Last week, municipal and philanthropic leaders gathered in Atlanta for the Service Unites conference to share insights, strategies and resources to increase citizen engagement.

Among the hot topics of the conference was utilizing community service opportunities to offer solutions to municipal problems.

Addressing the audience for “Service as a Solution: Municipal Approaches,” Clarence Fluker, communications and special initiatives director for Serve DC, related how, by reaching out to service organizations in the community, the Washington DC Mayor’s Office on Volunteerism was able to provide free assistance to elderly and disabled citizens trapped in the city’s snowstorms.

Such volunteer initiatives, Fluker says, are underutilized resources in many municipalities, despite the many benefits offered including providing services at little or no cost, increasing citizens’ engagement and connection to their community, and fostering opportunities for volunteers to build skill sets which can help with unemployment rates.

For more on how DC is turning volunteer action into public gain, watch Fluker and his Serve DC colleagues Jeffrey Richardson and Jeffery Adam Kearney in the video below.

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