Children & Family Programs Volunteers
Requirements for all volunteer roles
- Sensitivity and openness to persons of culturally diverse backgrounds. High degree of patience, understanding, and flexibility.
- Pass Federal Background Check and driving record check (if applicable).
- Attend a General Volunteer Orientation and role-specific orientation prior to starting.
- Clear time and space in your schedule for your commitment
- Record and report volunteer hours.
Volunteer Driver for Refugee Families *Women-Preferred!
Early Learning and Family Support Program - Summer 2024
Program Summary:
This program is catered to refugee families with children ages 2.5-5 with the goal of preparing both children and parents to enter America’s education system ready for Kindergarten. In the home, we provide learning resources, strategies, tools, and a wide range of supports to assure that the family’s needs are being met. We also provide family engagement opportunities to broaden learning opportunities! These include visits to parks, museums, libraries, and for the first time ever, the zoo! The goal of all family engagement trips is to create a sense of community among the participants as well as foster connections to the community they are resettling to foster confidence, comfort, and independence. We also integrate learning opportunities into trips like this- encouraging parents to foster their children’s language, math, reading, physical, and social development.
Volunteer Role:
As a volunteer driver, you will get to meet and interact with refugee families and their children first-hand! You can help foster language and social skills, creating a sense of trust and comfort simply by being present with the family. Within our program, we have over seven different language represented. We will have some interpretation available in-person, but whether you speak their language or not, there will be opportunities to connect.
Commitment:
Long-term, we are hoping to connect with a group of women who are passionate about supporting refugee families and have capacity to support transportation needs once a month. We are hoping these initial opportunities will help both staff and participants form lasting connections with church members who want to make an impact by providing access to amazing opportunities like this. Our once-a-month family engagement event will usually take about 3-5 hours of your time, depending on the activity and duration.
Dates & Times:
Trip #1: July 26th 9:30am-2pm
Trip #2: August 22nd 9:30am-1:30pm
Location:
Trip #1: Woodland Park Zoo
Trip #2: Dash Point State Park
Responsibilities:
- Join classroom/group activities, projects, large group learning time, or playground sessions under the guidance of program staff. For example, assist with crafts or buddy up with a student to practice new skills.
- Support students where needed, bring positivity and energy to the program, and help create a welcoming environment.
- Support parents in supervising children during field trips and visits from community organizations.
- Complete mandatory onboarding processes and attend a volunteer orientation session.
- Coordinate with staff member to pick up and drop off families using a personal vehicle and assuring appropriate car seats are present (World Relief has some available for use as needed)
- Uphold participant confidentiality by not sharing personal information or taking photos, videos, or audio recordings without special permission
Additional Information:
The majority of our current participants come from Afghan culture. In this culture, women and men are most comfortable being separated. Women in particular prefer not to be alone with men. When attending trips, feel free to engage as you would, but keep in mind this aspect of their culture and avoid separation from the group to assure all participants feel comfortable, safe, and respected.
We have limited capacity for our zoo trip. While we can offer free admission to drivers, at this time we cannot offer free admission for children or ride-along volunteers. That being said, as long as there is room in your vehicle for at least two additional people and can cover their admission, you are welcome to bring your own children!
We are not able to cover parking for these trips at this time.
Zoo parking: $8 for first 2 hours; $3 each additional hour; $12.00 maximum daily rate
Dash point: FREE with Discover Pass or $10 for the day
Kinders Camp Leader: Summer 2024
*Special group opportunities also available - please reach out to RSchlitkus@wr.org for more information about supporting summer programs with your church, club, or special interest group.*
Program Summary:
Recently-arrived refugee children in the United States face the unique challenges of adjusting to a new cultural environment, mitigating past traumas associated with immigration and seeking refuge, learning a new language, and adjusting to a new way of living. World Relief Western Washington’s (WRWW) Refugee Youth Summer Academy Kinders Camp (RYSA—Kinders) 2024 will be a multi-week program focused on helping newly arrived refugee children prepare to enter Kindergarten.
We create a diverse, supportive community for children to set them up for success both in school and in life. We focus on providing school-readiness experiences, dual-language vocabulary practice, social-emotional learning, and peer connection. Using culturally responsive, trauma-informed, play-based learning methods, we offer transformative and meaningful experiences for children to learn, grow, and develop their true potential. To achieve this, we are seeking passionate individuals who will step up as leaders for our wonderful students.
Volunteer Role:
Join our summer program community and befriend refugee children! As a leader, you will experience a summer of unforgettable memories – walking alongside kids as their eyes are opened to new experiences, forming relationships with a diverse and passionate team, expanding and challenging your worldview, and getting an inside look at the world of refugee resettlement.
- Commitment: 1-2 days a week, on the same day of the week, for 4 weeks (e.g.: every Tuesday and Friday).
- Dates & Times: July 9th-August 2nd, 2024
- Location: Kent, WA
Responsibilities:
- Join classroom activities, projects, large group learning time, or playground, under the guidance of summer academy staff (for example, making a craft with a small group or buddying up with one student to learn new English words
- Jump in wherever needed, support students that could use a friend, and bring positivity and energy to the program.
