Privacy, Communications & Service Policy

Love INC of Shelby County

Love INC of Shelby County respects the privacy of the people we serve, our volunteers, donors, churches, supporters, and others who communicate with us. We are committed to handling personal information responsibly and using reasonable safeguards appropriate to our work as a community-based nonprofit organization.

This Privacy, Communications & Service Policy explains how Love INC collects, uses, protects, and communicates information; how we communicate with neighbors, volunteers, and others; and certain general expectations that apply when Love INC helps coordinate services or volunteer assistance.

For information specifically concerning neighbor case information, referrals, care coordination, community alliances, and our use of technology in serving neighbors, please see our Care Coordination & Privacy Framework.

Information We May Collect

Love INC may collect information that you voluntarily provide to us, including:

• Name

• Mailing address

• Email address

• Telephone number

• Information submitted through website forms

• Donation information

• Volunteer or church affiliation information

• Information provided when requesting assistance

• Communications with Love INC by telephone, text message, email, or other means

When providing services to a neighbor, Love INC may collect additional personal information necessary to understand the person's circumstances, evaluate requests, identify appropriate resources, and coordinate assistance. Our handling of this information is further described in our Care Coordination & Privacy Framework.

How We Use Information

Information collected by Love INC may be used to:

• Respond to inquiries and requests for assistance.

• Communicate with neighbors, volunteers, donors, churches, supporters, and community organizations.

• Evaluate requests for assistance and identify appropriate resources.

• Coordinate services and referrals.

• Process donations.

• Administer volunteer and organizational activities.

• Provide information about Love INC programs, events, and activities.

• Improve our services, training, and operations.

• Maintain appropriate organizational and case records.

• Comply with applicable legal and administrative requirements.

We do not sell personal information.

Request for Services and Authorization to Share Information

When you request assistance from Love INC of Shelby County and provide your authorization, Love INC may use the information you provide to evaluate your request, identify resources, coordinate assistance, make referrals, and provide appropriate follow-up.

Love INC may share limited information with churches, nonprofits, community organizations, government offices, service providers, and individual volunteers when reasonably necessary to help address your needs. We seek to share only the information reasonably necessary for the particular referral, service, or assistance being coordinated.

You may withdraw this authorization at any time by contacting Love INC by phone or email. Withdrawing authorization will not affect information already used or shared based on your prior authorization, but it may limit Love INC's ability to coordinate additional services or referrals.

You are not required to authorize the sharing of your information. However, without authorization, Love INC may be limited in its ability to connect you with resources or coordinate assistance.

Upon request, you may ask Love INC for information about disclosures made in connection with coordinating assistance, subject to applicable legal, administrative, and recordkeeping limitations.

When Love INC facilitates a connection between a neighbor and an individual church or community volunteer, Love INC may, with the volunteer’s permission, provide appropriate contact information so the parties can communicate directly about the assistance being considered. Love INC may also facilitate the initial communication without disclosing the volunteer’s personal contact information.

Volunteer-Assisted Services

Love INC may help connect neighbors with individual church or community volunteers who may be willing to assist with practical needs.

Volunteer-assisted opportunities may include activities such as transportation, yard work, household tasks, minor repairs, meal assistance, companionship, errands, cleanup, organizing, or other practical help. The specific assistance available depends upon the nature of the need and whether an individual volunteer independently decides that the opportunity is appropriate for them.

Unless otherwise specifically stated, individuals who respond to opportunities facilitated by Love INC do so in their own individual capacity. They are not Love INC employees, agents, contractors, or Love INC volunteers solely because Love INC identified the need, shared the opportunity, or facilitated the connection. Love INC does not assign, authorize, direct, supervise, manage, inspect, or guarantee their work.

Love INC does not determine or certify that a church or community volunteer is qualified for a particular task. Information a volunteer has provided about interests, experience, capabilities, availability, preferences, or equipment may be used to help identify potential matches. Each volunteer independently decides whether to accept an opportunity and whether they have the skills, experience, tools, equipment, physical ability, insurance, licensing, or other qualifications they believe are necessary to perform the requested assistance safely and appropriately.

• Neighbors receiving volunteer-assisted services are expected to:
  Provide reasonable and safe access to the location where assistance is requested.

• Inform the volunteer or Love INC of known conditions, hazards, animals, environmental concerns, or other circumstances that could reasonably affect the safety of the volunteer or the work being requested.

• Clearly communicate the assistance being requested and any relevant limitations or concerns.

• Treat volunteers with dignity and respect.

Safety, Conduct, and Concerns

Both the neighbor and the volunteer have the right to stop or pause the assistance if either person feels unsafe, threatened, harassed, pressured, or seriously uncomfortable with the other person's behavior or with the situation.

If there is an immediate danger, threat of harm, medical emergency, or other emergency situation, call 911 first when appropriate.

For concerns that are not an emergency, either the neighbor or the volunteer should stop the activity when appropriate and contact Love INC so we can review the situation before the assistance continues. Concerns may include threatening or aggressive behavior, harassment, sexually inappropriate conduct, unwanted physical contact, significant boundary concerns, suspected exploitation, or other behavior that reasonably raises a safety or conduct concern.

A neighbor may contact Love INC if they have concerns about a volunteer's conduct, and a volunteer may contact Love INC if they have concerns about a neighbor's conduct or about the environment in which the assistance is being provided.

Love INC may pause, change, or discontinue a volunteer connection while a concern is reviewed or when Love INC determines that continuing the connection would not be appropriate.

Volunteers are expected to perform only work they believe they can safely and reasonably perform. A volunteer may decline, limit, or stop assistance if the volunteer believes a task is unsafe, requires skills or equipment the volunteer does not have, is materially different from what was originally described, or is beyond what the volunteer is comfortable performing.

