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Service-Learning Community Partner Bios
A growing network of service opportunities.
Below you will find a list of volunteer opportunities at specific community agencies that may help you with your Service-Learning needs. These are only part of a much larger list that is available in the Service-Learning Office (SC 108). In addition to those opportunities listed the agencies are also open to creative, new ideas from you. If you have a specific project you would like to explore, you are welcome to contact them or let us know and we will help you out.
We would love to hear about any ideas or programs that you would like to participate in. To do so or to simply learn more contact Alison Whiting.
STUDENTS: First and foremost, in thinking about these agencies, be sure to check with your faculty member to make sure it fits your assignment.
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A New Leaf Foundation (formerly Pre-Hab Arizona)
A New Leaf Foundation is dedicated to helping families and changing lives. The foundation serves a diverse need base in the Phoenix area and Maricopa County. This service includes two domestic violence shelters (one of which was the first in AZ), a homeless shelter, a men's center, programs with MesaCAN, etc.
A New Leaf Foundation would be interested to have volunteers assist them in a variety ways, including:
- Volunteer to tutor and work with children (La Mesita/Family Homeless Shelter)
- Assist with food service (East Valley Men's Center)
- Sponsor a group project, such as a dinner (East Valley Men's Center)
- Assist with childcare at domestic violence shelters (Faith House and Autumn House)
- For an extensive list of opportunities click here
Age restrictions apply to some volunteer positions.
For more information please contact Heidi Anderson, the foundation's volunteer coordinator, by phone at: (480) 464.4648 Or by email at: handerson@turnanewleaf.org
With over 4.8 million boys and girls served, the Boys & Girls Club continues to be a Positive Place for Kids. Staff at the Boys & Girls Club are committed to keeping the youth dedicated facilities open daily and the club services affordable for all youth.
The Boys & Girls Club offers a variety of volunteer placements. These placements can range from teaching basketball or dance to helping with a discovery lab or after school program. There are also three convenient locations Service Learning places volunteers - Chandler, Gilbert, and Williams.
The Chandler Branch is looking for volunteers to help with:
- High school classroom from 5:00 pm-8:00 pm (Monday through Thursday) where volunteers are welcome
- Holiday programs and you can help with getting gifts for families and providing a nice holiday
- This branch could use help at their "Power Hour" for tutoring. Call the Club for more details
- Thanksgiving dinner
The Gilbert Branch is looking for volunteers to help with:
- Discovery Lab with after-school tutoring program (especially between the hours of 3:00-5:30 p.m.)
- Welcome volunteers to teach activities to children and youth (such as dance, basketball, music studio, etc.)
- Welcome volunteers to help the Tuesday before Thanksgiving to help with the Thanksgiving dinner for the community (500 or more served)
- Welcome volunteers to help the Friday before Martin Luther King Jr. Day for the Community Breakfast (January)
- Thanksgiving dinner
The Williams Campus Branch is looking for volunteers to help with after-school programs.
For additional information about a particular site opportunity please contact the site coordinators:
CARE Partnership
CARE Partnership, located in Mesa, brings together community assets, resources, and skills to improve the condition of people's lives.
CARE was started in a backyard and now through a wide range of comprehensive programs, CARE works to build up the community and empower its members.
Emergency, dental, and pediatric clinics are some of the many medical services offered. Also, programs encompassing topics like economics, leadership, education, emotional wellness, etc. are available to the community through CARE.
CARE has many volunteer opportunities, including:
- Assistance with youth activities (i.e. arts, sports, tutoring), ESL and outreach programs, special events, and clinics would be greatly appreciated
- Help with collecting, sorting, and distributing donations
- Social workers, GED tutors, and Art leaders needed
- Volunteer to teach and play sports with children
- CARE is also looking for community advocates
- Filling the Volunteer Wish List
For more information please contact Rudy Lizarraga, CARE's leadership developer, by phone at: (480) 962-5197 Or by email at: rudy@carepartnership.org.
Chandler Public Library
The Chandler Public Library serves the community in numerous ways. The library seeks to promote literacy, offer a variety of classes, and encourage education.
While traditional library volunteer opportunities are available (i.e. shelving books), the library is looking for volunteers who would like to assist in one of their many services. This could include helping children with after school homework, teaching a class, assisting with adult education, reading books, etc. Creative ideas or projects for the library are very welcome, but here are some existing opportunities:
- Traditional library volunteer positions available (i.e. shelving books, cleaning books, working with circulation, etc.)
- Work with reading/writing program through the Gila River Indian Community
- Assist with ESL and Adult Education Classes
- Volunteer as a tutor or read to children
The library asks volunteers to make a 10 hour minimum time commitment.
