Episcopal Social Services of New York

Volunteer Opportunities

The mission of Episcopal Social Services (ESS) Volunteer Services is to expand and enhance the services that ESS provides to children, adults, and families while providing a meaningful experience for volunteers.

ESS volunteers give generously of their time and talents and make an enormous difference in the lives of their fellow New Yorkers. Some volunteers make a long-term commitment serving a program on an on-going basis; others come just for a day.

Individual Volunteer Opportunities

Day Care Center

• Parent Workshops Facilitator – lead workshops for struggling parents at the day care centers on health, financial literacy, education, English as a second language.
• Arts Instructor – Provide arts and cultural activities including, but not limited to: art, singing, dancing, song-writing, martial arts, and putting on plays. Motivate and encourage children to join in.
• Music Instructor – Provide musical instruction to the kids and organize an end of the year performance. 
• Classroom Assistant – Assist with classroom activities, ages 2-4, under the supervision of lead teacher.
• Office Assistant – Prepare mailings, photocopy, file, fax, and general office duties as assigned.
• Reading Buddy – Read to children, aged 2-4, twice a week. Willing to be lively and engage the kids
• Science Buddy – Do experiments with the kids and get them excited about science!
• Dance Instructor – Engage the kids in dance and movement and come in for a weekly class.
• Enrichment Instructor – Teach kids through art, dance, movement, theatre, exercise, anything that you are passionate about and would love to pass on to kiddies.

Early Head Start

• Classroom Assistants – Assist in the various classroom activities under the supervision of the teachers
• Administrative Assistant – Great with filing, and filling in as a receptionist for staff
• Recruiters - to distribute pamphlets about ESS/Early Head Start in the community in order to recruit new children & parents into the program
• Data Entry Assistant – Must be proficient in Power Point, Excel, Publisher, Word
• Kitchen Assistant – Must have food handling, cooking, nutrition experience
• Maintenance Assistants – Help with cleaning, mopping, sweeping, sanitization of toys
• Event Volunteers – Flexible schedule in order to help participate & assist with Large Events
  • Harvest Festival *October 28, 2010
    • Need volunteers to decorate & setup
• Senior Citizen Liaison
  • Recruit volunteers from Bronx Senior Centers
  • Recruit volunteers from Bronx churches
  • Senior Volunteers would help nurture the children by being like “Grandparent mentors” for them

After School Program

• Tutors for ages 10 to 13 – Assist the After School Program students in the middle school grades with homework assignments, studying for tests, class projects, etc.
• Recreation Assistants for ages 10 to 13 – assist the students in the middle school grades while they are participating in recreation activities such as: sports, dance, step team, art, video games, band, choir, etc.
• Tutors for ages 5 to 10 – Assist the After School Program students in the elementary school grades, with homework assignments, studying for tests, class projects, etc.
• Recreation Assistants for ages 5 to 10 – assist the students in the elementary grades, while they are participating in recreation activities such as: sports, flag football, dance, art, music, choir, etc.
• Martial Arts Instructor for ages 5 to 10 – teach some of the elementary school students martial arts once or twice a week.

Adolescent Residential Care for At-Risk Youth

• Arts Workshop Facilitators – are you willing to lead a workshop for a group of 10 youth on poetry, art, drama, spoken word, dance, or any other liberal art?
• Computer Mentors – teach youth at our group homes how to use basic computer programs in our new CyberCafe
  This is our most urgent need! The program is set to start in the next two weeks! Email us ASAP if you are interested.

Developmental Disability Services

• Handyman – Be willing to build bookshelves, fix odds and ends around group homes that house our developmentally disabled clients. We provide the supplies and you provide the expertise and labor. Flexible schedule.
• Recreational “Therapist” – We need someone that knows their way around the city and is well-informed of free events or has connections and can secure free tickets for our developmentally disabled clients. Must be willing to organize outings and take out our clients. Needs to be sensitive to special needs.

Health Services

• Filing Aid – help the offices file and condense paperwork
• Co-facilitator – for health education workshops, aid program director twice a month with health workshops for teens and adolescents.
• Bilingual Office Aid – Spanish speaking assistant that can help the mental health department translate

Foster Care and Adoption

• Tutor – work with kids in either high school middle school or elementary, giving them one on one help with their homework after school. Flexible schedule.
• Case Aide – Help the Homefindings department recruit new foster parents, prepare trainings for foster parents and aid in foster care client work

Preparing Youth for Adulthood

• Mentors – work with teens ages 14-21 in ESS’s PYA Program, in order to be a positive role model who shares similar interests (hobbies) with the teens. Long-term mentorship, in order to help the teens transition from teens in the PYA Program into young adulthood. Must be willing to attend Trainings about “Grief & Loss”, “Understanding Trauma”, and “Cultural Diversity with Adolescents.”
• Career Development Facilitator – develop workshops for the teens about resume writing, dressing professionally, how to conduct yourself during an interview, how to search for jobs, etc.

Finance Department

• Financial Analyst – Experience with finance that can help our Chief Financial Officer produce toolkits and evaluate the finances of the non-profit. Very independent and hands-on experience.

Training Department

• Graphic Design – Design training manuals and brochures, needs to be creative, work with a small staff in a great learning environment.

Development/Communications Department

• Communications Assistant – Help with preparation of the newsletter (both print and electronic versions), appeal mailings, press releases, layouts of journal ads, photography, and other communications functions. Prior communications experience a must.

Operations Department

• Greeting Aid – work greeting clients at our Manhattan office and work with the Operations department to ensure our programs run smoothly. Needs to be people-oriented and able to mitigate situations.

Group Projects

• Gardening
• Arts projects with our clients
• Renovation or painting in foster care group homes
• Building bookshelves and toy cubbyholes in day care centers
• Staffing a family picnic or holiday party
• Hosting a “third party” fundraiser at your site for one of our programs

If you’re interested in volunteering fill out an application and email to Karen Yi at yik@e-s-s.org.

Open/download application

To learn more about Volunteer Opportunities, please call our Volunteer Hotline 212.886.5663 or email Ama Boatenga at boatenga@e-s-s.org.

Is there something we haven’t listed as a current volunteer opportunity that you’d like to see? Please, don’t hesitate to share with us.