Methods

Organization's Background and Context

FH Ministries has played an important role in changing the life story of homeless people whose lives have had little to smile about (Kertesz & Weiner, 2018). Therefore, it was described as a gem in Alabama at the beginning of this qualitative research study (Kertesz & Weiner, 2018). Since 1983, FH Ministries has been offering the most comprehensive continuum of sheltering services to homeless men in a major southern US city and homeless men drawn from surrounding areas as well (FH Ministries, 2020b). According to Smith (2017) and FH Ministries (2020b), the organization offers various services to the vulnerable population, including street outreach services, meals, literacy skills, employment workshops, life skills programs, and clothing. The agency has 11 eleven sites that provide shelter services to homeless people, each having 215 beds that benefit this group of desperate people (Smith, 2017). The agency benefits about 5,000 homeless people (Smith, 2017). Overall, the agency provides day services that allow homeless people to go to the shelter to take a meal, clean clothing, or even take a shower before going back to the streets.

The services of FH Ministries are of critical importance and ought to be supported by the government and people of goodwill (Perri et al., 2020). Unfortunately, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has threatened the normal operations of FH Ministries, with the organization experiencing challenges in sustaining its operations during the global pandemic for various reasons (FH Ministries, 2020b; Perri et al., 2020). The agency largely depends on a volunteer program (Li, 2018) that has been seriously affected by this pandemic. According to Li (2018), the task of providing shelter and other services that this organization partakes in a major southern US city is an arduous task that requires significant support for the successful execution of the plans.

The social distancing guidelines prevent many people from gracing and offering services in FH, adversely impacting the volunteer program of FH Ministries (FH Ministries, 2020a). Only a restricted number of people can do this. Therefore, FH Ministries cannot admit as many volunteers as it used to before the outbreak of coronavirus (FH Ministries, 2020a). As Perri et al. (2020) suggested, to safeguard the interest and healthcare of its volunteers and the homeless people under its care, FH Ministries needs to come up with strategies to protect its people from contracting this disease. Consequently, this qualitative study aims to identify the existing knowledge gaps concerning the performance of volunteers in FH Ministries in this era of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Notably, during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations require the most support from volunteers, donors, and people of goodwill, with homeless people being some of the most exposed people with the highest risk of infection (Greenfield & Marsh, 2020). Therefore, as Smith (2017) explained, FH Ministries require help to protect homeless people in the US. Historically, volunteers and donors have played a crucial role in helping FH Ministries remain a gem in the city and the larger state by helping some of the most desperate people in this region (Kertesz & Weiner, 2018). Therefore, this qualitative study is important in recommending ways that FH Ministries can remain in touch with volunteers and protect them from the ravages of the novel COVID-19 pandemic. Once the recommendation in the study is implemented in FH Ministries, the confidence of volunteers, which the ravages of the pandemic have shaken, is expected to be restored, and more support would start streaming in for the organization. The study recommends, among other things, what FH Ministries needs to implement to shield both its volunteers and staff during the COVID-19 crisis. 

The data-gathering strategy presented in the proposed study describes my role as the researcher conducting this qualitative research study that aimed to enable FH Ministries to deal with the challenges that its volunteers face due to the outbreak of the novel COVID-19 pandemic. Ideally, research studies play an integral role in fixing knowledge gaps in society and recommending solutions to various problems that bedevil members of society and the organization that provide services to them (Gill et al., 2018). Concerning this, the onset of the novel COVID-19 pandemic has opened several knowledge gaps in different sectors of society. For example, the onset of this global pandemic has opened a can of new challenges that have made it difficult for different organizations in society to operate normally, as revealed by the US Department of Health and Human Services (2020). More research studies need to be conducted in the affected areas to fix these challenges, and recommendations must be made on how best to seal the gaps that the onset of this pandemic has occasioned. FH Ministries is an important organization in a major southern city that has been negatively affected by the onset of this global pandemic (Firehouse Ministries, 2020b).

FH Ministries and other organizations that offer shelter to homeless people in American society have been seriously hit by the onset of this pandemic (Lima et al., 2020). Researchers can help these organizations find their feet amidst the challenges they face in this global pandemic and continue with their noble goal of sheltering some of the most desperate people in the US. In this case, the role of the researcher conducted a research study identified performance gaps in FH Ministries that has been occasioned by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and recommended what needs to be implemented to keep this organization going.

My roles as the researcher in this qualitative research study are many. Apart from being a doctorate student at Walden University, I had the opportunity to visit FH Ministries on their premises and be a volunteer. I am proposed to conduct this qualitative research study from the point of knowledge of how important the volunteer program is in this non-profit organization and as a person who has seen and experienced the magic of this organization. One of my roles in this qualitative research study was to gather as much information about this organization and its volunteer program as possible.

