As always, the New Year provides an opportunity to look ahead and envision what we would like to accomplish in the next 12 months. This year, we find ourselves looking ahead at a period that could bring with it rapid and profound change. The economy shows signs of a tentative yet uncertain recovery, but problems in Europe threaten to undo the progress made so far.  Elections next fall could significantly change our nation’s leadership. Our nation today could look much different at the end of 2012 than it does today.

Volunteers of America and the people we serve are not immune to this uncertainty and looming change.  The share of our funding coming from government sources continues to shrink and most likely will not return to what it was in the past, even once the economy recovers.  The effects of the recession and long-term unemployment will continue for years, making our services as important as ever. More and more people need our help, and we depend increasingly on the support of individuals and other private donors to make sure our services keep up with demand.  But finding that private support is impossible if people don’t know about Volunteers of America and what we do.

So my number one resolution for 2012 … to make sure the mission and ministry of Volunteers of America becomes more well-known in the minds of all Americans than it ever has been before.

We like to joke that Volunteers of America is the best kept secret in the communities where we work. And historically, that’s been true. But in an age when the needs are so great, and there are so many organizations competing for limited resources, silently going about our work does not serve the best interests of our clients.  To be truly effective in our mission, we must do all we can to let people know that we exist and are here to help. And they need to know not just what we’re doing for those in need, but why we do it.  Our ministry of service and its deeper mission to uplift all people is just as important as a list of our varied services … because it is that mission that truly sets Volunteers of America apart.

In this New Year’s period of renewal and rebirth, my goal is that Volunteers of America emerges as a shining beacon of hope. We can’t be shy or timid about sharing the news of our good works. We must be bold and remove our light from under the bushel, not because of a misguided sense of pride, but because that’s what the people we help deserve.

- By Mike King, National President and CEO, Volunteers of America

We must remember that the true spirit of Christmas is not about buying the latest electronic gadget for 50 percent off. This is also a time when we traditionally reflect on those who may not be able to afford presents under the Christmas tree, or who will be separated from loved ones during the holiday. It is a time of generosity toward others by giving of one’s spirit, not just giving material things … or shopping to give to oneself.

For many, the traditions of Christmas include helping the less fortunate – a spirit of giving that has taken a hit during the recession. Numbers recently published in a Wall Street Journal special report on philanthropy illustrate the decline during the recession. Between 2008 and 2010, overall giving to charity dropped 4.2 percent, which may not seem like a lot, but is painful when paired with sharp decreases in funding from government sources during the same period. And this comes at a time when recent research from the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire estimates that nearly 1 in 4 children under the age of 6 now live in poverty in the United States.

My hope this year is that the growing enthusiasm for shopping doesn’t come at the expense of philanthropy. It’s so easy for people to argue that after three years of frugality and sacrifice they now deserve to reward themselves and have a little fun. But we must remember that not everyone can see a light at the end of the economic tunnel. While consumer confidence is up and the official U.S. unemployment rate actually dropped significantly over the past month, there are also indications that this drop is due not to the creation of new jobs, but to people simply giving up and dropping out of the workforce.

The importance of donations from individuals can never be overstated. Philanthropy makes a critical difference in the lives of people we serve. It helps us fill gaps in existing funding to create new services in response to emerging needs. Donations not only allow organizations like Volunteers of America to serve more people, but also to address the quality as well as the quantity of services. It is the factor that turns public housing into family homes, and makes the difference between simply keeping people alive and giving them a life.

At this time of year, we at Volunteers of America hope everyone will remember the true spirit of the holidays and focus on helping those in need. To help us make a difference in people’s lives, please visit www.voa.org/spiritofgiving.

- By Mike King, National President and CEO, Volunteers of America

The men and women of America’s armed forces have fought for freedom in the world’s most dangerous places, from the beaches of Normandy to the mountains of Kandahar. When they return home after years spent in harm’s way, our veterans deserve a home of their own, the support of their loved ones and the ability to earn a decent living. This year, when we paused on Veterans’ Day to remember their sacrifices, I was reminded that we still have a long way to go when it comes to helping many of our service men and women return to civilian life.

A recent report by the Veterans’ Administration and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development showed that the number of veterans seeking emergency shelter or transitional housing shrank by 3 percent in 2010. While it’s certainly encouraging, this recent drop is overshadowed by a looming catastrophe down the road. Middle-aged vets are moving off the streets, but younger vets from the current wars are only just now starting to demonstrate the mental and addiction disabilities that ultimately lead to homelessness. Many of these young vets remain ignored because their injuries are on the inside, in the form of PTSD and other mental traumas, without any visible disfigurement.

Women veterans have also been under-assisted and at risk historically. They often feel uncomfortable approaching traditionally male-dominated veterans organizations for help in times of crisis and suffer silently in the shadows.

Homelessness prevention starts before someone ends up on the streets. Volunteers of America is one of many private service providers working on the front lines, in collaboration with government agencies like the VA and HUD, to bring veterans off the streets and provide the help they need. In this age of budget cuts, it is crucial that we protect funding for private organizations that help veterans overcome poverty and the disabilities of battle today instead of waiting for them to sink into homelessness.

We encounter a wealth of opportunity every day to make a difference … one life at a time. Volunteers of America weaves a safety net around veterans that helps return them whole into mainstream society. Thousands of soldiers will be coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan, and we must anticipate their needs. Now is the time to tackle this challenge. Learn more about Volunteers of America’s programs for veterans at www.voa.org/Veterans or help support our veterans programs by making a contribution.

