Volunteer Opportunities

Directory 2009/2010

Boys & Girls Club of Newport County

Tutoring, coaching & arts education; sprucing up landscaping and playground

• There are three club sites and one summer camp so there are opportunities for sprucing up the landscaping, painting, rejuvenating playground areas and assisting with special events.
• Volunteers can help with homework, inspire budding artists in the art room, play games in the gym or game room, or help coach the swim team or basketball teams.
• Volunteers are given a thorough overview of club programs and a personal introduction to a small group of members by our volunteer coordinators during the volunteer orientation.

Note: All volunteers and staff are given a background check to ensure the safety of our members. If you are interested, please click here to print applications and BCI forms or stop by the club to receive a volunteer application.

Contact: CiCi Dunn; phone: 847-6927, ext. 18; cdunn@bgcnewport.org

Agency Description/Mission: To inspire and enable all young people ages 5-18, especially those who need us most, to realize their full potential as productive, responsible and caring citizens. Provides programming in five core areas—sports, fitness and recreation; health and life skills; character & leadership development; education & career development and the arts.  Over 1,300 members receive services from the club on an annual basis. Many of the club’s current members come from disadvantaged circumstances. Many live in single parent families (60 percent), with 61percent living below the poverty level. Read more: www.bgcnewport.org

House of Hope CDC

Landscape work in the spring and fall; Christmas giving program

• House of Hope manages 12 properties in Warwick and Cranston. Landscape work is available in spring and fall and there are two special events per year happening in April and September. Volunteers are welcome to help at these events.
• There is a Christmas giving program for families in need in the Warwick area. Volunteers can be utilized one week prior to Christmas for gift collection and distribution.

Contact: Tom Miller; phone: 463-3324, ext. 236; tom@thehouseofhopecdc.org

Agency Description/Mission: As a community development corporation (CDC), House of Hope creates community and economic development in neighborhoods and villages in Warwick and its adjacent communities.  By developing affordable housing and assuring supportive services, House of Hope eliminates situations of homelessness and empowers individuals and families to reach their fullest potential. Read more: www.thehouseofhopecdc.org

John Hope Settlement House

Needs vary by day, please contact Leslie Gifford: lgifford@johnhope.org

• Opportunities for volunteer groups vary daily and season to season. Please contact the agency for specific information.

Contact: Leslie Gifford; phone: 421-6993; lgifford@johnhope.org

Agency Description/Mission: The mission of John Hope Settlement House centers on these key values: Care and development of children and youth, family support and capacity building to help people fulfill their personal potential. John Hope achieves this mission through social services, health and wellness education and programming, financial literacy and support and comprehensive childcare. Read more: www.johnhope.org

Mt. Hope Learning Center

Interior, exterior painting and repairs; seasonal yard and patio cleanup & special events, annual Plant, Bake, Yard Sale

• The Mt. Hope Learning Center is located in an old house that needs a lot of tender care such as painting both interior and exterior, seasonal yard and patio cleanup, plantings and garden care, resurfacing the floors in the two-story building (replacing peel & stick tiles as well as gym coating wood floors).

• There are additional needs for volunteers at special events on MLK Day (Jan 19) and at the annual Plant, Bake, Yard Sale in May each year.

Contact: Erica Johnson; phone: 455-8875; ejohnson@mthopelearningcenter.org

Agency Description/Mission: Mt. Hope Learning Center’s purpose is to provide a safe and nurturing environment in which the children and adults of the Mount Hope community can learn skills and improve academics. This includes activities that are as rich and diverse as the populations they serve, including tennis, cooking, photography, poetry, art, workshops and guitar lessons for youth. Neighborhood adults benefit from classes that are educational, such as ESL (English as a Second Language), GED preparation classes, and computer literacy as well as workshops that inform and enrich neighbors’ lives such as yoga and nutrition. The Learning Center draws participants of all ages from 5 to 90 years old from across the city. Read more: www.mthopelearningcenter.org

Rhode Islanders Sponsoring Education (RISE)

Help make a difference in a child’s life by becoming a RISE mentor

RISE has two different, yet equally rewarding, mentoring opportunities for volunteers. Both are located conveniently on RIPTA bus routes. Mentors serve for one year and agree to meet with their mentee for 1 hour per week at the designated location.

• First opportunity: Community-based mentoring
  RISE seeks volunteers to work 1:1 with children ages 7 to 14.  The mentor builds a positive, supportive relationship with his or her mentee through two outings each month. (Outings are community-based and recreational. Examples include going to a baseball game, a museum, the zoo; bowling, hiking, pottery-painting, etc.) RISE also hosts fun monthly activities for mentor-mentee pairs.
  
  Contact: RISE at 401-421-2010; Lmanchester@RISEonline.org; or visit www.RISEonline.org
  
  
• Second opportunity: Site-based mentoring
  Volunteers give one-hour per week (Mondays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.) with an assigned "mentee" at the Boys & Girls Clubs at either Hartford Park or Chad Brown Housing Developments.
• Starting in March 2010, mentors help with homework and also focus on 1:1 activities including games, crafts, etc. (RISE staff are at the site during mentoring hours to assist with fun, energizing team-building exercises.)
  
  Contact: RISE at 401-421-2010, Bramos@RISEonline.org, or visit www.RISEonline.org.

