Skip to main content

Ready to Make Social Change a Reality? Start Volunteering!

We talk about working to make social change a reality, but where does one start? First, there is the light-bulb moment. The time when one realizes today is the day, now is the time to make a difference.

The next step is often harder – getting started. Where does one begin? How do you decide which organization to work with?

I’ve developed a short list of organizations that should kick start your research into volunteer work. And if you have any other ideas, or suggestions, please add them in the comments!

HandsOn Network

If you live in New York City, you know them as New York Cares. But did you know that there are actually 250+ affiliates of the HandsOn Network across the U.S. and 11 international locations? Their structure is based on an online model. You must first attend an orientation session in person. Then, you are eligible to volunteer during the day, evenings, or on weekends for organizations serving children, animals, the environment or adult job readiness, just to name a few.

United Way

The United Way’s programs focusing on three issue areas: education, income and health. A worldwide organization, there are nearly 1,300 local United Way locations in America alone. To volunteer, one is directed to their local United Way organization through the official global website. Once on the local site, there are options for individuals and corporations looking to donate their time.

VolunteerMatch

This is another online source for volunteering. The difference here is that all contact with VolunteerMatch is virtual and the site functions much like a large job-search engine, which allows you to search for volunteer opportunities in various cities and communities across the country. Once a “match” is made, VolunteerMatch leaves the scheduling and details to the non-profit organization and the volunteer.

Volunteers of America

This is a national, faith-based organization with 38 offices serving 44 states. To volunteer locally, contact the appropriate office nearest your home or work. Volunteers of America offers help for the homeless, mental health, senior citizens and veterans.

Do you have other organizations you volunteer through? Do you have other ideas on how to start volunteering? Add them to the comments!

This post was written by Leslie Marie, a volunteer blogger with the Literacy ‘n’ Poverty Project. Leslie lives in New York City and has done outreach and research for the Ad Council. For the past year she directed the marketing and recruiting efforts for an alternative teaching certification program run by a national education consulting organization. Please leave your comments or send us an email with your questions.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

What is the Literacy Rate of the US?

The World Factbook , prepared by the CIA , states that the US literacy rate is around 99%. This means that around 3 million people in America are unable to functionally read and write . That is equivalent to the entire population of Mongolia! As if those numbers weren’t enough to make you sit up and think, there is some dispute about the 99% - the actual figure could be lower, depending on the various definitions of literacy used. Jonathan Kozol, in his book ‘Illiterate America’ states that the government based the 99% literacy rate on interviews and written responses to Census Bureau mailings from a small portion of the population. Of that portion, if the responders or interviewees had completed fifth grade they were considered literate. About 5% had not completed fifth grade , but 80% of those were subsequently considered literate, and so the Bureau reached a conclusion of a 99% literacy rate. In 1993 a new study was released . Over 5 years, and $14 million spent ( the largest lite

We Stopped Blogging and Got Serious About Our Future

It's been over four months since we last posted to this blog! While it breaks our heart to have been out of touch for so long, we had good reason. You see, our blog is run by volunteers of the Literacy 'n' Poverty Project. LnP is a social initiative I started that addresses multiple aspects of literacy - health, reading, writing and financial - to empower the poor and low-income adults to lift themselves up out of poverty . But, if you've been keeping up with our blog which we know you all have :), you can see that adult education has not been the focus. And rightfully so. How We Got Started Make Social Change A Reality was created as a venue to discuss various issues concerning the broader concept of social change from the environment to women's issues to healthcare to youth development . As a startup with goals of becoming an international social enterprise, we felt that y'all deserved a place of your own to learn, engage and share information and resources

The Meaning of Social Change

All around us, there are changes happening; the calendar changed from 2008 to 2009, a new president was elected, and for many us, we have decided to do things differently and make changes in our diet, our lifestyles, or in our overall well being. Social change is something that I plan to be involved with this year in many different ways: volunteering , reading, attending events and sharing ideas. Social change means different things to different people. To me, social change means being involved in making things better for your community. Doing something instead of just saying something. Raising money instead of just donating to a cause. Working with others to make sure that the change we desire is attainable. I have been involved with a variety of organizations that make social change a focus of their organization. This is important to me because I am a firm believer that through social change and helping each other and supporting one another, we as a people can right all