Volunteer to PLAY with Homeless Children ages 0-6

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About Horizons for Homeless Children

Location:

Central MA, Worcester, MA 01609, US

Mission Statement

The mission of Horizons for Homeless Children is to improve the lives of young homeless children in Massachusetts and help their families succeed by providing high-quality early education, opportunities for play, and comprehensive family support services. Our Vision is that every homeless child will have the opportunity to learn, play, and thrive.

Description

Our volunteers are Playspace Activity Leaders (affectionately called PALs) -- they are the heart of our Playspace Program. Our corps of 1,000 PALs attend weekly play shifts in our 90+ Playspaces across the state and bring joy to thousands of children. We currently offer 340 volunteer shifts a week-which is 680 hours of play each week for the children living in shelters. Playspace not only gives children time to play; it also gives their parents time to take classes, pursue permanent housing opportunities, or just enjoy a needed break.

Volunteering as a PAL is a wonderful way to make a difference in the lives of young children experiencing homelessness right here in local communities across Massachusetts.

For many of the young children who reside in shelter, their earliest and most formative years have been filled with instability and frequent transitions. It is important for our program to serve as a stabilizing and supportive force in their lives, so we require PALs to make a volunteer commitment of two-hours a week for a minimum of six months. PALs are assigned to a shelter with a consistent day and time each week for their Playspace shift.

The majority of our shifts take place Monday through Thursday in the evenings from 6:00-7:30pm with occaisonal weekend shifts available.