In this episode, Prince Taylor, Deputy Director, VA Center for Development & Civic Engagement at the US Department of Veterans Affairs shares how their organization moved a friendly visitor program online and adapted it for remote volunteers.

The Compassionate Contact Corps is a virtual social prescription program where trained volunteers are matched with Veterans that are experiencing loneliness or are socially isolated. The volunteer typically calls the veteran weekly for 15-60 minutes to provide socialization and companionship via phone or video calls.

In our chat. Prince shares how the program came about through the enthusiastic advocacy of his local coordinators and how they structured the program for success. The early data on this pilot program shows that these calls improve the mental health and well-being of veterans, who are referred by their providers to the program.

We also discuss how staff prepare volunteers to be successful in the program without overextending themself or transgressing professional boundaries and where they find volunteers to help.

For more information, visit VA Center for Development and Civic Engagement Home

For more on how to partner or participate, visit Compassionate Contact Corps - VA Center for Development and Civic Engagement

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For more on how volunteer-involving organizations serve veterans using remote volunteers, check out Time + Talent Podcast Episode 305: How Remote Volunteering Gave this Organization an Edge!

Guest Bio:

Mr. Prince Taylor has served as Deputy Director for VA Voluntary Service since October 2018. Formerly he was the HR Manager for VA’s Office of Operations, Security, and Preparedness where he managed all human resource activities, advised political and career senior executives. While serving on the VA’s Veterans Month Committee, he started the Department’s TEDxVeteransAffairs program.

He was selected by the VA’s Corporate Executive Development Board for the Partnership in Public Service’s Excellence in Government Fellowship, which he completed in 2016 and served as a co-coach in 2018 and 2019. Currently he serves on several advisory boards and committees, including the National VA Voluntary Service Advisory Board and the National Technical Career Field Advisory Board. He has completed VA’s Transformational Coaching (Apprentice) program and began a doctoral program at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College in August 2020 in Leadership in Learning Organizations.

Prince served 12 years in the U.S. Navy, serving as a deck seaman, gunner’s mate, yeoman, and intelligence specialist (he couldn’t seem to keep a job). He served in numerous locations around the country and overseas. He has received an M.Ed. in Workforce Education and a Bachelors in Paralegal Studies and Political Science from Southern Illinois University - Carbondale. Today, he will give an overview of a new national program he leads called the Compassionate Contact Corps.

You can reach Prince on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedIn.com/in/prince-taylor

403. Helping Veterans Fight Loneliness t...