- A group opportunity. Invite your friends.
-
79 people are interested
Help At-Risk Children, Falls Church, VA
ORGANIZATION: Alternative House-- the Abused and Homeless Children's Refuge
Please visit the new page to apply.
- A group opportunity. Invite your friends.
-
79 people are interested
The Safe Youth Projects (SYP) are after-school programs for 4th through 6th graders that offer a safe place for these children to spend their free time. We have a Safe Youth Project in Culmore, one in Annandale and another in Springfield.
These youth are growing up in diverse, lower socio-economic communities, and are much more likely than their peers to join gangs, display violent behavior, get into substance abuse, and drop out of school.
SYP helps youth improve their school work, stay away from gangs and violent behavior, and develop positive friendships and important life skills. In 2013, 98% of the children in the program improved academically.
Volunteers help supervise youth during afternoon activities. Initiate conversations and activities with youth while offering them encouragement and support. Provide homework help and tutoring. Help lead life-skills workshops covering topics such as self-esteem, health, safety, cultural awareness, substance abuse, and more.
Opportunities are Monday to Thursday afternoons and evenings. Volunteers must commit to one shift (3-4 hrs) per week for 6 months or longer. Training is provided and background checks are required for long-term volunteers. Volunteers must attend an Open Door Information Session (one hour long), which are held on the 2nd Tuesday of every month at 10am, 3pm and 6pm. Select a time slot to attend and please RSVP as space is LIMITED.
More opportunities with Alternative House-- the Abused and Homeless Children's Refuge
No additional volunteer opportunities at this time.
About Alternative House-- the Abused and Homeless Children's Refuge
Location:
2100 Gallows Rd., Vienna, VA 22182, US
Mission Statement
Alternative House--The Abused and Homeless Children’s Refuge mission is to transform the lives of children and youth helping them stay safe, make positive decisions, achieve educational success, and overcome personal crises. We offer children, youth and families hope for brighter futures by providing counseling, shelter, neighborhood support and after-school programs.
For more than 40 years Alternative House has provided programs and services to meet that goal. We began as a small shelter to help runaway and homeless youth and have grown to a multifaceted family services agency.
Description
Alternative House’s programs include (at NO charge to the youth or families) :
TheEmergency Shelter for Teenagers serves approximately 200 homeless, runaway and abused youth each year. Young people 13 to 17 years-old may stay at the shelter for three weeks. Services are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, at no cost to teens or their families. In addition to providing a safe haven, food and clothing to young people, teens receive intense individual counseling, group counseling and crisis stabilization. Whenever possible, family counseling is also provided. Of young people who come to us from an intact home, approximately 95% return home with supportive after-care counseling available.
Our AYM - Assisting Young Mothers program for pregnant and parenting girls who are homeless was full the day it opened and has a large waiting list. This 18 to 24 month residential program for young women 16 to 24 years old and their babies helps the young women increase their parenting skills, continue their education, receive employment training and save towards the day they will leave the program and establish a home for themselves and their child. Our goal is to help these young women achieve their own goals - of becoming a more nurturing parent and of having the skills needed to become a contributing member of the community. Fifteen young women and their children participate in the AYM program at any one time.
Our Homeless Youth Initiative program helps young people who are homeless, without the support of a parent or guardian and who are still in high school. Last year at the end of the school year there were 108 young people in this precarious position. Thanks to Federal Stimulus funding, this year we are able to do something to help them. In partnership with Fairfax County Public Schools, Alternative House is leading a three-pronged program to provide housing and other supports. We are recruiting Host Homes (similar to hosting a foreign exchange student), providing rent vouchers and have a small transitional living program that can work with four young women. Program participants are 16 to 21 years old and must be completing high school.
The Culmore Teen Center served more than 250 youth this past year. The drop-in center provides a safe place away from gang recruitment in one of the most heavily gang-infested areas in Fairfax. Counselors at the center along with community volunteers, provide homework help, tutoring, and recreation and field trips, counseling and community service projects. The center also provides meals for those who need it. Similar outreach services are provided at the Franconia Family Resource Center for young people who live in the Springfield area of Fairfax County.
Our newest outreach effort is the Safe Youth Project, an after-school program for 4 th, 5 th and 6 th graders. Our first Safe Youth Project in Culmore was so successful that we were able to open a second program in Annandale. The program provides homework help, tutoring, community service opportunities, computer skills, and recreational opportunities. It was opened after police asked Alternative House if we could work with younger youth. Local gangs have started recruiting children as young as 10. Waiting to provide prevention services beginning in middle school could be too late. The Safe Youth Project has exceeded its enrollment projection of 30 youth at each location and provides neighborhood-based services four days a week.
Alternative House also offers a 24 hour national toll-free hotline - 1-800-SAY-TEEN for anyone in need of assistance. Affiliated with the National Runaway Switchboard, the hotline receives an average of 150 calls per month. Free walk-in counseling is also provided for young people in crisis at our Emergency Shelter for Teenagers.
CAUSE AREAS
WHEN
WHERE
Culmore Ct.Falls Church, VA 22041
DATE POSTED
May 6, 2015
SKILLS
GOOD FOR
- Teens
- People 55+
- Group
REQUIREMENTS
- Background Check
- Must be at least 18
- Orientation or Training
- at least 1 shift (3-4 hrs) weekly for 6-12 months
- Must attend our Open Door Information Session!!!!