The (Fine) Art of Customer Service

There are multiple facets to my job responsibilities: pre-trip communication with groups, tracking of center finances, project database updates, project site visits and the corresponding (photographic) tracking of construction progress, evening gathering planning and delivery, food inventory and ordering (eventually. my partner-in-crime in the office is handling this task at the present while I tackle finances), maintaining our center's social media presence, and other basic preparations conducted every week as we prepare to receive new groups of volunteers. Behind the fancy jargon and the lengthy list of responsibilities that constitute my job description, however, lies the core principle that my job is one of customer service. 

Customer Service? Maybe it isn't the label that you would intuitively place on my position: an Office & Volunteer Coordinator for a non-profit, home renovation organization in Appalachia. Or maybe you've worked for a non-profit before and realize that without invested buy-in from all parties involved, a non-profit organization's gears just don't turn. At ASP, customer service as an essential characteristic of my job stems, for me, from our vision statement that takes a two-fold approach: "that substandard housing in Central Appalachia will be eradicated and that everyone who comes into contact with this ministry will be transformed." I'll touch on my experiences with the first part of the vision statement ("that substandard house in Central Appalachia will be eradicated") another day, but today's reflections are about that second part, "that everyone who comes into contact with this ministry will be transformed."
In just two weeks of hosting volunteers at ASP's Jonesville center, I have interacted with, assisted and guided groups from Mississippi, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio and Illinois. From- the most basic- pointing out where the directions for the coffeemaker are (Answer: taped to the wall, just behind the coffee pot itself), to -the slightly more challenging- checking in on volunteer morale on their construction sites and reconciling volunteer mobility with limited top bunk vs. bottom bunk housing arrangements, to- the mildly intimidating- delivering a teaching that challenged volunteers to evaluate what they are chasing in life, I have engaged in more intimate customer service than at, well, Burger King where Have it Your Way is the attending M.O. Truthfully, while facilitating excellent experiences for volunteers is likely the most demanding aspect of my position this year, it is also one of the principle reasons that I accepted the fellowship. Having the opportunity to get to know and hear the stories of volunteers from all over the country will be some of the most treasured experiences that I will take away from this year in Appalachia. Further, however cliché it may sound, I don't think I've ever met a stranger in my life so a chance to meet and connect with new individuals and their stories on a weekly basis is something like a dream come true.

But wait, my customer service efforts certainly don't end with the volunteers that will pass through ASP Jonesville from now until August 2014; the families that we serve are important recipients too of our careful efforts and best ministry work. Our organization's founder Glenn Evans is infamously know for the following saying:

We accept people right where they are, just the way they are.

In just a month of living here in Appalachia, I have witnessed need, in home after home, of a degree greater than any other part of the country that I have ever seen. Need is need; I truly believe that and know that my work is driven dually this year, first by ASP's organizational commitments to earnestly serving our family clients in the homes where we work. Our "checklist" as we strive to improve their homes, via volunteers' efforts, is to ensure that their homes are warmer, safer and drier. Relationship building is the second, more subjective, yet just as important, piece of our interactions with families. Our community work and the trusted friendships we try to build with families serve as both distinctive associations to and active stakeholders in the formation of ASP's longstanding ministry and identity.

So when I share tales of playing cards with volunteers, or listening to their ASP trip stories from years or even decades prior, or chatting for an hour with one of our families just to hear about how her kids are doing in school, you, dearest reader, shan't chide me for "slacking off" on the job. As my supervisor here in Jonesville likes to say, "We're really a relationship ministry with a little construction on the side." It's all about customer service.