Community Care Durham (CCD) has released findings from its annual Volunteer Survey, conducted between November 22 and December 17, 2023, revealing the positive impacts of volunteering on health and happiness.

The survey demonstrated an impressive 96.4% of respondents feel happier and healthier because of their volunteer work with CCD. Furthermore, 89.1% of the participants would recommend CCD as a place to volunteer, underscoring the organization’s positive reputation.

The annual survey also highlighted a few areas for improvement including volunteer satisfaction, which decreased slightly to 82% from last year’s 88.3%.

These findings come at a time of significant organizational change at CCD, including updates to staff roles and the implementation of new technologies.

CEO James Meloche acknowledged the impact of these changes on the survey results, stating, “Change is never easy, especially in the areas of technology that affect the way we work and deliver our services.  We anticipated some bumps along the way, while others were unexpected. Our volunteer feedback is a valuable tool for us to identify and address the areas needing improvement.”

CCD is already putting in measures to respond to this feedback, including:

• Enhancing the Route Sheets for transportation and meals delivery volunteers, adjusting to feedback on the recent changes due to the AlayaCare implementation.
• Clarifying staff roles and addressing other concerns in critical volunteer-involved programs to strengthen staff and volunteer engagement.
• Reassessing volunteer support roles in specific hubs, including the North Hub and Pickering-Ajax, to better meet volunteer needs.

“Volunteers are the backbone of Community Care Durham, and their input is incredibly important to us,” said Meloche. “Recently, at an appreciation event I spoke with many volunteers who wanted to share their experiences and suggestions. On one occasion, a volunteer expressed concern about the new phone system language, and within a week we changed it. We are committed to enhancing our volunteers’ experience and ensuring CCD continues to be a rewarding place to volunteer.”

Plans are also in place to enhance the volunteer experience through a newsletter, the Volunteer Voice each May and November, regular updates in our monthly CCD Connects newsletter, town hall meetings, and Lunch and Learn Sessions beginning this June.

“We want our volunteers to feel more connected to CCD and to one another,” Meloche said. “It makes the experience even more rewarding.”

Volunteer Appreciation Week takes place April 14 to 20 and CCD has several events planned to celebrate volunteers and all the work they do for the organization. The theme this year is Volunteering Makes Every Moment Matter. At each event there will be an awards ceremony celebrating years of service. The events will take place in North Durham (Uxbridge), Oshawa, Clarington, and Ajax between April 19 until May 15.

“We celebrate our volunteers every year at these events. It’s our way of showing them how much we appreciate everything they do. It’s always a fun time,” Meloche said.

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Media Contact:

Ian McMillan, Communications Specialist
Community Care Durham
Phone: 905-430-1863 (cell: 905-431-8700)
Email: imcmillan@communitycaredurham.on.ca