Welfare operation mode proposal
A decision has been made (?)
https://talk.kiezburn.org/d/Ur72ItZA/welfare-operation-mode-proposal/16
This is about a new way Welfare can be operating - in short to make it more efficient and reach as many people as possible I want to make it mobile!
Proposer: Me!
To these who don't know me, I am this year's Lead of Welfare. I was involved with First Aid during the last Kiez Burn. In the regular, non-glitter life I am also a psychiatrist in training so this year I wanted to contribute a bit more in my area of expertise and this is my idea on how it can be done.
People/roles most affected by this proposal
First Aid Lead and Volunteers
THE PROPOSAL
Background
My experience from helping to organise First Aid in last Kiez Burn as well as doing shifts there is that it's quite difficult to find volunteers, especially if a volunteering shift means you have to sit it one spot the whole time (so you have no possibility to participate in anything else, even if there is nobody requiring help at the moment). I have done two shifts 6 hours each and frankly, I sometimes had kind of a feeling I was missing out on some stuff - which of course doesn't apply if you have someone requiring your help - but there were long hours in which nobody came.
Since the event might get smaller, we might have a smaller pool of participants and logically, probably less volunteers. The number of shifts, or rather the time that needs to be covered, stays however the same (at least 5 days, 24 hours each - and I think 6 hours of shifts are the absolute maximum). With Welfare, I think the point is that it's always available - so to do only as many shifts as the number of available volunteers allows makes little sense.
Another point is, I am not 100% convinced the idea of only stationary welfare is the best. I don't know a lot of people that had at some point an idea to actively look for it, even if they might need it. I myself have an experience of going to Welfare while on a bad trip - it's an insane effort to gather yourself enough to actually find the tent, especially if you don't know your way around KB. And that was during daytime, during the night I probably wouldn't trust myself to move from where I have been.
The proposal + implementation
On-call mobile Welfare shifts! The idea is - we still set up a small welfare tent with mattresses, tea and secure a small space for the people to feel safe in. The tent should be next to First Aid station.
The novelty is, the volunteers are not required to stay in that tent the whole time. If there is nobody requiring help, the volunteers are allowed or even encouraged to cruise through the whole KB area. Obviously they shouldn't be partying or doing workshops, they should be however be around, talk to the people and keep an eye on anyone that could require help maybe but won't themselves ask for it (as it often is while on a bad trip). They would be wearing some easy identification (I am thinking t-shirt saying Mobile Welfare and dunno, angel wings?). I think this way we could reach the biggest number of people - all of those who don't even realise Welfare is an option or are feeling too bad to go through the trouble of looking for the tent.At the same time, I think shifts like this are more attractive for the volunteers - you stay responsible but have no obligation to stay in one spot the whole time and don't feel taken out from the ongoing events.
One other plus would be a smaller number of required volunteers - obviously two per shift would be best, however with downscaled Kiez Burn I am quite pessimistic about the number of volunteers (considering we also have to find people for Rangers, Site Leads and so on). In the stationary version, it would be unrealistic to make single person shifts if needed (implying this single person has to stay in a single place for the whole shift - in First Aid we did two person shifts also for the purpose of keeping each other companion). I would still love to have two people on a shift (if nothing else, to not leave anyone without support), however being realistic I want to aim small (so to have one person for every shift) and if possible, upscale. In the mobile version, this person can still interact with other people so it's not 6 hours of sitting alone in case nobody needs their help during this particular shift.
What about people that ARE actively looking for Welfare? Well, they are still very welcome to come to the tent! In that case, I would need a tiny bit of support from the First Aid people. I would make it clear that people coming to the Welfare tent looking for support should speak to First Aid, since they will be there anyways. The task of First Aid would be to call the mobile Welfare person through a radio and tell them there is someone in the tent. In that case, the Mobile Welfare comes back to the tent and takes care of this person.
Another advantage of this is that we can, if required, leave the tent together with the tripping person, for whichever reason. It might be to encourage them to take a shower or change clothes (both a really good method to change mood during a bad trip) or to maybe accompany them back to their camp if they feel good enough to leave the safe space in the tent, or even to help them to find their friends. This would allow us to actively do more than just offer a safe space and tea and also have a better feeling about the fate of the people leaving the tent. In the stationary version, we kinda had to trust that the person saying they are good enough to leave the camp are going to be fine and find their way back. Now we can safely deliver them back to their camp and support system.
As a last remark I would like to add that in the case a lot of people would actively come to the tent, the volunteers will stay in the tent anyways (so effectively Welfare would look the same as it always did, stationary). I would however like to use this resource more actively and I think it's a shame if someone would have to just sit around and wait if they could be doing something more productive (and more fun for the volunteers themselves) during that time.
For this to work, I would like to make sure that the concept of Welfare, both mobile and stationary, will be shortly explained at the gate so everyone knows it is an option.
