Volunteer Opportunities

Crisis Line

Through our 24–hour, toll–free Crisis Line we arrange intakes for our shelters and provide resources, referrals, and information for women in need. Volunteers choose one or more weekly shifts (4–5 hours) between 9:00 am and 10:00 pm seven days a week, and carry out shift duties at the Sister Me Home Safe House, the San Leandro Shelter, or the administration office depending on the time of day. Our 40–hour Domestic Violence Counselor training, offered several times annually, is a prerequisite to this position. Interested individuals must commit to five months of service and need open–mindedness, patience, accountability, and an interest in providing thorough, high–quality services to homeless and battered women. Responsibilities include answering multiple concurrent calls, following scripts, assessing immediate danger, conducting initial safety screenings, adhering to agency policies and protocols, documenting all calls, and withholding judgments and opinions. We need many dedicated volunteers—please call about the next scheduled DV Counselor training.

Children's Programs

Four to five nights a week at all three of our shelters we conduct a structured program of activities for our young residents (ages 3 to 14). The program occurs from 7:00 to 8:30 pm while mothers attend support groups, and volunteers assist from 6:30 to 9:00 pm. Activities include arts and crafts, gardening, and cooking, and are a part of a larger curriculum. Volunteers work closely with children, staff, and each other to create a fun and safe learning environment. Volunteers should be sensitive to children's needs; able to interact with both women and children in a warm, genuine, responsible and respectful manner; open to and affirming of different cultural, class, ethnic, and religious groups; and committed to volunteering once a week for at least three months. Due to the importance of understanding issues faced by survivors of domestic violence, those interested in the Sister Me Home Children's Program must attend our 40–hour DV Counselor training and commit to at least two evenings per week for five months.

Dinner Cook Program

Our two homeless shelters rely almost exclusively on volunteers to provide our evening meals. We are always looking for more volunteer cooks, for in their absence, the staff on duty cooks and serves dinner in addition to all her other duties. Dinner cooks provide a healthy, well–balanced meal for 32 or 25 women and children, depending on the site (add five or so for staff and for the next day's lunch). Dinner cooks deliver meals by 5:00 pm after preparing them at home, at their church, or at another facility. Individuals and groups alike fulfill this volunteer role, but of course coordinating a group reduces each individual's work load and cost contribution. We welcome you to stay and serve when you drop off your meal (please notify staff beforehand and no more than 3 servers please). Most volunteers provide dinner at least monthly, but we are happy to consider quarterly or other schedules.

Administrative Office

At the office we need help with such tasks as bulk mailings (newsletters, holiday mailings, invitations), copying, and data entry. Mailings occur 4–6 times per year; we could use help with other clerical tasks weekly. Please indicate your particular interest on the application form.

Volunteers assist us with many tasks at our San Leandro and Alameda locations. These include maintenance, clerical tasks, handling donations, serving meals, and cleaning. We can schedule weekly or one–time projects, depending on the task; please be prepared to handle a variety of duties self–sufficiently.

Group Projects

Groups of volunteers, such as corporate or non–profit staffs or church congregations, may schedule one–time or quarterly projects. Examples are painting, reorganizing our storage sheds, and preparing and serving meals such as a brunch or barbecue (see also “Holidays” below). We ask that you fax or mail a description of your project along with your completed “Group Volunteer Project” form one to two months before your proposed date. Feel free to call and discuss project ideas beforehand if you'd like. [If you have ideas besides those listed, please call—we'd love to hear them!]

Holidays

There are several holidays each year for which we rely on volunteer groups or individuals to provide meals, entertainment, or educational programming. If interested, we ask that you fax or mail a description of your project along with your completed “Group Volunteer Application” form. Feel free to call and discuss project ideas beforehand if you'd like. The following is a list of holidays and what we would like to provide for our residents

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day—educational celebration
Easter—pre–Easter egg–dying; Easter egg hunt and dinner
Mother's Day—brunch; activities, services, self–care products for relaxation
Memorial Day—barbecue (preparation, serving, cleaning up)
July 4th—barbecue (preparation, serving, cleaning up)
Passover, Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, Hanukkah—an educational program to help children understand one or more of these holidays
Labor Day—barbecue (preparation, serving, cleaning up)
Halloween—general entertainment activities, such as decorating the shelter, painting faces, telling fortunes, apple bobbing, etc.
Thanksgiving—a big project weekend for the shelter; in addition to dinner, volunteers do re–organization, painting, and other major projects
Kwanzaa—a special meal or project with the kids
Christmas—gift–wrapping for residents and ex–residents, transporting gifts between the shelter and the office, donations of new gift items and wrapping supplies
New Year's—non–alcoholic cider and a special meal for New Year's Eve or New Year's Day

Fundraising

Each year we hold an annual fundraiser. Over 95% of the proceeds from our fundraising events directly benefit our agency's programs and services. Volunteers do much of the work, including food preparation, logistics work, set–up, and clean–up, as well as serving food. Please note on your application if you have fundraising background and would like to be a part of our fundraising committee.

Thank you for your interest!