Outline of volunteer responsibilities
created: 2017-09-29;
modified: 2018-01-25;
status: notes;
tagged:
Here’s a rough outline of volunteer responsibilities for shelter.
Mission
- Strengths perspective
- “families are doing everything in their power to provide for their kiddos”
- about 3k school aged kids doubled up or unsheltered in thurston county
- Housing First Model
- not worrying about the job, the license, etc
- let’s build a basis around housing
Shelter Screening
- we run the VISPDAT for unsheltered families.
- sleeping somewhere “not meant for human habitation”
- accounts for medical vulnerability
- chronicity of homelessness
- objective/subjective?
- families sleeping in vans
- REVIEW: 200 families on VI list
Who can come in?
- residents (on guest list)
- law enforcement (responding to emergency) did we call them?
- fire dept, EMS
- social workers
- visitors (9a–5p Mon–Fri)
- note arrival time
- add to approved visitor list
Shelter website
- staff volunteer schedule
- guest list (shelter, cold weather, apartments)
- review notes and updates
On-Call Staff
- what’s their responsibility?
- contact after hours if
- social workers or law enforcement arrive
- someone misses a shift
- you need help de-escalating
- ask for advice (what’s the next step?)
- yelling or screaming
- confrontation
Our Commitment to volunteers
- appropriate keys for shift
- all downstairs room
- trash key
- work area behind front desk
- updated shelter guest list, schedule, policies
- accessible to newcomers
- phone list should be up to date
- REVIEW: front door should lock
Pre-shift check-in
- speak to staff or greeters
- status of guests?
- new/old/transitioning (written)
- new children esp teens
- sick
- bed bugs/lice (written)
Supplies
- toiletries
- diapers
- gloves
- soaps
- crafts
- food pantry
- REVIEW: batteries?
- REVIEW: anything broken email to<EMAIL_ADDRESS>- REVIEW: email Keiya, HFS program manager, or Jeff, property manager
if we are out of any supplies, make that comment on the volunteer website and contact Keiya. if something is broken and it’s hazardous, we should email<EMAIL_ADDRESS>REVIEW: Cleaning?
- different zones
- how to follow up on people’s left overs
- rotating responsibilities
- knocking on a door
- washing dishes
- emptying the dish washer
- replacing the soap
- microwaving
- schedule for days of the week
- earlier during the day
- 5–7p
Answering the phone
-
Pear Blossom Place<PHONE_NUMBER>
- resources
- other shelters
- details on CW shelter
- coordinated entry, VISPDAT process
- hours of operation
- hot meals, food banks
- open public buildings
- hygiene supplies, formula, diapers
- WIC, Safeplace, YWCA, PCAF
- other shelters
- our shelter
- walk in cold weather shelter
- VISPDAT for long term
- needs coordinated entry
- hours of operation
- resources
- other shelters
- hot meals
- open public during the day
- WIC, formula, diapers - YWCA on Wednesdays
- referrals
- screening a family
- where did you sleep last night?
Disputes
- mediate minor difficulties among the guests
- disputes between kiddos
- use discretion
- call the back-up staff for adults
- yelling, throwing, getting physical
- threatening violence
- note the time, person and event
minor vs major? When there are threats of violence, kicking someone out, physical
Overnight
- TV off at 10pm
- 11pm curfew?
- worried about who is letting other folks in the building
- communicating if a curfew is set
- remain at shelter until 7am
- bunk beds for sleeping
- be ready for emergent issues
- sleep with door propped open?
Substances
- no alcohol or non-Rx drugs
- some clients with Rx
- smoking off property (not in the building)
folks in recovery? lock boxes? CPS involvement? safety with kiddos?
REVIEW: Building Tour
- bike closet
- cold weather linens
- cleaning closet
- electrical closet
- community room
- volunteer / monthly meetings
2015 Volunteer Manual
Historical Overview
FSC has been around since 1992. Our mission is Working Together to Strengthen ALL Families.
We took on the family shelter on November 1, 2009 because it was a need in our community. We rotated from church to church for a few months, then settled at First Christian Church.
We are the largest homeless family shelter in Thurston County. We are the coordinated entry point for all homeless families. We are the first stop. We are one of the ONLY options.
