Volunteers of America (VOA), an AgeTech Collaborative™ enterprise participant, is one of the country’s largest, most established comprehensive housing, health and human services organizations, with over 15,000 mission-driven professionals dedicated to helping those in need rebuild their lives and reach their full potential. Envisioning a world where all people live with social, emotional and physical well-being, spiritual fulfillment, justice and hope, VOA measures its success in positive change in the lives of individuals and communities it serves.
We recently spoke with Stephen Samuels, vice president for innovation and impact investing at VOA, about the historic organization, some of its many initiatives and ways that VOA is helping to advance AgeTech solutions for low-income older adults.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
What is Volunteers of America all about?
Volunteers of America has been around for 129 years; we are one of the oldest and largest nonprofit housing, health and human service organizations in the country. We have a national office, but the great work is done by our 29 regional affiliates that provide services in more than 400 communities throughout 47 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. We touch over two million lives a year.
We serve older adults, veterans, people with physical and developmental disabilities, and we do a lot of work around substance use disorders and helping the formerly incarcerated reintegrate into society. We also serve individuals experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity: We own and manage more than 20,000 units of affordable housing across the country. We also have several dozen different types of senior healthcare and living facilities, from independent living to assisted living and memory care, as well as a growing portfolio of Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) programs.
What are some specific ways that you help people with substance use disorder, for example?
We offer a range of services. Let’s say an individual comes into one of our community health centers: We can offer them direct services for drug and alcohol treatment, or we can provide care navigation that helps guide them to a service provider in that area.
One of our programs that I love is called “family-focused recovery,” a residential drug and alcohol treatment program for pregnant women and mothers with children. One of the barriers these women face to getting help is the fear that child services will separate them from their children, so they don't seek treatment. In our family-focused recovery, women can bring their kids with them through the whole residential treatment. We have facilities that are beautiful and suitable for as many kids as they have, at whatever ages, as well as for mothers who are pregnant. And when we succeed, we’re able to help keep these families intact.
You also have a program called the Community Health Incubator. Can you tell us about that?
In 2018, we launched a $1.5 million impact investing fund that we call the Futures Fund. Originally, it was earmarked to invest in the piloting, testing and scaling of innovative new ideas that came from within VOA. But there’s only so much entrepreneurship you can cultivate within the organization, so we revised our strategy to invest in external, early stage entrepreneurs that are aligned with our mission and focused on solutions intended for the same populations that we serve.
This allows these entrepreneurs to leverage VOA’s assets as participants in our Community Health Incubator, including using us as a testbed. For example, if someone has a technology meant to support women, we can say, “Let’s test your solution with women who have completed one of our residential treatment programs and who are now back in their communities, where they need a lot of support.”
We bring about six ventures into the Community Health Incubator every year. They go through about 12 weeks of training, coaching and skill-building. They also learn about community health and partnering with community-based organizations, and we work hard to foster partnerships between these ventures and one or more of our affiliates across the country.
Another innovative project you have going is a mixed use development for the Southwest Waterfront area in Washington, D.C. What’s that about?
The Southwest Waterfront area in D.C. is being highly redeveloped with a lot of investment. We have plans to build 110 units of affordable senior housing in that area, included as part of a much larger market-rate redevelopment zone. Because it’s in the nation’s capital and so close to our national policymakers, we’re using it as an opportunity to build a best-in-class project as it relates to the integration of housing, health and technology for low-income older adults.
We’ve noticed that there’s a gap in much of the research out there regarding how technology is reaching low-income older adults in particular, especially those who live in these denser settings, so we’re doing a year-long research study to determine the best types of technology to use in that community, and which we can pilot in other existing housing sites.
That research is revealing what is distinctive about this particular population. What I find particularly compelling is that the No. 1 thing these older adults are concerned about is not health as we conventionally think of it — instead, the No. 1 thing they’re concerned about is physical and psychological safety. Next, they want technology “for joy,” to stay connected with family, for example. Only after that do they think about how technology can help them with their health as we typically think of it.
You’re a large organization with many paid employees, but people also volunteer their time to help with your work. How do those volunteers impact VOA’s initiatives?
We use thousands of volunteers every year. For example, one of our great national programs is Operation Backpack, which provides backpacks full of school supplies for kids who are housing insecure and often do not have access to those materials. Operation Backpack gives those kids a sense of pride and dignity when they can walk into the first day of school and have their backpack and school supplies just like the rest of the kids. Thousands of volunteers across the country not only donate those items, but also actually pack the backpacks and distribute them to the kids. It’s an incredibly beautiful thing.
Volunteers also help with the family-focused recovery program that I mentioned earlier, coming into the treatment centers, spending time with the children and helping with caregiving. Many of our housing properties welcome volunteers to come and sit with the older adults. In some of our markets, we do Meals on Wheels, where volunteers pick up the meals from our culinary sites and deliver them to older adults at home.
Why do you think so many people volunteer for this kind of work?
I think people who volunteer can be motivated by many different reasons. At its core, VOA is a faith-based organization, and some volunteers are motivated by their faith, whatever faith that is. But fundamentally, this kind of work is “heart work,” and it expands people’s perspectives. The more people take the time to put themselves into the shoes of people who are in need, the more understanding and empathy we can build. That’s a good thing — especially in this day and age.
What are some ways that other AgeTech Collaborative participants can work with Volunteers of America?
We’re planning to identify four or five AgeTech solutions to participate in our research by being part of focus groups later this year. We want to have our older adult residents experience what technology solutions are like, and then provide feedback — a kind of experiential lab. So we’re looking for solutions that might be interested in participating in that, and we’re always happy to meet ventures and founders who want to test and pilot their solutions in low-income, affordable senior housing settings.
To contact Stephen Samuels about participating in Volunteers of America’s experiential lab, email ssamuels@voa.org. To learn more about Volunteers of America, visit their website.
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