For more information please contact Tara M. Anglin, the library's community outreach coordinator, by phone at: (480) 782.2815 Or by email at: tara.anglin@chandleraz.gov
Chandler Senior Center
The Chandler Senior Center provides a variety of activities, programs, and events for senior adults. Located in downtown Chandler, the center hosts classes, supplies meals, and works to keep the senior community agile.
There are numerous ways to volunteer at the Chandler Senior Center, including:
- Volunteer to assist with home meal deliveries
- Help seniors in the computer lab at the center
- Participate in the Quilting group
- Volunteer at a workshop
For more information please contact Denise Vemaray, the center's volunteer coordinator, by phone at: (480) 782.2710
Gilbert Historical Museum
Since 1960, the Gilbert Historical Museum has been enlightening the community on the rich history of Gilbert. Their motto is, "Explore the Past, Experience the Present, Imagine the Future".
The museum is dependant on volunteers to keep the past alive. There are numerous individual and group placement positions available. The museum offers a variety of opportunities, including:
- Broad range of volunteer hours needed
- Group and individual placements
- Maintenance activities on property available
- Volunteer writing positions (i.e. press releases, children's material updates, writing projects, etc.)
- Help with cataloging inventory (minimum volunteer time commitment of 20 hours)
- Special event volunteers needed
For more information please contact Kayla Kolar, the Museum's executive director, by phone at: (480) 926.1577 Or by email at: kolaraz@msn.com
Gilbert Senior Center
The Gilbert Senior Center offers an array of activities, programs, and events for senior adults. Seniors are hosted in the new Gilbert Community Center near downtown Gilbert.
The center offers many great opportunities to volunteer with Gilbert seniors:
- Public welcome for lunch (suggested donation of $4.50), so you could go interact with the seniors and the community
- Would welcome students/faculty to teach a specialization class (writing, computers, art, dance, World War II discussion, book club...anything you can think of). These opportunities are available on a short or long-term basis and would be coordinated through the Senior Center staff in advance.
- Would like volunteer runners to assist with home meal deliveries. These volunteers would help the regular drivers to run the meals. On July 1st of this year the senior centers lost all of their Maricopa sponsored drivers for the 400-450 meals a day service. These are two hour routes in the midday between 10:00 a.m. and noon.
- Volunteers are always welcome to visit with residents--call bingo, Wii Bowling tournament, they have a weekly live-music and dance event
For more information please contact Kris Balzan, the center's volunteer coordinator, by phone at: (480) 503.6060 Or by email at: kbalzan@csainc.org
ICAN
ICAN (Improving Chandler Area Neighborhoods) empowers youth in the Chandler neighborhoods to be productive, self-confident, responsible, and leading citizens. By providing free, all-inclusive out of school programs for youth ICAN keeps kids off the streets- steering them away from drugs and violent behavior.
ICAN is looking for homework, program, and special events volunteers. These volunteers have an excellent opportunity to interact and make a difference in the lives of youth:
- Fundraising opportunities available
- Homework, Program, and Special Event Volunteers needed
- Complete list of volunteer opportunities and application available here http://www.icanaz.org/home.html
If you have any questions or would like to play an instrumental role in the lives of children contact ICAN's volunteer coordinator by phone at: (480) 821-4207 Or by email at: volunteer@icanaz.org
Mesa Senior Center
The Mesa Senior Center provides multiple services, opportunities, and events for senior adults. The center, located in the heart of Mesa, is dependant on volunteers to assist with the variety of programs offered, which includes providing 350-400 meals per day.
There are many great opportunities to volunteer with Mesa seniors:
- Opportunity for student(s) and/or faculty to teach a specialization class (i.e. writing, art, computers, yoga, etc. Staff at Senior Center very open to ideas and themes for a class)
- Ride alongside and deliver meals to the home-bound
- Opportunities for nursing students to work at the center or with an outreach program visiting seniors in their homes
- Group Project- Assist the staff and host a dance at the center
For more information please contact Leslie DeJong, the center's volunteer coordinator, by phone at: (480) 962.5612 Or by email at: dejongmsc@evseniorservices.org
Paz de Cristo
Since 1988, Paz de Cristo has been proving food and resources to the homeless and hungry. Paz provides daily meals, food boxes, and empowerment programs to people in the East Valley.
The main service opportunities at Paz are preparing food boxes and assisting with the daily meal service. Both are incredible ways to assist the needy in the community. Students can call to individually schedule hours or a group(s) can arrange a special project or service day:
- Meal Service Opportunity (meals served seven days a week)
- Assist with food box preparation
- Volunteers sign up quarterly (try and call the first Monday of the quarter to sign up)
- Groups can call and arrange a special project
For more information visit Paz de Cristo's website and contact Christine Oliviero, Volunteer Coordinator, by phone at: (480) 464.2370
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army, located in Chandler, has been meeting needs in the community for over 25 years. From food boxes or monetary assistance to children's summer camps or after school programs, the Salvation Army provides a wide range of resources and services.