We acquired Pear Blossom Place, formerly The Smith Building, through a grant process with the City of Olympia. We purchased it for $1 and made a 40 year commitment to provide a family shelter and permanent affordable housing. We raised $2 million for rehabbing. Over the past 18 months this building has been transformed to provide a shelter for families with children, in addition to 7 permanent affordable housing apartments for families, with supportive services on site.
Eligible Population
We serve families with children.
We are FLEXIBLE. We accept the family as they present themselves. We work to strengthen the family unit, regardless of it’s makeup.
We “screen people” into shelter, completing full criminal background checks and Registered Sex Offender Checks on all adults. We will not allow anyone into shelter with violent offenses or arson. The Deputy and Executive Directors take close look at all background checks, and always think about the safety of families and volunteers.
Architectural Overview
Family Shelter (1st Floor)
- Includes 6 shelter units (101-106)
- Common area with living room furniture, computer work station, children’s area, piano, community kitchen, fire place, tables & chairs
- Laundry- 2 stackable for guest use, 1 front load set for volunteers/staff
- 3 offices: Volunteer, Case Manager (Lori Christmas) and Property Manager (to be hired)- 2 of the offices will have bunk beds for overnight host use
- Men and Women’s restroom
- ADA Accessible shower
- Reception/Volunteer desk with NEW computer
- Security camera at side door, buzzer system for doors
Low-Income Housing
- 107 ADA accessible 3 bedroom apartment
- 201–206 6 apartments (4 two bedrooms, 2 three bedrooms)
Apartments have a separate entrance from shelter
Community Room on the 2nd floor
Individual Shelter Units
Our research tells us that individual shelter units will make life a whole lot better!
REVIEW: “All units have their own bathrooms (with the exception of unit 103), cooktop, refrigerator, closets, kitchen table & chairs, bunk beds, highchair, crib, windows.”
Unit 103 is designed to be wheelchair accessible, and will use the bathrooms in the community room and the communal shower.
REVIEW: Each unit locks and is key card accessible. Each family will have a key card to access their units. Volunteers will have an emergency “master” key card.
Some families will share units. Our capacity is 36 individuals, and it will be up to the Property Manager to coordinate the units to make sure we’re making the best use of all available space.
Volunteers will not be expected to move families or worry about where to put families after hours. We’ll have a plan!
Bathrooms & Laundry
There are two public men’s and women’s bathroom in the common area, in addition to a shower.
These bathrooms will need to be monitored by volunteers. Please keep a good eye on them and make sure we are aware of who’s in and out.
We want to make sure children aren’t in there alone (if little), someone isn’t taking in a child that doesn’t belong to them, etc.
Volunteers will have access to the laundry room. We appreciate any help keeping up with the laundry. Families can use the stackable laundry machines only.
Families will have a specified day to wash their own bedding and clothing. With turnover and families exiting, we will need to keep up with other laundry.
Television
We have a television in the community room.
It will have basic cable and access to Netflix for movies.

Families will have to be buzzed into the shelter from the side door. This will allow you to know who’s here, and ensure only guests are entering.
We will have a guest list, likely the Google Site, where volunteers and staff are able to see who is screened in and approved at shelter.
a good open question: at what age is too young to leave the building independently? volunteers are not responsible
no curfew, no lights out
keys & doors
Each adult guest/family will have a key card that gives them access to their own unit, and the laundry room on their specified day.
REVIEW: The key cards are programmable, and staff will be responsible for “turning keys off” if someone leaves shelter for good and doesn’t return their key.
The property manager will be responsible for issuing cards to new guests. If you bring someone into shelter at night, you do not need to worry about getting them a key card.
REVIEW: There will be a “Lock Down” key in a designated place. If the building needs to be put on lock down for an emergency, you swipe that key in front of any door, and everything locks.
Privacy & Safety
We have to find the balance between a family’s right to privacy and dignity to be in their own unit with their family, and the overall safety of families and volunteers.
We ask that all volunteers “knock” before entering a unit.
Just like our current shelter, if you hear yelling, crying, something out of the ordinary, please check.
Knock first. “It’s Natalie- can I come in?” Take it from there.
Follow your gut, ask your co-volunteer. Remember your safety and the safety of the guests and children.
If anything is unsafe, violent, threatening… call the on-call staff / 911, whoever is more appropriate.
Boundaries
Smoking is NOT allowed in the units, or out of the windows! If you smell smoke, knock and ask to enter. If a family is smoking, remind them of the rules/expectations, and follow up with your backup staff.
