English at Home Volunteer

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Newly-arrived refugees, from a wide range of cultures and languages, are under tremendous pressure to adapt quickly to American life and culture. In a few short months, they are expected to speak English, find sustainable employment, enroll their children in school, and understand the complexities of the American health care system, government programs, school system, and social services. This is impossible without your help!

The English at Home Program serves refugee clients who are unable to attend traditional ESL (English as a Second Language) classes by matching them with volunteers who agree to tutor them in their homes. These clients may be:

◦ young mothers, unable to find childcare

◦ culturally expected to stay at home and raise the children

◦ those with physical infirmities that limit their ability to travel

◦ workers with busy job schedules

The Process: A volunteer chooses from a list of available clients. Once the volunteer chooses a client, the EaH team arranges an initial meeting: then, an EaH Member, client, and volunteer will meet together. The EaH Member will administer a short English assessment to the client and provide a curriculum to the volunteer. The volunteer is expected to meet with the client 2 hours a week 3 months, or a total of 24 hours.

Typically, many of our volunteers continue in the program, having developed close relationships with our clients over time.

Volunteer orientations occur every week, come join us!