Who would implement this proposal
Me and the Welfare team, if First Aid Team as well as you reading this think it's a good idea :)
What would be the cost (time, money, effort, etc.) of this proposal
No additional money (or maybe a bit to buy angel wings or however we want to make ourselves accessible while being mobile). For the gear we would need a radio (that we have already, just keep one for us). And considering human resources, we would need a bit of support from Welfare - am looking forward to seeing what the affected people think of that :)
What are the advantages of this proposal (relative to the current situation and/or counter-proposals)
- more accessible Welfare that can also actively look for anyone needing help
- shifts more attractive for the volunteers
- 1 person per shift possible if we have little volunteers
- possible to accompany the person back to their camp if needed and deliver them to safe hands of their friends
What are the disadvantages of this proposal (relative to the current situation and/or counter-proposals)
- would require a bit of support from First Aid
- no stationary person in the Welfare tent 24/7 (but they would be within reach and could quickly come if needed)
- you tell me, what criticism do you have? will expand the list with your points
LAST WORDS
Please let me know what you think, I know the concept is kinda revolutionary so I would understand if someone would feel very strongly against it. But let's talk about it :) Thanks for reading!
Franzi Mon 7 Jun 2021 6:58PM
Hey Agata, I have now some more time and wanted to respond to your answer in more detail. First of all, thank you for taking time to listen to all the advice you gathered. (And sorry to hear that work kept you so busy <3) I am writing my answers in bold. Hope that helps and gives some structure.
Argument about people making party in the empty tent I don't really get - we are not a festival, we are a burn and if we believe someone will violate that space (that I intend to mark as a welfare tent with signs specifically saying to leave it as a safe spot) then we assume the participants are just regular festival people. I was under the impression we operate in a community mode and have more faith in the people attending the event. - This concern is purely based on experience from the last years. People have partied, drugged, fucked and done all other sorts of things in welfare when unsupervised :D Its burn after all and the tent is cozy. Now all these things are fabulous activity but not in a "saver sober space".
What CJ said - 'I think a good amount of people have the expectation that they can go to Welfare and someone will care for them immediately and without any hassle or waiting or searching' - I am sorry, I don't think it's an expectation I am able to fulfill, also kinds of contradicts Radical Self Reliance. - Thats ok, you dont have to fulfil it personally but maybe with a co-lead or a team? This is the vision and the expectations the Kiez Burn community has. Its why we set up welfare in the first place. Its kinda the whole purpose of this place.
2 people on the shift x 4 shifts a day x 5 days of the event is minimum 40 volunteers. I understand the prinicple of volunteering, am willing to make a shit by myself, don't think however 39 other people will take 6 hours from their event to volunteer. - I have been recruiting volunteers for welfare for the last years. We never had a problem with finding volunteers. People love doing welfare cuz it is such a nice shift. So I am not sure whats driving your concern that there won't be enough volunteers?
Welfare tent being a place to gather is not something I was aware of. Isn't ranger's station for this? I can understand it's convenient but if we have a tripping person in the tent at the same time what would happen? - I think it would be helpful if you read the safety protocols..they havent changed much from 2019. Welfare plays a key role in most incidents. Thats the reason we have welfare, or one of them to be precise - to support the safety and wellbeing of the event.
Thank you for leading the team this way and let me know if you need a helping hand :)
From what you said, is the advice process closed now? Would be cool if you can update the thread.
Agata Tue 8 Jun 2021 11:47AM
Yes, advice process is closed. We will share the lead with Alex who is positive we will find enough volunteers. She is handling shift plan, I am handling preparing the volunteers for the task.
River Aleks Thu 10 Jun 2021 10:03AM
@Franzi @CJ Yetman The welfare is back on! 🎉We will try to improve it and love it up as much as we can. I also rebranded it a little, the trained volunteers are now called Welfare Guardians. I would like to talk to you @CJ Yetman about relocating the Welfare tent to a more quiet location. I also think we should have a separate tent structure for Kborg and Rangers ( like they do at Borderland with the Clown Police) to avoid them using the Welfare tent (happened a few times in the past) which should be stricte for providing a safe space.
River Aleks Thu 10 Jun 2021 1:00PM
@Cairn (Clément) I would love to talk to you about the location of the Welfare tent, it should be moved to another location. Nothing against Psy Trance but it is not very conducive for calming the nervous system.
Veroca R. Sala Sat 12 Jun 2021 9:39PM
Moving this thread to the Advice process group. It is unclear its resolution. Is Only clear bay this comment the advice process its closed. We keep it in this group as for documentations and learnings for the future.
River Aleks Thu 10 Jun 2021 12:56PM
I was told you were the Site Planning Lead @CJ Yetman, sorry! I should have checked. It turns out that I am the only Welfare Lead at this point, because of Agata's really intensive hospital schedule in July.
I have rebranded the Welfare again today and so we are the Welfare Care Bears ( trained volunteers) and the Welfare Teddies ( former Fluffers).
Yes, I was told about that situation I wanted to prevent that to happen again and I am so happy to hear that the Site Leads will have their own tent! So the problem is solved. And of course if someone needs emotional support that what Welfare is for.