Vapor and E-Cigarettes are not allowed at shelter. Entering the units should be for emergency situations only. If you and a family are chatting, please do so in the community area.
If something is broken, you will contact the Property Manager and they will come on site to fix it.
Supporting Parents
Families are expected to keep an eye on their children at all times. A parent or guardian must be with their children at all times.
If a parent goes outside to smoke, they ought to bring their children. Even if the kiddos are napping.
If parent wants to run to the grocery store, the children need to go too.
See that parent leaving without their children? “Hey Michelle, I need ya to bring your kiddos with you.” “Hey Jack, where’s Johnny?”
Gentle. Kind. Non accusatory. Give them the benefit of the doubt. Be firm.
REVIEW: If kids are asleep, parents need to be in the unit. They cannot go out to smoke or hang out in the common area and leave their children alone.
Think liability!
Bike & Stroller Closet
misnomer: it’s really for CW sleeping supplies
parking is for shelter guests, apartment residents, volunteers.
service animals
As you know, we accept all service animals.
We will be designating specific units for service animals. We will keep you posted with what units those are.
Pets are not allowed. Families have to make other arrangements for pets.
Fair housing prohibits you from questioning them about their service animal or their disability. If you have any questions or concerns about it, please speak with the on-call supervisor.
Phones
We will have a phone at shelter! Hooray! “Pear Blossom Place, this is Natalie…” “Shift Lead” line – is moving to shelter. It will now be answered from the reception desk at the shelter 24/7.
How are folks screened into shelter? Why does this process have to be obscured?
shelter screening
REVIEW: regular vs cold weather season
REVIEW: info on the VISPDAT REVIEW: when to call the backup
oncall vs police? oncall vs Keiya? oncall vs Colton?
Security
The lights in the common room will stay on at all times. This allows for clear visual in the open space, bathroom entrances, etc.
Guests will be buzzed in after hours.
There are always a minimum of two people at all times, whether volunteer or staff.
Hosts are allowed to sleep, but we ask that you keep the door partially opened so you can hear if guests need you, someone buzzes to come in, or the phone rings.
Emergencies
REVIEW: There are 2 red alarmed emergency exits out of shelter. If the door is opened, an alarm will go off. It will go off after a specified period of time and we will have keys to turn it off in the event of a false alarm.
If we have to evacuate, our meeting point is: the sidewalk on 7 th Avenue.
If you call 911 or the police/EMTs/Fire Dept respond, you must call your backup staff person.
In the event of an active fire, the sprinkler and alarms will automatically activated.
The Fire Department will automatically be called and everyone will need to evacuate out of the closest emergency exist.
Each shelter unit has an egress window for emergency exit.
REVIEW: Please grab the sign in/out book so you know who to account for.
If someone is injured, they will need to fill out an incident report that you can clearly find at the reception desk. (Ie: Child hits their head and first aid is administered, a form needs to be completed by the volunteer & parent).
Community Kitchen
Engaging with Children
Always make sure there is another adult present in the room when you are with children.
Limit physical contact with children and guests.
Engage parents in the conversation- “Hey, can I help Johnny with his homework?”
Make your presence known, it makes guests feel safe!
REVIEW: Families & children have to sleep in their own unit. Johnny can’t sleep in his friend’s unit for the night.
REVIEW: apartment kids visiting? after hours? etc?
boundaries with clients
- see also AJ’s presentation
Personal and professional boundaries with families is crucial. You are an extension of staff, and we ask that you maintain professional boundaries at all times.
Have an “elevator speech”. We want you to be genuine, but do not over-share.
Never give out your personal contact information- phone, email, Facebook etc.
Prepare for transitions and good byes.
If you feel connected with a family or want to know how you can help, talk with staff before you give out any personal information.
Clients are never allowed in your vehicle. Or your home!
When in doubt, blame Natalie! “I’m sorry, Natalie said I can’t do that…”
confidentiality
We must keep confidentiality 100% of the time!
Do not talk to guests about other guests.
Do not tell someone calling on the phone if someone is there, who is on the guest list, or if you have seen who they’re looking for. “I’m sorry, I can’t release any information to you.”
CPS is only allowed into the shelter with approval from staff. A staff person must be present. Same is for law enforcement, unless we are the ones who initiated the contact.
Compromising confidentiality is against agency policy, and can compromise someone’s safety!