I proceeded to critically gather information to identify any performance gaps that the pandemic has elicited in FH Ministries' volunteer program and recommend strategies to be implemented to seal those gaps. To do this, I used different research instruments to gather data, as Creswell (2013) suggested. Importantly, I visited the organization to gather primary data about the above program and the organization. I also identified and contacted resourceful people who assisted me in my attempts to study the organization and suggested what it needed to do in this era of the COVID-19 pandemic to keep its operations going on successfully. Using the interview method, my primary role as the researcher was to identify, describe, and recommend solutions that can be implemented in FH Ministries to not only protect its volunteers from contracting Coronavirus but also to keep the entire volunteer program functioning despite the global pandemic.

Introduction

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic brought new challenges to most organizations across the world. FH Ministries is a non-profit organization based in a major southern city (FH Ministries, 2020a). This research study aimed to recommend a solution that this organization can implement in response to the new challenges that its volunteers face due to this global pandemic. It is expected that the solutions recommended to this organization would be integral in helping its volunteer program find its feet and remain steadfast amidst this pandemic. Different data collection methods were used to gather the information to inform the solutions and recommendations used in this qualitative research study. This section of the qualitative research study outlined the data collection process and analysis used in the study.

The process of research instrumentation is vital for upholding the validity of an investigation of a phenomenon, as captured by Patton (2002) and Yin (2003). The primary data-gathering mechanism for this study was involved interviews with the selected sample population. Qualitative methods were used to gather data on the state of homelessness in a major southern US city and its environs during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, as supported by Kertesz and Weiner (2018), the qualitative techniques were vital in data-gathering regarding the progress of the volunteer program of FH Ministries and the implications of the pandemic on this crucial program in the organization.

Consequently, as Gill et al. (2018) supported, the study relied on two sets of interviews designated for qualitative data gathering. One set of questions contained practice-focused questions designed to collect data using interviewing sessions with the participants. In formulating the questionnaires for the qualitative methods involved interviews, the researcher relied on present studies discussing the most feasible approach towards instrumentation in the research procedure to uphold the validity and reproducibility of the results, as supported by Creswell (2013). Overall, the information elucidated using the two sets of questionnaires were considered adequate to elicit vital details and sufficiently address the RQs formulated for this study.

The possible key sources of background information for this research included the FH Ministries Strategic Plan 2020–2022, available online newspaper articles, and financial documents from the past three years. The FH Ministries and other non-profit organizations need to strive to maintain recruiting, retaining, and proposing new long-term strategies to keep their staff and volunteers safe as well as assist the organization(s) in maintaining their mission and purpose from the coronavirus pandemic or any other crisis that may arise soon (Smith, 2017). "Solutions exist for addressing our environmental and health challenges, and this crisis has shown that our governments can reduce health risks, protect vulnerable communities and populations, and ensure that our societies thrive " (Brousselle et al., 2020, p.400). Interview data were compared, contrasted, organized, and interpreted to determine how the data correlates with my research topic. I conducted semi-structured interviews. Ruslin et al. (2022) contended that “the semi-structured interview is a method of research is commonly used in social sciences” (p. 24). Researchers benefit from semi-structured interviews since they can compare the data, provide reputable data, provide clarity, and provide resilience to ask follow-up questions (Ruslin et al., 2022).

This study utilized a qualitative research design to identify the themes and patterns found across interviews integrated with the related literature. Based on the integration, synthesis, and evaluation of the interview findings and scholarly literature, I drew conclusions to address the research question formulated for the study. The anticipated completion of the Capstone Project was nine months to a year from now. As suggested by Biddle and Gray (2020), it is truly important to concentrate and organize all the important steps and tasks for the Capstone Project. For this study, this phase involved evaluating to identify the critical task. The key was to work productively and stay focused because plenty of time has been lost due to unforeseen circumstances (Tracy, 2019). Therefore, obtaining a visual guide was a helpful road map to assist with the projected Capstone Project envisioned timeline of completion and avert any obstacles which may arise.

This section of the qualitative research study has provided insight into the methods used in the data collection and analysis process. Some of the methods of data collection that have been explored in this section are interviews. Two sets of interviews were developed, each with different practice-focused questions. The data gathered from the use of the interviews has complemented the data gathered from the use of interviews. This is an ideal example of a primary data collection method used in this qualitative research study. Additionally, the sources of data that was used in this research study have also been explored in this section. Most importantly, the process that was used to analyze the data collected during this research study has been explained in this section of the research study.