Reticence to fund personnel:
The reluctance for funders to fund salaries and personnel placed organisations under pressure, arguably diminishing support to communities. For the staff, community leader and volunteers this resulted in increased pressures relating to workload and to financial strain. Financial sacrifices were being made in order to continue to support recovery in a voluntary capacity; including lost income potential, depleted nest eggs, adding earning pressure to spouses; with ramifications beyond the individual themselves. The reality is that people are the greatest resource. People behind the scenes and people 'at the coalface' are both vital to the success of community-oriented organisations.
People aren't funded. There is the idea that volunteers are the answer. But there is a huge administrative load. Keeping the website up to date... There is financial pressure. Your ability to volunteer is limited when you have to worry about making a living. Volunteer hours are so scarce and precious, often undervalued so if you could free hours up you could then put your volunteer time where you want to, in order to have the most impact, rather than on admin, such as building bridges and potential sources of resources for survivors. And people wanted a specific menu of volunteering options, which needs people who could devote time to get everything set up. Volunteers too take managing and more time behind the scenes to do all the stuff that doesn't show. Peter Miller – World Trade Center Survivors Network