When in doubt, take a message and tell the caller you will pass it to your supervisor.

If you see something, say something!

REVIEW: If you make a report, we ought to know. We will never tell the client you made a report, but need it for our files.
You may also need information from staff before making a call so all of the important information is included.
You have 24 hours to make the report. If making it from shelter, do so in a confidential space (i.e., NOT at the front desk).
calling out
Sick? Stay home!
The earlier we know, the better!
Weekend? Holiday? After 5pm? Call the shelter.
laundry
cold weather
- just short of capacity, enough space for one family
- if you double cushion, you might be woken up.


Setup Steps:
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Week Eight Technical Blog
Regular Expressions aka Regex or Regexp
A regular expression a special sequence of characters that helps you match or find strings.It uses a specialized syntax held in a pattern. Regular expressions are used for pattern matching and text processing.
Regexps are created using the...
/.../
%r{...}
Regexp::new
%r{...}
Regexp::new
Some of the most common expressions are...
| . | Matches any single characters except a new line |
| * | Matches 0 or more of the preceding character |
| + | Matches 1 or more of the preceding character |
| ? | Preceding character is optional. Matches 0 or 1 occurrence |
| \d | Matches any single digit |
| \w | Matches any word character (alphanumeric and underscore) |
| \s | Matches any white space character |
| \S | Matches any character that is not white space |
| \b | Matches a word boundary position such as whitespace, punctuation, or the start/end of the string. This matches a position, not a character. |
| \B | Matches any position that is not a word boundary. This matches a position, not a character. |
| {1,3} | Matches the specified quantity of the previous token. {1,3} will match 1 to 3. {3} will match exactly 3. {3,} will match 3 or more. |
| [XYZ] | Matches any single character from the character class |
| [XYZ]+ | Matches one or more of any of the characters in the set |
| $ | Matches the end of a string |
| ^ | Matches the beginning of a string |
| [^a-z] | When ^ inside a character class, it means NOT |
Example
Below, we are checking if a phone number has the correct amount of digits
/\(\d{3}\) \d{3}-\d{4}/
To check if it is a match we will use .match
"(123) 456-7890".match /\(\d{3}\) \d{3}-\d{4}/
/\(\d{3}\) \d{3}-\d{4}/.match "(123) 456-7890"
/\(\d{3}\) \d{3}-\d{4}/.match "(123) 456-7890"
These will return true.
Cheatsheet
Sources
- You Don't Know Anything About Regular Expressions: A Complete Guide
- Ruby Regular Expressions
- RegExr: Learn, Build & Test RegEx
- Class: Regexp


--- title: "The Setup" lastmod: 2019-03-06T00:00:00.000Z draft: false type: docs maths: true linktitle: "The Setup" menu: docs: parent: Website Management weight: 10 ---
{{% toc %}}
The methods101.com website is stored on GitHub and deployed by Netlify. Furthermore, the site uses the static website generator Hugo and the Hugo Academic theme. Hugo provides the framework for the website. It has its own code associated with it that is used in conjunction with HTML, CSS, and Javascript.
We use GitBash to pull (download) files from GitHub or to push (upload) files to GitHub. GitBash and how to use it are discussed [here]({{< ref “/docs/using_the_command_console.MD” >}}) .
Once the files are pushed to GitHub then Netlify will try to deploy the new build.
If you login to Netlify with the Methods101 account you will see a list of websites associated with it. Select the website you are interested in.
Now if you scroll down you can see the status of the website:
It will either say “published”, “building”, or “failed”.
Each is self explanatory. If it failed to deploy then you can select that log and review the reason why it failed.
There is a file located in the root directory called netlify.toml. It handles [redirects]({{}}) (where one address is redirected to another) and Hugo version. Hugo version currently in use by the site is 0.53 while the most recent version is 0.55.
The Methods101 account for GitHub has repositories for various websites associated with it. You can have administrator access to these repositories with a personal account if you are given permission by the main account.
If you open a repository you can see the files associated with the given website. The main way you will interact with GitHub is through GitBash.
Hugo provides the framework within which the website works. The best example of this is showing a bit of the HTML code for the sidemenu.