Volunteers are welcome to participate in the Salvation Army's numerous opportunities. These opportunities could include teaching classes, working with children, preparing food boxes, assisting with special events, or any number of creative projects individuals would like to be a part of. Due to the mandatory background check, persons are asked to volunteer 15 hours or more:
- Due to the mandatory background check, persons are asked to volunteer 15 hours or more.
- Help with food pantry and after-school programs for kids
- Special event assistants needed
- Group projects available
- Opportunity for creative projects
- Volunteers needed for Thanksgiving dinner
If you have any questions or would like more information on hot to get involved please contact Jason Koenig, Captain of the Salvation Army in Chandler, by phone at: (480) 963.2041 Or by email at: Jason.Koenig@usw.salvationarmy.org
Save the Family
The average age of a homeless person in the United States is only nine years old. Save the Family, founded in 1988, is devoted to assisting homeless families break the cycles of poverty, abuse, and homelessness. Save the Family's holistic approach is centered on helping homeless families achieve self-sufficiency, thus decreasing their dependency on governmental support.
Save the Family has a variety of remarkable volunteer opportunities. Tutoring, Classroom Assistance, Donation Center, Read 2 Me, or Special Project volunteers are always appreciated. Flexible hours among the many volunteer positions are available Fingerprinting will be required in some situations:
- Donation Drive and Sack Lunch/Dinner Volunteers needed
- Read to children the first and third Wednesday of every month from 6:30-7:30
- Tutors and Case Manger Assistants needed
- Group projects available
- Fingerprint card may be required for certain positions
- Volunteer List available here http://www.savethefamily.org/STF_volunteer.htm
For more information contact Michelle Alvis, Save the Family's volunteer coordinator, by phone at: (480) 898.0228 x229 Or by email at: michellea@savethefamily.org
Sojourner Center
1 out of every 4 women will experience domestic violence during the duration of her life. The Sojourner Center, the nation's largest domestic violence shelter, assists women and children in overcoming the impact of this brutality. The center empowers families to discover hope through building a future liberated from the presence of violence.
Sojourner can be described as, "The shelter that the community built". There are numerous opportunities to volunteer at Sojourner ranging from painting and organizing to assisting with child care and counseling. Group projects and individual placements are available. Individual placements require finger printing which cost forty-three dollars and last six years:
- Individual Placement and Group Placements available
- Assistance with daycare needed
- Help organize boxes of donations
- Creative projects available
- Assist the Crisis Desk
- Individual placements require finger printing (which cost forty-three dollars and last six years)
- Drives for necessities welcome
For more information contact Katie Parker, Sojourner Center's volunteer coordinator, by phone at: (602) 443-6256 Or by email at: kparker@sojournercenter.org
Sunshine Acres
In 1954, James and Vera Dingham dedicated their lives to caring and meeting the needs of homeless children. Now, more than fifty years later, their dedication continues to be the inspiration behind Sunshine Acres. Currently, the staff at Sunshine Acres houses and loving cares for around seventy children. '
Volunteers play an important role at Sunshine Acres. Consider volunteering in one of these exciting opportunities:
- Semester long internship available with Case Managers
- Office Assistants greatly needed (training provided)
- Kitchen/Meal helpers needed
- Tutors needed- especially on Tuesday/Thursday from 4-5 p.m.
- Volunteer to work with children in the garden
- Sports leaders needed
- Assist with retail/sales at the boutique
- Fingerprint cards may be required in some cases
For more information please contact Zelda Fortner, the center's volunteer coordinator, by phone at: (480) 832.2540 Or by email at: volunteer@sunshineacres.org
United Food Bank
Over 30% of people living in Arizona are considered, by federal guidelines, to be working poor. And about half of those people are living in constant poverty. The United Food Bank seeks to serve these people by providing nutritious food. This service includes collecting, storing, and distributing food through a network of social service agencies to place the food in the hands of those who need it most.
Volunteer at the food bank individually or in groups, one time or on a regular basis:
- Help sort food and package food boxes
- Group projects available but must arranged through volunteer coordinator
- Clerical assistance needed
- Citrus Gleaners needed January through March
If you have any questions or would like more information on how to get involved, please contact DeAnna Yazzie, the bank's volunteer coordinator, by phone at: (480) 926.4897 Or by email at: dyazzie@unitedfoodbank.org
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