Volunteers make a world of difference at Onward Neighborhood House!

Whether it’s painting, reading to the children, cleaning classrooms, or collecting donations… there are numerous opportunities to get involved and help in the mission of Onward.

Most opportunities are suitable for individuals as well as groups. The experience can be very rewarding and promote teamwork. Corporations looking for group volunteer opportunities are invited to consider Onward House as their next community project.

Full day volunteer opportunities:

  • Spring cleaning (appreciated year round!) – heavy duty cleaning, organizing storage space…
  • Host a special event or field trip
  • Painting
  • Classroom aide for a day

Half day volunteer opportunities:

  • Read to the preschool children – Bring your favorite kids book to read and donate it to our lending library afterwards for a lasting gift
  • Career day for school age program
  • Field trip with children
  • Music & art enrichment – Bringing and sharing your musical & artistic talents with the classrooms
  • Workshop presenter – Present cultural, health/nutrition, budgeting/financial literacy, career, computer training, etc. workshops for children, adults, and seniors

Seasonal volunteer opportunities:

  • Play Santa and distribute holiday gifts for the children
  • Earth Day activities – litter pick up, gardening, educational workshops on environment
  • Educational holiday celebrations
  • Planning and coordinating Field Day (outdoor activities) for school age program

Off-Site Donation Drives:

  • Canned food drive
  • Travel Sized Toiletries Drive
  • Clothing drive (especially warm weather gear, jackets, scarves, mittens,…)
  • Book drive
  • Collection of holiday gifts

Ongoing Volunteer Opportunities:

  • Administrative Assistant
  • House or Job Resource Aide- Working with family support workers, compile housing or job information for social service clients
  • Tutoring- Homework help for grade 1-6
  • Workshop presenter- Present cultural, health/nutrition, budgeting/financial literacy, career, computer training, etc. workshops for children, adults, and seniors

These suggested volunteer opportunities are not comprehensive; Onward House will consider any special projects or requests volunteers have. Please contact the Development Office to start the conversation.  We encourage your ideas of volunteering your time, services or any talents you’d like to share with Onward House.

In the meantime, don’t forget to visit our Wish List!

We are very grateful to our past volunteers for all their hard work!

For more information about eligibility, enrollment procedures and other questions, contact the Development Department at (773) 622-3215 or via email at nway@onwardhouse.org, or fill out the form below to have us contact you!