First we made a list of potential OBB sites from various social service directories. Based on the services they provided (counseling, food assistance, shelter assistance) we thought they would be able to implement the OBB into their agency with ease and success. We had tried cold calling these agencies before the holidays, but no one responds particularly well to an unsolicited call. Even if the OBB is something the agency could really use and enjoy, they didn't give us a chance to explain the program before hurriedly saying "We're not interested" or abruptly hanging up the phone. They thought we were some scammers trying to sell them something! Realizing we were turning more people away from the OBB with this method (while also driving ourselves crazy--hey we aren't salesmen!) we decided to take a break from the calls and try a different strategy.
A couple of weeks ago we drafted a letter to the directors of the agencies on our list to let them know we were planning to visit Darke and Miami counties at some point during the week of February 8th. We listed our contact information and encouraged them to call or email us ahead of time to ask any questions or even to set up a meeting with us before we arrived. We heard from a couple of agencies before even journeying north, which we took as encouragement. The rest of the agencies we would just have to wing it.
But what we didn't count on were the two snow storms that blew through the region this past week, dumping more than a foot of snow on all of us. Not wanting to push our visit any further into tax season, we decided to give it a try.
By Thursday morning we woke up to find the interstates and major roads around here were pretty clear. But in rural Miami County there was still a level 2 snow emergency, and most, if not all, of the school districts had closed for the day. Darke County, on the other hand, was under a level 3 snow emergency and businesses were closed in addition to the schools. Two of the four sites we planned on visiting were closed as early as 7 A.M. Still, we wanted to give it a shot.
I picked up Alex bright and early, then we picked up our materials from Shared Harvest. Fortunately, the plows had made it to our driveway and we were actually able to make it to the top this time. (Wednesday we worked from home due to excessive snow, slush, and ice on the driveway. After watching several vehicles get stuck on the driveway from the road, I turned around and went home.) Armed with brochures, tax signs (for our current agencies), and a stack of "Sorry we missed you" letters (just in case), we hit the road.
We made it to Miami County with very little incident. It was making it in and out of the agencies that presented the most significant problems. The parking lots weren't plowed at all and if we had to park on the street, Alex ended up with cold, wet feet from stepping out of the car into the mound of snow pushed up against the curb. And if parking wasn't eventful enough, most of the agencies hadn't quite dug out yet (see right). Oh well, a small price to pay for new benefit bank sites!
While we didn't have any solid confirmations, it looks like we might end up gaining 2 or 3 new sites from this process. By sitting down face to face with these agencies, we were able to take our time in explaining the program, with visual reinforcements, and answer any questions. It went so much smoother than those dreadful cold calls!
After a quick lunch break (and some yummy queso dip!) we ventured into Darke County. By this point their snow emergency had been downgraded to a level 2, so we made a couple of visits and left our "Sorry we missed you" letters at the rest.
And 10 hours after we left, we found ourselves back in Fairfield, safe and sound.
We VISTAs are like the postal service--rain, sleet, snow, slush, ice, fog--nothing can stop us!
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