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Volunteers are the backbone of the 
community. Volunteers make
it happen. They do fundraising, solicit in-kind donations, make
connections with civic and religious and educational organizations and
collaborate with social service agencies who can provide assistance
to the street youth. Often this process gives volunteers the opportunity to deepen their understanding of individual life situations that result in youth homelessness.
Most importantly, volunteers provide the sense of community at . They work with an experienced supervisor who is
always on site. Volunteers who are at the shelter the
same evening every week come to regard themselves as a team. Those
with irregular schedules meet new people.
Volunteering at the shelter contributes to everyone's well being.
Volunteers learn from youth, from their fellow volunteers and from
the trainings provided by . In turn, youth have a warm bed,
hot meals and a way of making connections with people from the wider
community.
In the shelter, we need volunteers to prepare and serve food and/or wash dishes, both morning (6:45-8:15 am) and evening (7:45-10:00 pm). Other volunteers are needed to interact with youth, hand out sleeping materials, assist with shower sign-ups and oversee the laundry: both morning (7:00-8:15 am) and evening (8:15-10:15 pm) shifts are available. We also need volunteers to sleep overnight (11:00 pm to 7:00 am) at the shelter.
We hold frequent orientation and training sessions for volunteers. All volunteers are asked to complete an orientation, and volunteers who will be interacting regularly with youth are asked to complete a training session. The schedule is below. All orientations and trainings take place from 6:00 - 8:00 pm at 1744 University Avenue, located inside the Lutheran Church of the Cross. You can also send us a message and ask for more information about volunteer opportunities.
1st Tuesday of the month: Orientation
2nd Tuesday of the month: Training
3rd Tuesday of the month: Orientation
4th Tuesday of the month: Training
5th Tuesday of the month: Orientation
And check our volunteering FAQ if you have questions about volunteering.