CJ Yetman Thu 10 Jun 2021 1:42PM
I'm the Site Leads Lead... or something... I know, it's confusing. Basically, I organise all the volunteers who take the Site Lead shifts and make sure they get everything they need.... which this year includes their own home base! 😀
River Aleks Thu 10 Jun 2021 10:03AM
I did not know we divided it like this, I also want to give the trainings :)
Franzi Mon 7 Jun 2021 6:24AM
I second CJ, as the safety protocol secretary :)
Agata · Sun 6 Jun 2021 10:53AM
Hey, sorry for taking time to answer, I was quite overworked last days with my daytime job.
To start with, I think making stationary shifts some times and mobile the others would be a compromise, however it doesn't make much sense from a practical sense of view. How would we tell people how to reach someone? I think best is clear information (go to the tent OR look for volunteers), mixing it and making it different depending on the time/ day is just going to confuse people. So it's either this or that.
Argument about people making party in the empty tent I don't really get - we are not a festival, we are a burn and if we believe someone will violate that space (that I intend to mark as a welfare tent with signs specifically saying to leave it as a safe spot) then we assume the participants are just regular festival people. I was under the impression we operate in a community mode and have more faith in the people attending the event.
I did talk to Kai. He basically told me he was also doing mobile welfare alone on events up to few hundert people. He pointed on the principle of Radical Self Reliance. We want to provide a service to people, however I think expecting someone to be in the tent 100% of the time is just unrealistic, it's not even how the actual ER works - you have someone sitting there and talking to a person, assuming what they need and then calling a person qualified to help them.
What CJ said - 'I think a good amount of people have the expectation that they can go to Welfare and someone will care for them immediately and without any hassle or waiting or searching' - I am sorry, I don't think it's an expectation I am able to fulfill, also kinds of contradicts Radical Self Reliance.
2 people on the shift x 4 shifts a day x 5 days of the event is minimum 40 volunteers. I understand the prinicple of volunteering, am willing to make a shit by myself, don't think however 39 other people will take 6 hours from their event to volunteer. I am really trying to be realistic here, I however know filling in shofts has been a problem last years wich ended up with Kai himself putting a lot of hours - I am sorry but I am personally not willing to fill in empty spots, it's also something I talked about before taking the lead. Would be very happy to be proven wrong and have a set of volunteers though.
With my concept, if a lot of people would come to the tent - we are in the tent. I would love to talk to Red Cross people - I don't think it would be too much of a stretch to ask them to redirect the people to us. The information that we could be giving to people entering the event is - if you feel fad and need welfare, look for a welfare angel OR go to rangers OR to first aid. I understand radios fail sometime, if they are good enough for Site Leads and Rangers to communicate, I don't see why welfare should be different. Franzi - my experience from Welfare was coming down from acid next to a sound stage playing loud Psytrance - which I don't wish to anyone. When I tried to raise this point many times, I have been told it's because the tent needs to be easy to find and it'a priority above vibe. I wished to have the tent a bit more on the side - which is not optimal because it's very difficult to find for a person on drugs - and have rangers/ welfare and so on deliver people there. Please remeber it gets also dark early in August - I don't think it's realistic or wanted to have tripping people cruising the ground in the darkness, which was another reason why mobile version would be superior in my eyes.
Welfare tent being a place to gather is not something I was aware of. Isn't ranger's station for this? I can understand it's convenient but if we have a tripping person in the tent at the same time what would happen?
I am sorry but what I had in mind with keeping people company on the road is definitely not what rangers are doing. I wanted to make sure this person can take a shower safely (for example to avoid having consent breeches while showering and being on a bad trip - which is waht happened to me), have a possibility to go on a quiet walk with them if that's what they feel like doing, basically to be there for them. While being on a first aid shift I asked rangers once to escort the person to their camp to make sure they will arrive to safety - same person came to me few hours later beacsue they got lost). I don't want to make accusations because you guys have way more stuff to do - which is why I don't expect anyone to put 100% of their attention to a tripping person if they have other responsibilities. But that's why I don't expect rangers to do stuff like this and want to make it possible to welfare to provide this service. But to say thats this job will overlap with rangers is a huge oversimplification.
It kinda puts me in a wird position - the reason why I wanted to do welfare was because from my peronal experience I saw some stuff that can be improved - and that was my idea on how to do that. I can also see that it' generally not so agreed on. As I said, would love to be proved worng and have a list of willing volunteers. I have to also mention, when I talke with people during the Treasure Hunt many of them basically voiced same concern about being forced to sit in a tent and said that possiblity of doing it mobile would be for them an argument to do a shift they might not be willing for otherwise. Hence, my scepticism on finding 40 people willing to sit around.
I however get the general response on this and I guess the general wish is for things to be done the way they always have been done. We will then offer welfare to the extent in which we are able with the amount of volunteers we will have. I will be meeting with Alex tomorrow to discuss it - since she had more experience on how welfare has been done I guess we will just adapt the schedules from last years. I am happy to contact peronally anyone that would express want to be in welfare and make it work - however if we don't cover all shifts (as it has been an issue last years) I am peronally not willing to fill in the missing spots.
I will update tomorrow after the meeting, thanks for reading.