Volunteer Opportunities Where You Can Make a Difference with
Little-to-No Contact
CRi
Sensory Boards for Residents:
Sensory boards can help individuals with mental health needs, such as autism, & developmental disabilities work on directing their focus & practicing their motor skills. Sensory boards present multiple stimuli that are great outlets for residents & provide tools to staff to encourage continued development while home bound.
How can you help? Find items in your house that you can add to the board that can be a tactile stimulant, make a noise, or be manipulated. This is a great activity to complete with the family & a great way to up-cycle some of the items around the house.
Love Rocks:
Have you ever found yourself walking down the street only to have a pop of color catch your eye? What’s that?! A rock. A colorful rock. With something nice on it that just made your day.
This is a great family friendly project to get those creative juices flowing while spreading some kindness & promoting CRi!
Homemade Masks Needed:
Some of the individuals CRi supports are some of our community’s most vulnerable, and as such, are in dire need of homemade masks. If you are able to sew, please consider making masks for CRi residents and direct support professionals.
Show Direct Support Professionals Some Love:
The Direct Support Professional acts as a mentor, teacher, and support to individuals with intellectual and other types of developmental disabilities to assist them to live, learn and work successfully as an active part of their communities.
With COVID-19, our DSPs can add “Virus Warriors” to their list of responsibilities. They are diligently working around the clock to keep those residing in our group homes safe. Not only are our DSPs maintaining the safety of our residents, but they are also now working twice as hard to establish a new normal for those whose lives depend on routine.
Please considering sending a kindness card to our DSPs to show that their hard work is appreciated and they are not forgotten as essential workers during this crisis. CRi has over 500 staff supporting over 300 residents within our group homes and 600 more within the community.
Cornerstones
Bagged Meals:
Cornerstones' Embry Rucker Community Shelter is in need of volunteers to prepare bagged meals for their residents!
The Embry Rucker Community Shelter distributes approximately 60-70 bagged meals to residents and drop-in clients each day. Meals are distributed on an on-going basis as residents and clients request them.
Two options are available for bagged meal donations: Option 1: Adopt a specific day or days. For example, adopt the third Wednesday of each month or every Monday for one month. Option 2: Schedule a one-time bagged meal donation at least one week in advance
(meals are to be purchased by the volunteer)
Low-Risk Outdoor Activity:
Volunteers needed for a donation drive collection point at Reston National Golf Course, 1875 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, VA 20190. Shifts are Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. --1:00 p.m. and from 1:00 p.m.--4:00 p.m. Duties may include:
- Set up/take down of pop-up tent and signage,
- Greet donors as they drive up to drop off donations of personal protective equipment, cleaning supplies, school supplies and backpacks. (Following social distancing guidelines)
- Receive donations and store them in the Cornerstones van.
- Issue donation receipts.
- Make up small PPE kits using donations received for future distribution to families. (August)
Volunteers should dress for the weather, wear comfortable shoes, bring and wear their own mask, gloves, and needed personal protective supplies. Bring bottled water and snacks. Expect donor traffic levels to vary from slow to moderate, depending on the weather and response to social media and other advertising of the event. All volunteers will be required to fill out a COVID19 screening questionnaire prior to their shift, so please arrive a little early to complete the document.
Due to the current situation, we are asking volunteers who are age 65 and over, and/or who have underlying medical conditions that put them at greater risk, to please self-select out of volunteering at this time.
Shepherd's Center of Oakton-Vienna-Reston-Herndon
COVID-19 specific opportunity: Volunteer to be a
friendly caller
: During these challenging times, our vision of creating "A World without Loneliness" has more meaning than ever. We worry that many of our seniors will experience isolation due to programs and services being cancelled. Won't you help by showing them that you care?
(requires background check and training)
New Hope Housing
New Hope Housing needs additional sandwiches or bag lunches for homeless adults at Kennedy Shelter, Bailey's Shelter, and alternate shelter sites during the pandemic!
Depending on your capacity to help, here are some options:
- Make Sandwiches
- Make Bag Lunches
(Interested volunteers will need to complete a volunteer application and sign up for a phone orientation. Volunteers must purchase and prepare the meals.)
Virtual Mentor:
New Hope Housing is starting a virtual volunteer program! In response to the needs of our guests we have created this opportunity for those who wish to serve during the COVID crisis and are hopeful to offer this on an ongoing basis. This will help our guests create connections and learn valuable skills while they work to move to stable housing. Volunteers will sign up to meet with guests one-on-one around a specific topic.
