In the mid-1980’s, interfaith volunteer caregiving programs began with seed grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.  In 1985, The Foundation established 25 pilot programs to determine if diverse congregations could work together to serve the needs of those with long-term chronic illness, disability or who were aging.  The success of that initial effort gave birth to the Faith in Action movement.  For the next two decades, the National Program Office of Faith in Action provided technical assistance and mentoring for existing programs and communities that wanted to start volunteer caregiving programs.

 

In late 2004, recognizing that the National Program Office would be completing their work, a group of stakeholders began to discuss the possibility of creating a national membership organization for Faith in Action programs that would continue the support and technical assistance that the National Program Office had provided.

 

Officially established in 2007, the Faith in Action National Network received its 501(c)(3) IRS designation in 2008.  In 2011, the Faith in Action National Network changed its name to the National Volunteer Caregiving Network (NVCN) in order to advance its enduring mission to support sustainable volunteer caregiving programs.  NVCN sponsors an annual national conference, distributes a monthly e-newsletter to a base of more than 700 individuals and programs, holds educational webinars, has developed a website that is inclusive of all volunteer caregiving programs, and with funding from The SCAN Foundation developed and implemented a Start-Up Guide for Developing Interfaith Volunteer Caregiving Programs.