- Supervise a small group of kids as we connect with local parks, organizations, and kid-friendly spaces (field trips and visits from community organizations)
- Complete mandatory World Relief onboarding process and attend virtual RYSA Volunteer Orientation, date TBD
School Success Coach (Virtual or In-Person)
*High need*
Program Summary: Refugee students are more likely to be behind in school, simply as a result of their circumstances. Filling gaps in academic knowledge, understanding homework assignments, and tackling a new language can be overwhelming at first. In addition, students face being “the new kid” and re-creating a sense of home in the U.S. Our School Success Coaching pilot aims to provide every student struggling in school with a supportive, knowledgeable mentor to walk alongside them in this journey, by providing academic tutoring services and committed friendship.
Program is available to students 6-18 years, with special emphasis on offering spots to middle and high schoolers due to increased academic challenge level.
Regular Volunteer Role: Share your skills and knowledge with a local refugee student, by committing to meet with them weekly as they complete homework assignments, increase their understanding of academic concepts, and tackle English vocabulary and grammar. Coaches are paired with individuals or groups students in need of support, and can meet either online or in-person 1-2x weekly – depending on volunteer/family preferences and location. Individuals specializing in specific subject areas will be prioritized for a match with students who have expressed needs in that area. Experience tutoring is not required, though is helpful.
- Commitment: 1 or 2x weekly for 1-1.5 hrs. We ask that volunteers commit to at least a semester of support, to provide stability for the students. Meet-ups can be either virtual, in-person, or a combination.
- Schedule: Regular weekly schedule is set based on volunteer/family availability; very flexible on timing
*Note: Volunteers may experience a wait time of several weeks before being matched with a student, depending on status of family waitlist*
Requirements:
- Creative, energetic, flexible, and thoughtful, with a love for connecting with children and youth
- Experience teaching or tutoring academic subjects helpful but not required; specific specialties a plus
- Additional languages other than English are a high need, particularly Dari, Pashto, Ukrainian, or Russian
- Weekly availability at a time reserved for the program
- Able to pass a federal background check
- Consistently report volunteer hours
R.I.S.E. After School Mentor (2023-2024 School Year):
Program Summary: First and foremost, R.I.S.E. is a community - where students from all over the world can belong! We cultivate peer connections so students can laugh together, speak their home languages, and practice skills like goal-setting and conflict resolution. Students are also highly encouraged to develop a trusted relationship with a mentor, creating space to ask questions about school/U.S. culture or collaborate on challenges they are facing in their daily lives. Curriculum focuses on homework help, engaging STEM and art projects, and English vocabulary/grammar.
Regular Volunteer Role: When joining R.I.S.E., you get the chance to bring the fullness of who you are - to build our community culture, befriend individual students, and support activities planned by staff. 15 minutes of set-up/briefing and clean-up/debriefing is included in time commitment.
*Ask about bringing your kids with you to volunteer! (Not guaranteed, but may be an option)*
- Commitment: 1x a week, ideally through the end of the school year (but not required - let us know your availability)
- Schedule: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4-6pm
- Location: Local elementary school in Kent
Requirements:
- Creative, energetic, flexible, and thoughtful, with a love for connecting with children and youth
- Experience tutoring or providing academic support very helpful, but not at all required
- Bilingual, immigrant/refugee background or experience working in cross-cultural environments intentionally welcomed. Pashto, Dari, Russian, or Ukrainian speakers are especially needed!
- Able to pass a federal background check and provide COVID-19 vaccination record
- Consistently report volunteer hours
School Navigator
Program Summary: For many recently arrived families, tackling a brand new education system in an unfamiliar language is a major challenge with limited orientation opportunities. Many families find themselves inundated with school communications, wandering a new neighborhood searching for their bus stop, or being passed between school staff looking for how to advocate for their children. School Navigators are assigned to families with temporary needs navigating school for their children, easing the transition towards a flourishing academic future.
Regular Volunteer Role: School Navigators are flexible, bouncing between various engagements for either a couple hrs, a day, or perhaps a couple weeks of check-ins with the same family. List of opportunities will be sent to available Navigators, who can opt in to support if their time allows. Specific experience is not necessary; many activities involve fairly straightforward knowledge of local cultural norms. Community members who feel confident navigating the basics of the school system are also encouraged to join, of course.
- Commitment: Availability on any schedule; willing to pick up a task if it fits your week or month. Requests would be sent to all Navigators via email, and it's totally up to the volunteer whether or not they are available to support.
- Location: Flexible - may be at a family's home, or at a local school. Volunteers have the option of setting a preferred location boundary for assignments
Requirements:
- Patient, kind, and passionate about welcoming and supporting newly-arrived families
- Comfortable navigating basic school-related day-to-day information (for example, communications, class schedules, transportation system, picture day, calling teachers, etc.)
- Additional languages other than English are a high need, particularly Dari, Pashto, Ukrainian, or Russian
- Availability and willingness to support regularly, according to your schedule
- Able to pass a federal background check
- Consistently report volunteer hours
Next steps
The first step is to fill out a volunteer application. Don't forget to mark Youth Programs as your area of interest. Once you submit your application, follow the steps to complete the online orientation and register for a local training.
All volunteers are required to attend both the general and local orientations, complete an application*, and undergo a background check before starting. At the training you will learn about World Relief's work, the refugees and immigrants we serve, and what it looks like to come alongside them as volunteers in different roles
*Required for new volunteers and returning volunteers who have not submitted an application in over a year. Background checks must also be renewed yearly.