Love INC does not guarantee that a volunteer will be available for a particular request or that every requested service can be provided. When Love INC facilitates a connection, the neighbor and volunteer may communicate directly regarding scheduling, access, the specific task, and other practical arrangements necessary to complete the assistance.

Telephone Calls, Recordings, and Transcriptions

Love INC may record or transcribe telephone conversations for purposes such as documenting requests for assistance, maintaining accurate case information, training, quality assurance, conducting volunteer interviews, connecting volunteer activities.and improving our services.

Recordings, transcriptions, and information derived from them are treated as organizational information and are subject to reasonable confidentiality and access controls.

Text Messaging

Love INC may use SMS text messaging to communicate regarding requests for assistance, appointments, reminders, follow-up, volunteer activities, organizational information, and other appropriate communications.

Message frequency may vary. Message and data rates may apply.

Reply STOP to discontinue text messages and HELP for assistance.

Consent to receive SMS messages is not sold or shared with third parties for their marketing purposes.

Consent to receive SMS messages is optional and is not required to receive assistance from Love INC.

Donations and Payment Information

When donations or other payments are made electronically, payment processing may be performed by a third-party payment processor. Love INC may receive information necessary to document and acknowledge the transaction but may not directly receive or retain complete payment-card information.

Third-party payment services operate under their own privacy and security practices.

Website and Technical Information

Like most websites, our website or the services used to operate it may automatically collect limited technical information, such as browser type, device information, IP address, pages visited, or similar information.

This information may be used for website operation, security, analytics, and improvement.

Third-party services used for website hosting, analytics, communications, donations, or other functions may process information according to their own privacy policies and terms.

Children's Information

Love INC does not knowingly solicit personal information directly from children under 13 through our website.

Information concerning children may be provided by a parent, guardian, or responsible adult when necessary for program participation or to evaluate and provide assistance to a household.

If you believe a child has submitted personal information directly to Love INC without appropriate authorization, please contact us so we can review the situation.

Protecting Personal Information

Love INC uses reasonable administrative, organizational, and technological practices intended to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure.

These practices may include:

• Limiting access to information based upon organizational responsibilities.

• Training staff and volunteers regarding confidentiality and responsible information handling.

• Using reasonable safeguards for electronic information.

• Limiting the personal information communicated to others when coordinating assistance.

• Exercising particular care with sensitive personal information.

• Removing or minimizing information that directly identifies a neighbor when that identifying information is not necessary for a particular administrative, analytical, research, or resource-evaluation purpose.

No electronic storage or communication system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Love INC therefore seeks to collect, retain, access, process, and communicate personal information thoughtfully and only as appropriate for our work.

Health-Related Information and HIPAA Awareness

Love INC is a community-based nonprofit organization and is not a healthcare provider, health plan, or healthcare clearinghouse.

Because we sometimes work with healthcare organizations and may encounter sensitive health-related information while assisting neighbors, appropriate staff and volunteers receive HIPAA-awareness training and are instructed in confidentiality and responsible information-handling practices.

Love INC does not represent that all information it receives is Protected Health Information under HIPAA or that Love INC is itself a HIPAA-covered healthcare organization.

When working with healthcare providers or other organizations, we seek to limit information sharing to what is reasonably necessary and appropriate for coordinating assistance.

Additional information is provided in our Care Coordination & Privacy Framework.

Use of Technology and Artificial Intelligence

Love INC may use technology, including artificial intelligence-assisted tools, to support its operations and services.

These tools may assist with activities such as organizing and evaluating information, researching resources, matching needs with potential resources, maintaining resource information, analyzing household financial information, preparing concise case summaries, and identifying possible next steps.

When appropriate, Love INC removes or minimizes information that directly identifies a neighbor before case information is used for additional AI-assisted analysis, resource research, or evaluation. We seek to limit the information processed to what is reasonably necessary for the purpose involved.

Artificial intelligence is used as an administrative and analytical aid. Technology supports our staff and volunteers; it does not replace human judgment or responsibility, and decisions concerning assistance, referrals, or services are not made solely by an automated system.

Our use of technology and handling of neighbor case information are further described in our Care Coordination & Privacy Framework.

Sharing Information

Love INC may share limited information when reasonably necessary to:

• Fulfill a request or provide a service.

• Coordinate assistance or a referral.

• Work with an organization involved in assisting a neighbor.

• Process a donation or transaction.

• Operate necessary technology, communication, and administrative services.

• Meet legal, safety, administrative, or regulatory obligations.

Service providers that support Love INC's technology, communications, payment processing, or other operations may process information as necessary to provide those services and may operate under their own applicable privacy, security, and contractual terms.

We seek to avoid unnecessary disclosure of personal information and do not sell personal information for marketing purposes.

External Websites and Services

Our website may contain links to websites or services operated by other organizations. Love INC does not control the privacy, security, content, or practices of those external websites.

A link from our website does not necessarily constitute an endorsement of every activity, policy, or statement of the external organization.

Changes to This Policy

Love INC may update this Privacy, Communications & Service Policy as our services, technology, or practices change. The current version will be posted on our website.

Questions or Concerns

Questions or concerns regarding privacy practices may be directed to:

Love INC of Shelby County
PO Box 24
Shelbyville, IN 46176
Phone or Text: 463-777-5211
Email: admin@loveincshelby.org

For information about how Love INC handles neighbor information while evaluating needs, coordinating assistance, making referrals, working with other community organizations, and using technology to support those activities, please see our Care Coordination & Privacy Framework.