Alliance for African Assistance

Family Advocate and Mentor

A Family Advocate and Mentor will be paired with a refugee family who has not yet attained self-sufficiency to assist them in navigating the many economic, cultural, demographic, and political challenges that they face as new Americans. FAM partners will work one on one with their assigned family to orient parents and children to U.S. culture and ensure they acquire the tools to provide for themselves.

Key Responsibilities include:

• Meet with the family in their home on a weekly basis to provide support to the family and help with acculturation issues. This could include but is not limited to: helping the family arrange medical or social services appointments and/or providing transportation, helping decipher documents and fill out forms, advocate for them as issues arise with landlords, schools, etc.
• Identify the needs, assets, and interests of the family and to facilitate activities based on your findings. This may include: tutoring English, teaching and/or receiving cooking lessons, help them obtain a library card
• Plan free activities for the family to do and teach them how to coordinate participation. Ex: help enroll a family member in classes or activities at the local community center or school that relate to their interests.
  
• Provide guidance on American customs and etiquette to the family.
  

Impact and Sustained Outcomes: This position is extremely important to equipping refugee families to reach full self-sufficiency. Case managers are assigned to each family, but due to the number of families they oversee, they can only provide assistance for the first six months after a family’s arrival and are limited in the time they can spend assisting each family in adjusting to being new Americans. By partnering one-on-one with families FAM partners will decrease the demands on case workers and will play a key role in enabling a family to thrive in this new environment.

Training and Support: FAM Partners will receive an orientation training with includes information about refugees world-wide as well as specific information about refugee populations in San Diego. They will work under the joint supervision of the volunteer coordinators and case managers and will receive support from them, but will also be required to work with a high level of self-sufficiency.

Commitment: Four months of at least 2 hours/week. These hours will be determined by the volunteer and their mentoring family.

Skills and Qualifications:

• Friendly and out-going
• Able to work with minimal supervision and direction
• Cultural sensitivity and awareness
• Must be able to provide their own transportation
  

Benefits: Through this experience volunteers and interns will have the opportunity to experience first hand the difficulties related to navigating the challenges faced by New Americans.  In addition they will gain knowledge and experience of the non-profit and social services sector. This position is ideal for volunteers interested in pursuing social work of any kind.

Contact:  Pamela Kolbas pamela@alliance-for-africa.org

Alliance for Regional Solutions, Winter Shelter System
http://www.regionalsolutions.net/     

ARS is a shelter system comprised of six agencies that provide meals and shelter to men, women, and children in need.

Volunteer Opportunities: Meal preparation, enrichment activities for shelter residents, clothing assistance, transportation support, regional shelter evaluations.

Cesar Chavez Volunteer/Donation Opportunity

March 31, 2010 9:00AM - 2:00PM
Las Serenas Apartments
4352-4368 & 4316-4322 Delta St.
San Diego, CA 92113

Objective: Community Housing Works seeks to build a Community Garden at Las Serenas, one of our affordable housing properties in San Diego. 

Purpose: The Las Serenas Garden will serve to promote empowerment and healthy eating in the Las Serenas residential community.  Youth residents who plant and maintain the garden will feel empowered as they learn the skills, patience, and dedication it takes to grow and enjoy the garden.  Youth residents will also learn the importance of healthy eating as the site coordinator teaches them the importance of eating fruits and vegetables from the garden.  This project contributes to Community HousingWorks’ goal to become an increasingly environmentally responsible and “green” organization. 

Project Wish List: We are in need of the following donations in order to complete our garden project:
Tools: Shovels, gloves, trowels, hand rakes
Materials: Soil, Raised Bed materials (wood, etc.), wood/stakes and paint for signs, plant seeds, plants, ceramic pots, fencing material (about 20 ft.), Shed (to put tools)
Volunteers: Maximum of 12

Contact:
Heather Laird, Learning Communities Director
hlaird@chworks.org
760-432-6878 ext. 5457

Center for Community Solutions
http://www.ccssd.org/index.html
http://www.ccssd.org/support_volunteer.html

The Center for Community Solutions (CCS) has been creating safe and healthy communities with a core emphasis on the treatment and prevention of sexual assault and relationship violence.

Volunteer Opportunities: CCS has a wide range of unique volunteer opportunities available to suit your personal skills and interests.

