Interview: Foster Grandparent Program's Virtual Volunteer Program

I spoke with Marley Melbye at the Tri-Valley Foster Grandparent Program about her important work supporting elders in creating connections during the pandemic and the way that their program is using technology to support Foster Grandparents and virtual learning programs.

-Rose Maney, Youth Virtual Tutoring Initiative Literacy Leader

What does your program look like in a normal year, and how has that been impacted by COVID?

The Foster Grandparent Program usually has about 65 volunteers in 31 different schools in sites throughout northwestern Minnesota. Now we’re probably working with 10 schools. The volunteers were in the schools and doing anything from rocking babies to working one-to-one and in small groups with children with exceptional or special needs. Obviously COVID has hindered that significantly. We do have a few volunteers who are still in schools. We are very quickly trying to figure out how to meet the growing needs of kids as they learn from home.

How have you supported elders when introducing them to the technology they need to use for virtual tutoring?

We purchased 30 iPads with cellular service, since not all of our volunteers have wifi access, and have dispersed them to volunteers who are willing to learn. The majority of what we’re doing is educating them on the basics of technology. So many of them have so many fears; they hear the evils of scams and viruses and it’s hard to get them comfortable to even click on anything!

So training has taken significantly longer than we’d anticipated.

It’s been a process of sitting one-to-one with those who feel comfortable with it, and we created a basic manual. We have simplified the iPad by removing some of the apps that come preloaded on the device, so it has only the necessary ones. The first thing we teach them is how to do a virtual meeting so we can meet with them when they have questions and when they get stuck.

What virtual support training have you done to help them get accustomed to it?

We’ve just started Monday and Thursday training sessions where we teach them whatever they want to learn. They’ll log on and learn how to check email, Google search, order groceries. We want them to be able to integrate it into their lives as well as use it to support students.

Anybody who comes to the training gets bingo numbers called at the end as a fun perk to get them to come and learn!

What kind of educational and supportive content are your Foster Grandparents able to create?

We have at least one participate virtually in the classroom with teachers and have had a handful of them make videos, from reading books to showing flashcards to making cookies to trying to do household support, like showing a teenager how to check the oil on a vehicle!

And we’re hoping that will grow with time.

How has your volunteer retention been impacted by COVID?

We had 66 volunteers pre-COVID and are closer to around 55 now. Some people have moved closer to family since being isolated, and some are unable to because of the pandemic. We work really hard to keep our volunteers connected, so we also started a penpal program with our Foster Grandparents group and local assisted living communities, using both traditional letters and email. We do a lot to keep both our volunteers and the people around us feeling connected and supported.

How have the methods of service for your volunteers shifted since things went virtual?

Our schools are still saying essential workers only, which we understand and support, so we try to meet those needs in other ways. Our Foster Grandparents do a lot of different things, with volunteers working from home by putting together educational kits and packing boxes with school materials. Teachers will also send work home for students, so some volunteers assemble packets for teachers to distribute. They’re also participating virtually and in-person at schools and daycares.

What age range do your volunteers serve?

We have volunteers at Head Start schools who support ages one to five. We work with kids from birth to grade 12, though most of our volunteers are at elementary schools.

How much of the Foster Grandparent work is literacy support and enrichment, in a normal year?

That’s a hard thing to quantify, but about 85 percent of our volunteers are significantly impacting math and literacy for the students they mentor. That can range from helping them, giving extra support to stay engaged with the homework even through the feelings of anxiety.

How do your volunteers find you?

We go to community events, health fairs, church boards, Lions Clubs. This year we’ve done radio and newspaper ads more so than ever because of people being homebound. But the word of mouth about the impact of what they do in students' lives is our biggest draw. People love to know that they’re making a difference in young lives, and seeing success in children is really what brings volunteers in.

What does your virtual learning program look like right now?

We have a volunteer who logs into the class virtually and then works with a student who needs help in a breakout room. So far it’s just one volunteer, and she helps with early elementary and sight words. Ultimately we’re hoping that continues and grows, because I think virtual learning is going to be more utilized after this, even on snow days moving forward as an option. Our ultimate goal is to continue to have it as an option.

Thank you so much for the important work you do. Connecting elders with their community is healing for everyone, and I think that it gets overlooked sometimes.

This program is a win-win in the sense that our volunteers feel such a purpose and so connected and that they’re giving back. They truly do feel being a Foster Grandparent is their mission in life, which is a win, and to see the student gains and success is such a win-win program!

And I believe our Foster Grandparents will have a huge place in the recovery from this pandemic. Because schools and teachers and parents are finding that their students didn’t retain or learn as much virtually, and so is it going to set our kids behind some? We don’t have any data on that yet, but I think our volunteers are going to have a huge place in the recovery of student success after the pandemic.

The demand for the extra assistance in classrooms is going to be huge, so hopefully we can find those volunteers that are willing to put themselves in that classroom.