Much of what is shown here is HTML. However the bits of code in {{ }} are calling on the Hugo framework to do work. Hugo connects the site together. A front matter menu entry is called on here in code chunks like:
{{ with (index .Site.Menus $menu_name) }}
{{ range (index $.Site.Menus $menu_name).ByWeight }}
This code creates a list of menu entries by weight (another front matter variable).
The Hugo theme we use is called Academic. The theme has been modified (mostly the sidemenu) and only a part of its functionality has been used. We also use our own custom colour scheme (which is largely deployed by the Academic theme).
The default Academic theme files can be found here:
These files should not be changed.
Instead, if you wish to make a change to a function or style of the Academic theme then you should either create or modify one of the files in the root directory of the site. The files outside of the theme folder will take precedence when the site is deploying. For example, our custom sidemenu is located at _sidebar.HTML and overrides the default sidemenu located at -academic_sidebar.HTML.
The default css file is located at -academic.css while our custom css file is located at _css.css.
Finally, the files in are taken from the rest of the repository. They are the files that will be deployed and will changed automatically based on changes made elsewhere to the repository. There is no point in changing these files and they should be left alone.


FIFA WorldCups
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How to add your own feature selection algorithms
Baisc steps
1. Require the FSelector gem
2. Derive a subclass from a base class (Base, BaseDiscrete, BaseContinuous and etc.)
3. Set your own feature selection algorithm with one of the following two types:
:feature_weighting # if it outputs weight for each feature
:feature_subset_selection # if it outputs a subset of original feature set
4. Depending on your algorithm type, override one of the following two interfaces:
calc_contribution() # if it belongs to the type of feature weighting algorithms
get_feature_subset() # if it belongs to the type of feature subset selection algorithms
Example
require 'fselector' # step 1
module FSelector
# create a new algorithm belonging to the type of feature weighting
# to this end, simply override the calc_contribution() in Base class
class NewAlgo_Weight < Base # step 2
# set the algorithm type
@algo_type = :feature_weighting # step 3
# add your own initialize() here if necessary
private
# the algorithm assigns feature weight randomly
def calc_contribution(f) # step 4
s = rand
# set the score (s) of feature (f) for class (:BEST is the best score among all classes)
set_feature_score(f, :BEST, s)
end
end # NewAlgo_Weight
# create a new algorithm belonging to the type of feature subset selection
# to this end, simly override the get_feature_subset() in Base class
class NewAlgo_Subset < Base # step 2
# set the algorithm type
@algo_type = :feature_subset_selection # step 3
# add your own initialize() here if necessary
private
# the algorithm returns a random half-size subset of the orignal one
def get_feature_subset # step 4
org_features = get_features
subset = org_features.sample(org_features.size/2)
subset
end
end # NewAlgo_Subset
end # module
Test your algorithms
require 'fselector'
# example 1
# use NewAlgo_Weighting
r1 = FSelector::NewAlgo_Weight.new
r1.data_from_csv('test/iris.csv')
r1.select_feature_by_rank!('<=1')
puts r1.get_features
# example 2
# use NewAlgo_Subset
r2 = FSelector::NewAlgo_Subset.new
r2.data_from_csv('test/iris.csv')
r2.select_feature!
puts r2.get_features
How to become a contributor of FSelector on GitHub
Set up your repository
1. Go to https://github.com/need47/fselector and click the "Fork" button
2. Clone your fork to your local machine:
git clone git@github.com:yourGitUserName/fselector.git
3. Assign the original repository to a remote called "upstream":
cd fselector
git remote add upstream git://github.com/need47/fselector.git
4. Get updates from the "upstream" and merge to your local repository:
git fetch upstream
git merge upstream/master
Develop features
1. Create and checkout a feature branch to house your edits:
git checkout -b branchName
2.  Push your branch to GitHub:
git push origin branchName
4. Visit your forked project on GitHub and switch to your branhName branch
5. Click the "Pull Request" button to request that your features to be merged to the "upstream" master


Teen arrested by armed cops after report of man with gun and knife at Scots shopping mall
Officers were called to the Kingdom Shopping Centre in Glenrothes late yesterday afternoon.
by Record ReporterArmed cops were called to a shopping mall amid reports of a man carrying a gun and a knife.
Police confirmed they arrested a teenager at Kingdom Shopping Centre in Glenrothes at 5.25pm on Saturday.
A spokesman said: "A knife and replica firearm were recovered and a 16-year-old male has been arrested in connection with the incident.
"There was no risk to the wider public."
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