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Scottsdale highlights volunteer corps, rolls out 'Better Impact' portal for human services volunteers
Summary
City human services staff told commissioners the city counts roughly 4,700 volunteers who contributed about 121,000 hours last year and outlined new online onboarding and tracking via the Better Impact platform to simplify applications, training and reporting.
Deanna Owens, human services manager at the Paiute Neighborhood Center, and Brandon Chapman, the city’s volunteer program coordinator, told the Human Services Advisory Commission on Jan. 8 that volunteers are central to Scottsdale’s service delivery and that the city is moving to a new online system to manage recruitment and training.
The presentation said volunteers work across the Family Resource Center, youth services, career services, the Paiute Neighborhood Center and senior centers, and that group volunteers support large events. “Our volunteers are important,” Owens said while describing hands‑on roles with families, youth councils and annual festivals. Chapman said the city has “about 4,700 volunteers” and reported roughly “121,000 hours” of volunteer time last fiscal year, a contribution he estimated at about $4 million in annual value to the city.
The city is adopting a web platform called Better Impact to unify volunteer applications and profiles for human services programs. Chapman described the process: an initial conversation to match interests, an online application that creates a volunteer portal, a background screening and—when needed—fingerprinting through the Arizona Department of Public Safety for volunteers who will be unsupervised with vulnerable populations. “It starts with a conversation,” Chapman said, and the new system will allow volunteers to record hours, take required trainings online and give staff easier access to reports.
Commissioners asked about group opportunities, bilingual volunteers and safety checks. Chapman said staff routinely work with corporate and faith‑based groups—often steering them to the food bank or to Operation Fix It, an exterior maintenance program for income‑eligible homeowners—and that some roles require additional screening and fingerprint clearance. Owens flagged an immediate need for a volunteer caseworker at the Via Linda Senior Center and described ongoing needs at Vista Del Camino’s day relief center and after‑school support programs.
The presentation closed with staff offering to connect commissioners or community groups with volunteer placement options and to circulate contact information through the city’s volunteer opportunities page.
