Hesed Evaluation Study: Jewish Identity, Community Orientation and Voluntarism – Report Number 6: An Integrative Perspective of Training and Development of Hesed Workers and Volunteers

This report is the sixth in a series that presents findings from an evaluation study of Hesed Community Welfare Centers in the former Soviet Union (FSU). The study was initiated by the JDC-FSU Department and conducted by the Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute in cooperation with the William Rosenwald Institute for Communal and Welfare Workers in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The Hesed model, a multi-faceted service network, was designed by the AJJDC at the end of the communist era to respond to the needs of an aging Jewish population with severe economic and health problems. It embodies three guiding principles: Jewish values, community orientation and voluntarism. Today, approximately 170 Hesed Centers serve over 250,000 clients throughout the FSU. The study’s goal was to evaluate the extent to which Hesed’s guiding principles are being realized as the system develops. It was conducted at eight Hesed Centers in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, and examined the perspectives of their directors, employees, volunteers, home-care workers and clients, and of local Jewish community representatives.

This report presents an integrative perspective on human resources and professional training at Hesed, based on data collected from Hesed’s salaried workers (administrative, professional and program staff, and home care workers) and volunteers. It focuses on the background characteristics of the respondents, their views of their work at Hesed, their participation in training, and their unmet needs for training. The following are selected findings:

  • Hesed’s workforce – program workers, home care workers and volunteers – has a high level of education.
  • The volunteers are older than the salaried staff and have somewhat more seniority at Hesed.
  • The program workers and the volunteers see their work at Hesed as an opportunity for professional development and view Hesed as a place where they can utilize their skills.
  • On the whole, three-quarters of Hesed’s workforce reported undergoing training during the previous two years. The rate of participation in training was higher among salaried staff than among volunteers.
  • The proportion of those expressing a need for further training is larger among program workers than home care workers and among those who participated in training than among those who did not.
  • Social work and psychology were the main topics requested for additional training. 

The study was funded by the JDC-FSU Department. The findings are being utilized in the ongoing development of the Hesed network.