Note: All volunteer mentors must complete a screening process (interview, reference/background checks) and participate in an initial training session before they are matched with a mentee through either the Community-based mentoring program or site-based mentoring program.

Agency Description/Mission: RISE provides scholarships and mentoring to children of currently and formerly incarcerated parents in order to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty, crime and addiction that too often threatens them.

Approximately 4,355 Rhode Island children have a parent in the state prison. Children with an incarcerated parent are 7 times more likely to become incarcerated themselves. Research shows that matching a child with a mentor can significantly reduce the risk of that child ending up in prison. Spending a few hours a month with a supportive adult role model – like you - can make a big difference in a child’s life.

About 100 volunteers currently mentor children. Volunteer mentors are young professionals, health care workers, teachers, lawyers, business people, grad students and retirees. There are many boys and girls on waiting list that could benefit from the positive support a mentor offers.

Tri-Town Community Action Agency

Exterior and interior painting, rebuild rock borders, sprucing up landscape and playground areas.

• Numerous opportunities for volunteer groups to help spruce up outdoor areas at several locations around the state. Clearing brush, weeding gardens, planting bulbs and flowers.
• Interior and exterior painting projects including handicap rails and ramps, facility entrance areas as well as other indoor spaces.

Contact: Susan Libby Connaughton; phone 401-519-1902; sconnaughton@tri-town.org

Agency Description/Mission: Tri-Town Community Action Agency, a private nonprofit corporation, has provided a wide variety of social services to the disadvantaged of northwestern Rhode Island since its establishment during the Johnson Administration’s “War on Poverty” in 1964. The majority of programs operated by Tri-Town Community Action Agency serve the residents in the towns of Johnston, North Providence, Smithfield, North Smithfield, Burrillville, Glocester, Scituate and Foster; however, the Agency does provide limited services in every city and town throughout the state of Rhode Island. Read more: www.tri-town.org

Westbay Community Action

Flower garden volunteers needed to keep garden bountiful.

• Westbay Community Action in Warwick has been farming a 2-acre community garden to grow food to supplement their food pantry and food programs for low income residents. Produce grown at the farm helps feed approximately 3,000 households per growing season. This year they’re starting a cutting flower garden (food for the soul!) and are looking for willing hands to volunteer two or more hours a week to weed, water, and plant the new flower garden. Donations of seedlings, flowers (zinnias, cosmos, stella d'oro daylilies, white daisies, bulbs for Asiatic and Oriental lilies for next year) and soaker hoses are welcome!
• Interior/exterior painting projects and general outdoor landscaping work is also available for interested volunteers.
  
  Contact: info@westbaycap.org; phone 401-732-4666

Agency Description/Mission: The mission of Westbay Community Action is to assist economically disadvantaged Kent County residents achieve and sustain self-sufficiency and stability. Read more: www.westbaycap.org

Westerly Area Rest Meals (W.A.R.M.)

Volunteers are invited to help in community soup kitchen and take part in light painting projects.

• Every day, WARM serves over 100 people in our community Soup Kitchen. With the generous support of local churches and other groups, we offer nutritious, free meals to the public twice a day. We are always looking for volunteers, both organizations and individuals, to participate in this service.
• Interior painting projects are available in the shelter and at the transitional housing apartment.

Contact: Joy Cordio; phone: 401-596-9276; jcordio@ warmshelter.org

Agency Description/Mission: The WARM Center (WARM) offers each guest three basic expressions of hospitality: a warm meal, a warm bed and a warm welcome, as well as related social services and advocacy. Established in 1987 by a group of Westerly churches, WARM now serves communities in Southern Rhode Island and Eastern Connecticut. Read more: www.warmcenter.org

YWCA Greater Rhode Island

Yard work, exterior and interior painting & sanding; year round need for classroom cleaning and office help.

Volunteers are welcome to help with seasonal yard work to trim bushes, plant flowers, rake leaves, etc. There are also seasonal needs for exterior sanding, painting, staining decks, porches, doors, windows, etc.

• Year-round need for painting learning center classrooms, hallways and vestibule and/or homestead bedrooms, hallways and bathrooms.
• Year-round need for a crew to clean learning center and/or homestead kitchen.
• Year-round need for office help including filing, shredding, answering phones, photocopying and helping with mailings.

Contact: Sarah Aneyci; phone; 401-831-9922; sjaneyci@hotmail.com 

Agency Description/Mission: The YWCA Greater Rhode Island, founded in 1867, is the third oldest YWCA in the world. YWCA members and supporters provide services to women and families to fulfill their mission of empowering women and eliminating racism. They work to create opportunities for women's growth, leadership and power in order to attain a vision of peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all people. Read more: www.ywcagri.org

 

 

 

Volunteering is a great way to become involved in the work of United Way of Rhode Island. There is no better way to support the LIVE UNITED message than to roll up your sleeves and give of your unique talents to improve the quality of life in your community.  Give an hour. Give a Saturday. Give your best. Everyone has something special to offer.

Remember, when we reach out a hand to one, we influence the condition of all. Whether it’s volunteering at a United Way income tax return preparation site, or serving as a United Way Campaign Coordinator during your employer’s annual campaign or volunteering on a United Way steering committee, you have the power to make a difference when you LIVE UNITED.