Do you want to positively impact refugee children? Interested in education?
Volunteer with CCA this Fall!

PURPOSE AND IMPACT

The Catholic Charities Atlanta office of Refugee Resettlement provides numerous support services for newly-arrived refugees. Our Refugee School Impact program is a crucial segment of these services. Our volunteers play a vital role in sustaining this work with refugee children and youth. Our elementary after school program provides additional academic and social support to 35 second and third grade students at Indian Creek Elementary School in Clarkston, GA. The students are predominantly from Iraq, Congo, Syria, Burma, Afghanistan, and Somalia and have lived in the U.S for less than one year. The program runs every Monday through Thursday during from October to May from 2:30 PM to 5:00 PM.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES

After school volunteers serve as mentors in academic and social /emotional capacities. The afterschool program is structured to offer volunteers the opportunity to explore and alternate between a variety of mentoring roles. These roles and duties include but are not limited to:

• Social and emotional support mentor: foster student accountability and provide individualized support to students by completing student progress monitoring and administering one-on-one check-ins regarding both social and academic concerns with a designated small group of students. Model and reinforce positive behavior.
• Math, Language Arts , Homework Assistance, and Computer Literacy tutor: provide guidance and instruction to designated student small groups in daily academic activities. By scaffolding student knowledge, volunteers encourage students to work confidently and independently. Volunteers record and communicate student progress by submitting brief reports on monthly goal trackers.
• Project and lesson facilitator: volunteer as desired to lead daily classroom activities including academic lessons, art and enrichments activities, and group games. Volunteers are encouraged to share their personal skills and expertise by taking on a leadership role for activities and curriculum of their choosing
• Intake and administrative aid: Gain behind the scenes experience in the resettlement process by assisting with important administrative tasks including student intake paperwork, submitting academic progress documentation to student case files, and by assisting in student home visits.

VOLUNTEER BENEFITS:

• Develop and strengthen communication, English-as-a second- language instruction, and tutoring skills.
• Form meaningful relationships with refugees and gain a broader cultural understanding of our local community and positively impact the student and their family’s progress towards self-sufficiency.
• Gain firsthand insight into the daily challenges of the resettlement process and be able to spread awareness about refugees to the larger Atlanta community.

ACCOUNTABILITY: The volunteer reports to the Refugee Resettlement Volunteer Coordinator and the Refugee Support Specialists.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES: The volunteer coordinator will provide a volunteer orientation, in-depth training on refugee resettlement, student behavior management, and tutoring and will remain a logistical point of contact for volunteers throughout the course of the school year. On-site supervision and feedback is overseen by the Refugee Support specialists.

Commitment: An attendance commitment of at least one day per week is requested of all program volunteers. Volunteers are responsible for submitting and consistently updating their weekly availability with the volunteer coordinator at the start of their volunteer tenure.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Volunteers must be over the age of 17
• Respect and empathy for students in a multi-cultural classroom
• Sensitivity to vulnerable populations
• Openness to feedback provided by peers and supervisor(s)
• Willingness to complete agency application process, which includes a background and reference check, an agency volunteer orientation, as well as tutoring training and

LOCATION: All volunteers will report to the after school site; volunteers may also elect to perform duties at the Northlake office location.

After School Program

Indian Creek Elementary

724 North Indian Creek Dr.

Clarkston, GA 30021

DeKalb County School District

Office Work/CCA Office

2305 Park Lake Drive, Suite 150

Atlanta, GA 30345

Contact Chelsea Driver for more information or to RSVP for upcoming trainings:

Phone: 678-222-3953
email: cdriver@catholicharitiesatlanta.org

Upcoming info sessions:

• Thursday August 9th- 9:30-11:00 am
• Wednesday August 22nd 6:00-7:30 pm
• Tuesday September 4th 10:00-11:30 am
• Thursday September 13th 10:00- 11:30 am
• Tuesday October 2nd 10:00-11:30 am
• Thursday October 4th 6:00-7:30 pm