Volunteer Service: Opportunities for Local Engagement
Sarah Dwyer '17 and Freda Coren '17 worked with Puentes de Salud in Philadelphia, one of the sites looking for spring semester volunteers.
Balance your community engagement with your academic work through the Community Engagement and Social Responsibility course. View a list of local volunteer opportunities for the spring semester below.
Apply to the Community Engagement and Social Responsibility Course here.
The CESR seminar links volunteer work to theories of in/justice, direct service, and social transformation. Through readings, documentaries, and discussions, students will explore how structural violence, interpersonal power dynamics, and personal agency influence individual behaviors and outcomes; how solidarity models of community service differ from charity models; how privilege and cultural biases shape how we see other communities. Using their own community work as a case study, each student will research the history, mission, and practices of the organizations as well as specific issues faced by the community; post three short responses to the readings on Moodle; record and reflect in a journal on specific events, interactions, or outcomes within the placement; compile a final portfolio documenting work in the community and examining its benefits and limitations for the student, the organization, and the community.
Volunteer Placement Suggestions:
Asian Arts Initiative - Opportunities range from ushering at performances and gallery events, assisting with youth workshops, planning new programs, or handling phones or administrative tasks throughout the workweek. Fill out an interest form on their website.
Bethel Academy - A multicultural learning center in Ardmore, PA. Contact Drish Israni '20 (disrani [at] haverford.edu).
Books Through Bars - Opportunities range from choosing and sending books to logging letters, driving, rustling up book donations, organizing our library, helping with office tasks, attending events, holding book drives and fundraisers, and much more.
Catholic Worker Clinic - Contact Mary Beth Appel (einiegal [at] yahoo.com).
Equality Pennsylvania - Volunteer sign-up is available on the website.
Friends of Farmworkers - Contact Janice Lion (jlion [at] haverford.edu).
Haverfarm - Help out on the campus farm, a year round farming and educational space designed to integrate sustainable food and agriculture into the academic and extracurricular lives of Haverford students, faculty, staff, and community members. Contact Jahzara Heredia '16 (jheredia [at] haverford.edu).
HIAS Pennsylvania - HIAS has several volunteer opportunities for the spring semester. Interested students should attend the info session on Jan. 17th at 5:30pm at 2100 Arch St. in Philadelphia. Contact community [at] hiaspa.org with questions.
Moss Rehabilitation - Volunteers provide company to patients, assist with meal set-up, and work in the conservatory. Contact Julie Hensler Cullen (jhcullen [at] einstein.edu) for more information.
Petey Greene Program - Tutoring and educational programming in correctional institutions. A variety of volunteer programs are availble - contact TJ von Oehsen '18 (tvonoehsen [at] haverford.edu).
Philadelphia FIGHT Pediatric Clinic: Volunteers needed for Child Life Team at this Federally Qualified Health Clinic, which serves its community members regardless of insurance status. Contact Jodi Domsky (jdomsky [at] haverford.edu).
Philadelphia VIP: Philadelphia VIP leverages the powerful resources of the community to provide quality volunteer legal services and ensure access to justice for low-income Philadelphians.
Puentes Hacia el Futuro - Volunteers needed for spring After-School Tutoring and Mentoring Program.
Spectrum - A student-run community outreach group that leads recreational activities to help local children with autism improve their social skills. Contact Lauren Benedetto '18 (lbenedetto [at] haverford.edu).
Street Outreach - A student-led group that delivers meals to homeless individuals living in Philadelphia. Contact Phillip Reid '19 at pnreid [at] haverford.edu or Hassan Ahamed '19 (hahamed1 [at] haverford.edu).
Watershed Program - Radnor Middle School - Be a classroom volunteer for an integrated learning program that uses the Darby Creek Watershed as a starting point to explore sustainability, community responsibility, and more. Contact Julie Miller (jmiller1 [at] haverford.edu).
Women's Medical Fund - Spring semester Access Counselors needed for 4.5/5 hour shift per week doing direct service work on their Help Line. Email a resume and cover letter to Marah Lange (marah [at] womensmedicalfund.org).