Katie Jacquet, Training Coordinator
kjacquet@ccssd.org
Phone: 760.747.6282 x123

Promises2Kids
www.promises2kids.org

There are currently 694 children between the ages 6-17 years old in the foster care system living apart from at least one of their siblings. Camp Connect San Diego, a program sponsored by Promises2Kids and the United Way in partnership with the County of San Diego, organizes events through out the year designed to reunite these siblings. Our goal is to help build familial bonding and memories among these children.

Volunteer Opportunities: Promises2Kids needs volunteers for Camp Connect San Diego. Volunteers will need to be 21 yrs or older and complete a volunteer application and Live Scan. Click on the link below for more information on upcoming events.

Camp Connect San Diego

Stephanie Trolinger
stef@promises2kids.org
858.427.1106

Combined Health Agencies
http://www.combinedhealth.org/content/member.htm

Combined Health Agencies, our health partner in the United Way/CHAD campaign, is a federation of 25 chapters of local and national health agencies, each with an office in San Diego County.  Each agency is dedicated to providing education, client and community services and research, to the people of San Diego.

Visit their website www.combinedhealth.org to learn how you can get involved with any of their 25 member agencies.

Community Housing Works
http://www.chworks.org/
http://www.chworks.org/get_involved/volunteers.asp

Community Housing Works is a San Diego non-profit that helps people and neighborhoods move up in the world by providing a full range of housing options combined with training and support.

Volunteer Opportunities: After school homework assistance, food and toy drive, home repairs.

Heather Laird
hlaird@chworks.org
760.432.6878 x304

Home Start
http://www.home-start.org/
http://www.home-start.org/get_involved.html

Home Start promotes the safety and nurturance of children by fostering healthy families and communities.

International Rescue Committee (IRC)
http://www.theirc.org/where/us_san_diego/the_irc_in_san_diego.html
http://www.theirc.org/where/us_san_diego/volunteer.html

Our many programs ensure that refugee families are successfully resettled in our community.

Volunteer Opportunities: Tutoring refugee teens in the IRC After School Program, mentoring a refugee family, teaching English in the Mother Preschool Program (as a teacher’s assistant), clerical assistance in the office, grant writing, research, and assistance with fundraising events

619.641.7510
Suzanne.Slattery@theIRC.org

Legal Aid
http://www.lassd.org/
http://www.lassd.org/pro_bono_volunteers.htm

Legal Aid is available to low income individuals & disadvantaged communities for a variety of legal problems.

Volunteer Opportunities: As a volunteer, you provide access to justice for our clients that they would otherwise not receive.

877.534.2524 x2731 or e-mail rebeccas@lassd.org

North County Lifeline
http://www.nclifeline.org/
http://www.nclifeline.org/volunteer_opportunities.htm

Lifeline's mission is to "enhance the positive quality of individual, family, and community life" by providing services that are consistently available, accessible, and responsive to the needs of the individuals, families, and groups seeking assistance.

Volunteer Opportunities: outreach and community partnership, data entry, file/organize, legal consultation, internships in counseling/social work, after school programs, special event planning, mass mailings, fundraising, clerical, copying and restocking, typing, interpretation or translation need, clean-up days.

Jessica Nowlin
760.631.5622 x104.

Second Chance
http://www.secondchanceprogram.org/index.html
http://www.secondchanceprogram.org/volunteering.html

Second Chance is committed to breaking the cycle of unemployment, poverty, homelessness, substance abuse and incarceration that plague our city.

Volunteer Opportunities: fundraising, community clean-up, HR (Interviewing), Computers (Microsoft Office, Internet Job Research), other.

619.234.8888

Social Advocates for Youth (SAY)
http://www.saysandiego.org/
http://www.saysandiego.org/get-involved/volunteer.html

SAY San Diego is a local nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the positive development of young people, their families and communities in San Diego County.

Volunteer Opportunities: Tutoring, mentoring, office work, special events

858.565.4148
volunteer@saysandiego.org

South Bay Community Services
http://www.southbaycommunityservices.org/
http://www.southbaycommunityservices.org/help-now.php#volunteer

South Bay Community Services (SBCS) has been part of the community since 1971 providing the most comprehensive range of services and programs for families, children and individuals in South San Diego County.

Volunteer Opportunities: Office work, truck unloading, follow-up phone calls, one-time special events and more.   

Phone: 619.420.3620