Given that the majority of our efforts, approximately 80%, are dedicated to advocating for veterans and finding housing solutions for homeless veterans, it becomes challenging to accurately represent this information in our financial reports. However, as all members of V1ST - Veterans First are volunteers, it is crucial for us to demonstrate to the public the nature of our work in supporting veterans and their families.
Initially, the founder had aspirations of becoming a lawyer. During this time, he familiarized himself with the concept of "time tracking," which is commonly employed by attorneys to calculate their billable hours. It was at this point that he had the realization, "What if we could utilize this method to showcase the amount of time our volunteers dedicate to assisting veterans and their families?"
TIMESLIPS (by SAGE) has been an invaluable resource for V1ST - Veterans First and its parent charity, CHARMED, Incorporated, since the late 1990s. As a donation, SAGE has consistently provided us with their time-tracking program, which has greatly supported our work.
The process of TimeSlips is as follows: when a volunteer meets with a veteran, whether at our office or their home, the visit is documented using a TimeSlip's code, such as AR100 for the initial interview with the client. If the volunteer assists in writing a letter for the veteran, it would be coded as AR303 for correspondence. The volunteer's initials or the word "STAFF" are recorded, along with the time spent on each task for the veteran and their family.
Since 2018, our dedicated volunteers have provided over 60,000 hours of assistance to our veterans and their families. Remarkably, we have achieved this with an annual budget of less than $50,000.00.
Hence, 80% of every donation we receive for our HOUSING FUND trust is allocated for housing construction, while the remaining 20% covers various expenses such as office rent, telephone bills, computer equipment, fuel costs, advertising, and provisions for our volunteers, visiting veterans and their families, as well as our delivery personnel and postman. Kindly consider supporting our cause by making a donation below; your contribution will make a significant impact.
