise. For instance, we recently sent out emails to everyone we have online asking for help with submitting our website to various search engines; webmaster assistant; grant searching and writing; someone to oversee video training; someone to duplicate videos, etc."
"The national staff (4 of us) has become VERY experienced with eemail and we all check it daily. Because of financial restraints, we are limited on phone lines, so most of us share our "Sidelines" phone line with our internet access line. Of about 35 chapters and 12 satellites, 15 coordinators are on eemail. We hope to have at least half on by the end of the year (1998). 75% of our coordinators have computers."
"We are CONSTANTLY on the lookout for other Internet resources. Our volunteers are great at letting us know about articles, technology, or pregnancy related issues that impacts us. We are especially interested in funding sources."
Before Sidelines became an affiliate, Annie Douglas was already incorporating information from the VV Project Web site into her materials for Sidelines online volunteers. "The Web site has so much useful information for mangers of virtual volunteers like I am! I have learned many of your suggestions on my own already, but found lots of other suggestions helpful too. Your web page "Are you ready to volunteer?" has a WONDERFUL list that is particularly helpful. I enjoy my position so much and feel that we have so much to offer with our online volunteers to the high risk families that we support all over the world."
Annie has shared information with other affiliates on how to use eemail newsletters to keep volunteers in-touch with what's happening at an organization, and how to maintain activity on a Web-based chat area. She does an online update/newsletter each month for virtual Sidelines volunteers and Coordinators. "People really enjoy seeing how Sidelines is doing online each month and it gives me the opportunity to keep them up to date as far as our web site and other pertinent info. I like it because it doesn't take alot of time like a traditional 'hard copy' newsletter--no time spent on intricate layout, graphics, printing , postage etc. "
A section of the Sidelines Web site is devoted entirely to potential and current volunteers. This section includes:
- Detailed answers to volunteer questions such as, "What makes a volunteer qualified to provide support?"
- A Volunteer's Story by E-mail Volunteer Coordinator Annie Douglas
Supporting Expectant Mothers Anywhere Via E-mail
This is a further profile of Sidelines, and is the latest addition to Connecting Humans: Essays on the Positive Side of Online Culture, a new section of the Virtual Volunteering Project web site with information, essays and examples that illustrate how cyberspace is bringing us together, not closing us off to each other.
