Flexible Schedule
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Virtual Opportunity
Outer Space Sensory Bin CRi, Choice. Respect. independence. (formerly known as Community Residences, Inc.), is a community-based organization with a focused effort on providing people with developmental disabilities and/or mental health needs the resources, supports and services they need to live their lives with purpose, actively engaged in communities of their choosing. CRi’s mission fully supports a person’s ability to exercise control of their life’s choices, and to live in and contribute to communities of their choosing, as young adults through aging in place. We believe in serving individuals within the communities in which they live and supporting the individual’s choices and independence. Part of CRi’s wholistic approach includes access to Recreational Therapy, which is "a treatment service designed to restore, remediate and rehabilitate a person’s level of functioning and independence in life activities, to promote health and wellness as well as reduce or eliminate the activity limitations and restrictions to participation in life situations caused by an illness or disabling condition". ( About Recreational Therapy - American Therapeutic Recreation Association (atra-online.com)). Recreational Therapy utilizes games and fun activities to positively encourage individuals to develop their physical and cognitive skills. CRi’s Recreational Therapists utilize multifaceted activities to help engage an audience with a broad set of skills and abilities. In this case, Sensory Bins are tools that can offer visual, tactile, and olfactory stimulus to promote the use of fine motor skills and increase understanding of the world. Sensory bins can help individuals with mental health needs that rely on their senses to understand and explore the world, such as autism, and developmental disabilities work on directing their focus and practicing their motor skills while using their senses to learn about the world. These individuals are typically non-verbal and may have other sensory impairments (hearing, visual, etc.) who need maximum support to carry out tasks of daily living. Sensory bins present multiple stimuli that are great therapeutic outlet for residents and provide tools to staff to encourage continued development at their fingertips. This is a great project to complete with children as young as 5 years old. Our goal is to get 50 individual bins, one for each resident who participates in our Recreational Therapy Program. Outer Space Sensory Bin Instructions Help provide developmental tools to residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities. These tools can be used to provide stimulus in the comfort of their own home. For those unfamiliar with the disability community, and even for those who are, this project provides insight into how some of our individuals experience the world around them. Things To Note When dying the rice, please be sure to only use food coloring and not paint of any type. Some of the individuals have PICA which means they tend to put nonedible items in their mouth. Other individuals are very food motivated, so if something looks like food or looks yummy, they’re going to try to eat it. Even though the residents will have staff supervision when working with the sensory bins, we want to make sure we play it safe. https://besttoys4toddlers.com/galaxy-sensory-bin/ Supplies Plastic tote with a top to store the items - Ideally 14" L x 8" W x 4 7/8" H (6 Quart) black and neon-colored fish tank gravel 2 cups of blue rice 2 cup of purple rice 2 cup black beans White vinegar 3 sandwich zip lock bags Spaceship Aliens Star shapes Glitter and/or Confetti shapes (for the added visual stimulation) Balls of aluminum foil, rocks, fish tank pieces (space rocks!) Pom poms Marbles/bouncy balls (spheres to represent planets) Astronauts? What else do you find in space? How To Get Started Start by making your colored rice. Add your rice to a gallon size ziplock bag. Add 1 Tablespoon vinegar for each 1 cup of rice. Add quite a few drops of food coloring. Seal the bag and massage the food coloring into the rice. Add more food coloring until all the rice is dyed to the desired color. Spread the rice out evenly onto your baking sheet to dry. This will help prevent mold from building. We suggest a few hours to overnight to be safe as it will depend on how much food coloring was used. Test that the rice is dry by holding a fistful. Does the color come off on your hand? If so, rice isn’t dry yet. * Bonus : You could also use star shaped pastas to dye different colors to add extra stimulus! While you wait for your rice to dry. Go on a quest to find all the items you’d like to add to your bin! Are there other outer space items you can think of? You can add as much variety as you’d like! This will help keep the bin engaging. Once the rice is dry, assemble your bin for testing (omit the rice and glitter/confetti since that would be hard to separate once mixed). Are there enough items? Is there a good variety of sizes, textures, and colors? Once you are satisfied with your bin, separate all the items into their own ziplock bags and put them in the bin. On the lid of the bin, create a little guide with everything that is in your "Outer Space Bin" so staff can easily identify the bins and their contents as they get distributed to group homes and reused! Sensory Bins can be dropped off to the following addresses: Chantilly HQ 14160 Newbrook Dr, Chantilly, VA 20151 Donation boxes are located in the lobby beyond the double glass doors Accepting donations Monday - Friday from 8am to 5pm and Saturdays from 10am to 12pm Arlington/Falls Church Maintenance Office 7297A Lee Hwy, Falls Church, VA 22042 Donation boxes are located in the lobby just inside the front door Accepting donations Monday - Friday from 10am to 2pm
Date Posted: May 26, 2023
Flexible Schedule
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Chantilly, VA 20151
The Front Desk Volunteer is a year 'round opportunity with a weekly commitment of 2-4 hours per day, one or two days a week at CRi’s headquarters in Chantilly. This position will be supervised by the Volunteer Program Manager. This position will be hosted in person and in observance of CRi’s COVID requirements. The primary purpose of the Front Desk Volunteer is to be a warm and friendly face to all who pass through CRi’s doors. They will greet visitors as they enter the building, provide visitors assistance as needed, answer the main line and forward calls appropriately. The Front Desk Volunteer will also assist with the management of in-kind donation requests, submissions, and coordination. Responsibilities may vary depending on the current projects and priorities of the Philanthropy department. The Front Desk Volunteer will also support other administrative departments with projects as needed such as event research and writing donor thank you notes. Overview of Responsibilities: Front Desk Greet visitors Answer calls to the main line Accept packages and deliveries to the front desk Philanthropy and External Affairs Coordinate in-kind donation requests Assist with donor appreciation Support mailing campaigns and special events Other duties and special projects as assigned Requirements Must have a warm and friendly demeanor Must have own transportation Must have strong communications skills (verbal and written) Must pass a TB test, be fully vaccinated against COVID, and undergo a background check Comfortable with computers, talking on the phone, and working in an office environment Prior experience working with people with disabilities a plus
Date Posted: Apr 10, 2023
