As part of our dedication to our growing group of volunteers, SMART Recovery is pleased to announce the addition of a new position in the National Office staff. Melina Gilbert will fill the new position of Volunteer Outreach Coordinator. Effective immediately, Melina will be the main point of contact for our volunteer community which exceeds 2,000 individuals. In this role, she will be providing proactive support and resources that will allow you to start and run your SMART Recovery meetings more efficiently and effectively.

According to Mark Ruth, Executive Director of SMART Recovery USA, “Adding Melina to our National Office team as our full-time Volunteer Outreach Coordinator represents the first of many important steps in ensuring that we continue to address the well-being, effectiveness, and overall productivity of our SMART volunteer community. They are truly the heart and soul of our organization and Melina is an ideal choice for this position as she has already been working with them in various roles for several years.”

Melina Gilbert has been working in the National Office at SMART Recovery for more than three years. Prior to moving into this position, she was processing verifications for online meetings, Volunteer registration Forms (VRFs), and meeting change requests. As part of those responsibilities, she interacted with many of our volunteers and recognized a need for someone to be their go-to contact.

“This position really is about listening,” says Melina. “It’s clear that our volunteers want to impact as many lives as possible in their work, and some need additional help and support in order to do so.”

Melina touts herself on being a very analytical and data-driven person. She likes making processes easier. “We’ve already deployed some surveys to our volunteer community, collecting early thoughts and needs,” says Melina. “We are currently in the information gathering phase so that we can evaluate the needs of our volunteers – you can expect to see more surveys in the future so we can set priorities for my role and increase my ability to help.”

Some of Melina’s early priorities in her new role include:

• Acting as a liaison for volunteers to collaborate with the office staff on solutions
• Developing a better database of all of our volunteers
• Continuing the improvement of Volunteer Registration Forms and their process
• The creation of VolunteerHQ – a web portal with a variety of resources created (and continually updated) specifically for our volunteer community
• Updating our volunteers with important developments and upcoming events through the monthly newsletter (Inside SMART Recovery) and VolunteerHQ

“What I hope to do in this position is provide support and resources that allow our volunteers to impact their communities more efficiently so that they can maintain their levels of energy and enthusiasm in their work,” says Melina.

Volunteers are encouraged to reach out and say hello to Melina as she kicks off this new role. Her hours are M-F, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. ET, and she can be reached at mgilbert@smartrecovery.org or 440-951-5357 Ext. 2. “I am your first point of contact,” she says. “Call or email me for specific needs, or if you don’t know where else to go, I’ll help you find the right person to talk to.”