At 10:56 AM 7/21/01, Norma Ritter wrote:
When a mother calls her local Leader directly, she may or may not find her
>at home. Unless the Leader has left a message on her answering machine (if
>she has one!), there is no way of knowing when she will get back. Most local
>LLL Groups put more than one contact number on their fliers, etc., but
>sometimes it is all that a mother can do to make ONE call.
>
>I wish I knew the answer to this. Local LLL Groups really do work on nickels
>and dimes. Funding is very hard to come by, even for such a worthy cause.
>Some larger metropolitan areas are able to find funding for a hotline that
>includes a number of Groups, and some are able to get included in
>general-purpose community hotlines which then direct callers to specific
>agencies.
This is exactly what I was thinking. **It's not prudent to leave an
outgoing message on your home answering machine that tells callers that you
are out of town and/or when you will return.** I got a message on my
machine from a mother while I was at the ICf in Chicago. Thankfully, this
mom also had the number of my co-Leader, and by the time I got home her
situation had been addressed. However, if I was a lone leader, or if the
mom had only had my number (say, given to her by an aquaintence), she would
have had to wait more than a week to hear back from me. Our metro area has
a general number, but it just gives out numbers for other Leaders, who may
or may not be home at the time, either. My husband just suggested that I
leave the metro phone number on my machine as well, with a statement like,
"If you cannot wait for me to return your call, please call xxx-xxxx for
more information." It sounds good, but I also realize that we are asked to
refer nonemergency calls to the Groups nearest the caller, so she can get
appropriate, ongoing support. I think there will always be cases where the
caller doesn't feel we respond quickly enough, particularly if they don't
realize we are volunteers, at home.
Cheri Singleton
LLLL - Brooklyn Park, MN and Elk River, MN
mom to Melinda (7/92), Heather (10/94), Nicholas (3/97), and Matthew (6/99)
married to Jim for more than a decade (12/90)
[log in to unmask]
"I am growing, in the knowing, that my children are my teachers, that my
children simply teach my soul."
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