- By Mike King, National President and CEO, Volunteers of America

It seems no one’s immune to the threat of hunger and poverty … not even Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch.  I saw the other day that Sesame Street has introduced the first impoverished Muppet to its well-known cast of characters.  “Lily” is described as being “food insecure” and comes from a family that struggles to put meals on the table every day. Not surprisingly, Lily was created to help teach young children about the current economic problems faced by real humans in America today.  It seems really sad that the great recession has now found its way into the apartment houses on Sesame Street, but it seems we live today in a world filled with a great deal of sadness.

I’m now the grandfather of children in the key age group for Sesame Street.  Explaining realities like hunger and homelessness is never easy to do with a small child – especially if that child has been blessed to spend his or her life in a home that’s never been affected by such things.  Children assume that everyone else in the world has all the same things that they do.  If you’ve never gone to bed hungry, they assume, no one else has either.  Finding that kind of empathy is difficult for a lot of grown ups, too.

Unfortunately, many of the children served by Volunteers of America don’t have to watch Sesame Street to understand hunger and poverty … they experience it first hand.  The life experiences represented by Lily the Muppet are all too real for them.  Food insecurity isn’t an abstract concept, but rather something they and their parents worry about daily.  What we aim to provide clients who come to us for wide variety of services, from affordable housing to emergency food provisions and case management, is a sense of confidence that even during the worst of times, there are others hard at work to make sure they don’t fall through the cracks.

As we continue our work providing homes and hope to low-income families, I invite you to join us.  Help us ensure that no child ever has to go to bed hungry.

- By Mike King, National President and CEO, Volunteers of America

Unfortunately, stories like these are all too common… and often examples of senior abuse are much more severe. On a recent trip to Sacramento, I was introduced first-hand to the rising need among the frail elderly to have access to safe places where they can escape abusive situations. Leo McFarland, Volunteers of America’s chief executive in the region, showed me their new Senior Safe House — a residential home providing shelter and support for abused seniors who previously had been showing up at homeless shelters.

These seniors have included Emma, as well as others, like “Beverly,” a retired Army nurse who recently experienced abuse from her daughter and sought a safe place to stay. But almost as shocking as these stories is the fact that the Sacramento Senior Safe House is one of only a handful of places nationwide established specifically to help older people escaping abusive situations.

Opened in 2009, the facility has six bedrooms for seniors referred by Sacramento County Adult Protective Services and other partners. Previously, these seniors were moved into places like motels and hospitals that were under-equipped to meet their needs and didn’t provide adequate safety. While this scattershot approach would seem unthinkable if we were talking about abused children or other vulnerable groups, it continues to be the accepted norm when it comes to helping abused seniors in most communities.

While we all would agree that elder abuse is dreadful and should be stopped, we have failed to dedicate the necessary resources to actually combat it in an effective way. In March 2010, Congress passed the first comprehensive federal elder abuse prevention law. This was an important victory for those of us advocating on behalf of seniors, but more than a year later, the law is now pointless because no money has been dedicated to enforce it.

To this day, elder abuse remains the only form of family violence for which the federal government provides virtually no resources. What resources are dedicated come from cash-strapped cities and states. Abused dogs and cats in our society receive more attention and money.

By many measures, elder abuse in this country is getting worse. According to a recent National Institute of Justice study, almost 11 percent of people ages 60 and older (5.7 million Americans) faced some sort of elder abuse in the past year. A 2009 study estimated that 14.1 percent of non-institutionalized older adults nationwide had experienced some form of abuse in the previous year. A 2009 report by the MetLife Mature Market Institute and the National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse estimates that seniors lose a minimum of $2.5 billion each year from financial exploitation.

Several factors point to the number of these abuse cases growing significantly in the coming years. First, America’s population is aging rapidly, with the number of people over the age of 65 expected to double over the next two decades. Second is the economy. During the annual observance of World Elder Abuse Day held in June, Kathy Greenlee, head of the federal Administration on Aging, acknowledged a link between the increase in abuse cases and the recent economic downturn. A final factor is an overall trend toward providing care for seniors at home or in community-based settings. While this trend shows great promise and responds to the desires of seniors, is also moves care into private settings where abuse can more easily take place.

Today’s elderly also come some a generation that values quiet dignity and would rather “remain calm and carry on” than complain. Because of this, many victims of abuse suffer in silence rather than seek help. Since they’re not complaining — and because our society over the past generation has adopted an out of sight, out of mind mentality toward care for the elderly — this problem doesn’t register in the minds of most people. It certainly wasn’t on my radar until recently.

We need places like the Sacramento Senior Safe House in every community in the United States. But we’ll never reach that goal until we stop simply talking about how awful elder abuse is and actually dedicate the money, both public and private, to help combat it. Funding the Elder Justice Act would send money directly to the states to create jobs and protect our seniors from abuse. It would keep them out of harm, prevent them from losing their life savings, and avoid more expensive care down the road.

In Sacramento, it took Volunteers of America four years of advocacy and planning and enlisting private partners from the local community to make this dream a reality. Home Aid, a national nonprofit organization representing the building and construction industry, along with other private donors supported the development and building of a place that from the outside appears to be a typical family home amidst a bustling Sacramento neighborhood. Little can you tell that inside is a beautiful safe haven for abused seniors who now may enjoy the peace, security and love they deserve.

The number of seniors in abusive, and even life-threatening, situations will only get worse as our population ages. The time is now to build the infrastructure to support their needs and provide a safe place for them to call home.

- By Mike King, National President and CEO, Volunteers of America