Southfield, MI
Leveraging Zoom and Facebook to improve recruitment.
The Volunteers of America Michigan Health Profession Opportunity Grant (VOAMI HPOG) program provides healthcare training opportunities for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients, and other low-income individuals in the greater Detroit area. VOAMI HPOG’s goal is to break the cycle of poverty through free education and job training for employment in the healthcare industry.
Traditionally, VOAMI offered an in-person orientation to recruit clients, both at their office and out in the community. The onset of COVID-19 caused their community partners’ and the local Workforce Investment Boards’ physical locations to close. VOAMI realized to successfully recruit Wayne County residents, they needed to go digital.
The VOAMI team switched to online orientation sessions via Zoom. They revised their presentation to be more readable for mobile devices. Additionally, they expanded the times and days of when they offered orientation sessions. Previously, orientation was only offered on Monday, but now sessions are held four days a week, and VOAMI keeps track of which times had the best attendance.
With everyone virtual, the team created a Facebook page for VOAMI HPOG with events that pushed visitors to the orientation sign-up link. They also added a QR code on flyers that linked directly to the orientation signup and shared the flyers with community and training partners for distribution.
The Zoom sessions had an excellent turn out. Despite the shift to digital, VOAMI is sourcing the same number of applicants as they did through in-person orientations.
The ability to be flexible and use new technology ensured VOAMI could continue to reach and recruit new HPOG participants during a pandemic.
This Promising Practice was self-identified by the grantee and information contained in this document was provided by the grantee.
HPOG Promising Practice: Volunteers of America Michigan - Recruitment (PDF)