My Volunteer Experience with AmeriCorps

Several bloggers post comments to my comments when I mentioned that I volunteer with Americorps. They want feedback about my experience. Seems like a good topic for a post.

I recommend Americorps. It's a guaranteed $1000 education award as long as you complete the term of service and required paperwork. It looks good on you're resume. Volunteer work can be relative to many different majors, and I recommend choosing something that does relate, even if it's a remote relationship. If your a computer geek, teach computers to kids or those in job training programs. If you are a communication major, work with an organization that will let you recruit volunteers or fundraise.

The only downside is the heavy on the paperwork. You complete a membership agreement form, and a site agreement with every place you volunteer. You designate a site supervisor who must sign your time log every month. You turn in two essays that relay two great stories from your volunteer experience. There are forms to fill out when you exit the program.

I have to complete 300 hours in a year, which is six hours per week. One thing I wish I knew is that the clock starts to tick on the day you do your Orientation. It's possible that, like me, it could take 1 to 3 weeks for you to set up you're service sites. Note that nonprofits are busy, run on tight budgets, and run on minimal staff. Typically they want to meet you, and give you a tour before they even accept you as a volunteer. You might want to volunteer for 1 or 2 shifts before you decide to dedicate 300 hours to the job and organization. Then, you need to track down the person who will be your site supervisor to fill-out the initial paperwork, and he may not be available every shift you work.

So to avoid delay, I recommend lining up your volunteer site or sites before you complete the Orientation. At least do some research and find contacts at prospective sites.

I enjoy working with the poor and homeless. I have three service sites right now.

I'm an outreach worker to the homeless. I go to the streets with a group of outreach workers. We look for the homeless kids, & offer food, toiletries, clothes, and journals. We hope to gain their trust, and eventually encourage them to find ways off the streets. Usually, they know where they can go to get help, and so the most helpful thing we do is listen to them. Listening seems to heal and fill a void. Often no one has cared about them enough to listen before.

I'm also a field counselor for St. Vincent de Paul. We go to the homes of clients who have called us for help. We can help with food, clothing, furniture, and bus tickets. We have up to $150 per client. They can request our help twice per calendar year. We try to visit with them a little, and create a sense of kinship. We don't question their need. We aren't their social worker, helping them to create goals and overcome personal problems. Often the help we provide with bring them relief from the anxiety overdue  bills bring, which might give them more opportunity to think about how they might overcome their problems, which create overdue bills.

Finally, I get to act like a kid again for 1 1/2 hours each week during the children's play program at a family shelter. Volunteers act like mentors to the kids. We provide a safe, stable, caring environment 6 days a week for kids whose live are a bit up-side-down. Kids can be 0 to 12 years old. They can have a variety of developmental or behavior problems. I've had kids that don't listen, that don't interact normally for their age, or show poor verbal skills for their age. It's pretty carefree because all I'm supposed to do is play with them and care about them. If problems arise, I get Mom, Dad, or an Advocate. Because of confidentiality, I often don't know the particulars of their situation.

Here's the Americorp website: http://www.americorps.org/
Here's United Way, which offers many volunteer opportunities that work well with the Americorp program. http://national.unitedway.org/volunteer/

Good luck!

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