VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

We work with all volunteers to match their interests with the right volunteer opportunity. We will create an experience that is just right for each person, or, individuals can select from our list of potential volunteer opportunities. Our current list includes:

- Teaching Supported Employment participants and/or group home residents a new skill (e.g., sewing, gardening, cooking, baseball, home repairs, piano, woodworking, painting, knitting, hairstyling)

- Providing employment-related guidance to one or more group home residents (e.g., help them establish career/job goals, teach them how to fill out a job application and use job placement services within the community, conduct mock job interviews)

- Serving as a tutor for individuals with or without disabilities who want to earn their general educational development (GED) certificate

- Teaching group home residents how to use community resources that will be available to them upon their move to a more independent living setting (e.g., how to borrow materials from the library, how to ride a city bus, how to apply for food stamps)

- Helping donation center staff identify potential high revenue generating donations that should be posted on our online auction site, www.shopgoodwillmadison.com (e.g., donations of antiques, collectibles, vintage and designer clothing, jewelry, purses, shoes)

- Handing out brochures and information at community events such as the Dane County Farmer’s Market

- Providing assistance at our Career Center – a facility dedicated to helping individuals with or without a disability find a job and/or their GED certificate

- Doing landscaping, cleaning, and/or repair work at a group home or Goodwill-supported apartment building

- Being a companion to one or more group home residents (e.g., visit with them on a regular basis, go on walks with them, take them into the community via city bus)

- Serving as a store greeter

- Providing assistance at a special event such as the launch of Boston Store’s semi-annual Goodwill Sale

MEET ONE OF OUR VOLUNTEERS

Above: Volunteer Ruth Strand and a Supported Employment participant.

Ruth Strand has been a Goodwill volunteer for about a year. Twice a week she serves as an extra set of eyes, ears, and hands as individuals with disabilities who are participating in our Supported Employment program spend part of the afternoon bowling.

Strand, who is a retired Goodwill employee, said, “I have a lot of time on my hands and am used to being much more active than I have been for the last couple of years. This is one way I can give to people. I am a caregiver at heart and it seemed like a logical place for me to begin volunteering.”

As a volunteer, Strand may help a bowler get to the right spot on the lane, serve as a cheerleader, help clean up after participants eat lunch, help the bowlers collect their gear, or wait with participants until their rides arrive.

“I enjoy seeing these individuals being out in the community, doing what their peers do, and being a part of it,” she said. “Volunteering just makes me feel good and is very beneficial for me. My husband passed away about two and a half years ago and volunteering helps me get into a routine and find my way and identity as an individual. I am able to do this in an environment that I was comfortable with and is a big part of helping me recover.”

Strand encourages anyone who is thinking about volunteering their time to directly assist individuals with developmental disabilities to “just try it. Yes, they have a disability but in most ways they are just like everyone else.”