Are there any women’s crisis centers that allow volunteers under 18?
I want to volunteer at an all female crisis center or even a youth homeless shelter but I can’t find one that allows for the volunteers to be under 18. Do you know of any in Nevada that would allow me to? I am 17.
I volunteer at a shelter and you need to have an adult with you if you yourself are under 18. It is a legal requirement. We have families with little kids come in and volunteer as a family sometimes. We also have some youth groups like Girl Scouts come in and do a meal together – as long as they have adults with them it is fine.
If you have no group or adult to volunteer with, you may consider some of the following ideas;
- contribute or even organize a clothing drive, clothing is needed all year long, not just in the Winter. You could make it smaller by just doing a sock-drive getting donated used socks. (arrange this ahead of time with a shelter so you have a group to accept them and you’ll know their needs/requirements ahead of time) Other things shelters often need are small sizes of personal care items like toothpaste, shampoo, soap, but check ahead of time – each shelter is different.
- Many shelters have volunteer groups come in to prepare meals – see if they would give you a list of groups who help them out and ask to come in and volunteer with them.
- If you are in school and do you like to write? Consider contributing a piece to your school paper on homelessness and how it affects people of your age. This would help increase awareness of the situation.
- Do you knit or crochet? There are often groups making items for charities for the winter – they do this all year long. Find such a group or start one.
There are many things you can do to help out before you turn 18, and doing any of them will help you understand the situation so that you will be a better volunteer when you are of age.
It is nice to hear that someone wants to help. Best of luck.
May 28th, 2010 at 4:34 am
I volunteer at a shelter and you need to have an adult with you if you yourself are under 18. It is a legal requirement. We have families with little kids come in and volunteer as a family sometimes. We also have some youth groups like Girl Scouts come in and do a meal together – as long as they have adults with them it is fine.
If you have no group or adult to volunteer with, you may consider some of the following ideas;
- contribute or even organize a clothing drive, clothing is needed all year long, not just in the Winter. You could make it smaller by just doing a sock-drive getting donated used socks. (arrange this ahead of time with a shelter so you have a group to accept them and you’ll know their needs/requirements ahead of time) Other things shelters often need are small sizes of personal care items like toothpaste, shampoo, soap, but check ahead of time – each shelter is different.
- Many shelters have volunteer groups come in to prepare meals – see if they would give you a list of groups who help them out and ask to come in and volunteer with them.
- If you are in school and do you like to write? Consider contributing a piece to your school paper on homelessness and how it affects people of your age. This would help increase awareness of the situation.
- Do you knit or crochet? There are often groups making items for charities for the winter – they do this all year long. Find such a group or start one.
There are many things you can do to help out before you turn 18, and doing any of them will help you understand the situation so that you will be a better volunteer when you are of age.
It is nice to hear that someone wants to help. Best of luck.
References :