At Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon (EMO), our volunteers are among our most valuable assets. Last year, over 600 volunteers donated almost 30,000 hours of their time, saving EMO an estimate of over half a million dollars. Without volunteers, we couldn’t touch the lives of the more than 40,000 people we serve throughout Oregon each year.
Interested in volunteering your time for EMO? There are a lot of opportunities for volunteers – help feed the hungry, care for creation, share your wisdom, minister to refugees, help keep things running, provide community outreach, or share a special skill. To serve through one of the avenues mentioned or for more information about service, please call (503) 221-1054 or send an e-mail to emo@emoregon.org.
Feed the Hungry
Pass out food, sort and move food, pack food boxes and pick up food donations at the Northeast Emergency Food Program (NEFP) or deliver meals to homebound people with HIV and AIDS for the Daily Bread Express . Read more about volunteer opportunities at NEFP or contact John Elizalde at (503) 284-5470. Read more about volunteering at the Daily Bread Express or contact Mara Steen at (503) 460-3822.
Care for Creation
Volunteer positions for EMO’s Environmental Ministries include community garden assistants at the Patton Home Community Garden and program and administrative assistants for the Interfaith Network for Earth Concerns. Read more about Environmental Ministries volunteer opportunities or call Jenny Holmes at (503) 221-1054, ext. 214.
Share Your Wisdom
Chances are you have expertise and abilities that could be used to help immigrants and refugees acclimate to life in America. Volunteers who wish to help with education can use their skills by tutoring immigrants in English at Sponsors Organized to Assist Refugees (SOAR) or Russian Oregon Social Services (ROSS) or teaching mini-courses to high school refugees and immigrants at Portland International Community School (PICS).
Minister to Refugees
In addition to sharing your wisdom with immigrants and refugees, EMO’s Refugee and Immigration programs need volunteers to help newcomers with the challenge of learning a new way of life in the United States.
Other volunteer opportunities at Sponsors Organized to Assist Refugees (SOAR) include: helping newly arrived refugees with transportation to appointments, office assistance, picking up donations and helping preparing apartments for a refugee family’s arrival. To learn more about volunteering at SOAR, contact Yin Nwe Liu at (503) 284-3002.
Russian Oregon Social Services (ROSS) volunteer opportunities include classroom English instructors, citizenship class instructors, in-home tutors, mentors, breast health educators and pro-bono legal providers. To learn more about volunteering at ROSS, contact Selena Hickman at (503) 777-3437.
Volunteer opportunities at Portland International Community School (PICS) include positions as teaching assistants, tutors and mentors for high school students. For more information, contact Cecilia McCoy at (503) 232-5334.
Keep Things Running
All of EMO’s ministries need to keep things in order to better serve those in need. A variety of duties must be performed, just like a home or business. If you have special skills, or want to learn, please consider offering your services in one or more of the following ways: answer phones and greet visitors, keep client records, maintain a tidy environment, decorate for the holidays, help with filing, pick up prescriptions, address thank you letters, rewire electrical equipment, tackle yard work, and plan and lead activities. For more information about these service opportunities, please call (503) 221-1054 or send an e-mail to emo@emoregon.org.
Provide Community Outreach
Volunteer for the Shared Housing program by providing Community Outreach: meet with local agencies, senior centers, congregations and other resource providers to give information on how the program works and identify key target populations of housing providers and housing seekers, bringing that information back to the program and helping to target communications appropriately. For more information about this or other volunteer opportunities at Shared Housing, contact Barbara Stone at (503) 225-9924.
Share a Special Skill
There are as many ways to volunteer as there are people willing. Perhaps you have special skills not mentioned above. For Example, opportunities at the HIV Day Center include conducting arts activities, giving a massage to a patient in need, or cutting hair for low-income clients. For more information, please call (503) 221-1054 or send an e-mail to emo@emoregon.org.
Group Activities
We also have a number of group opportunities on-site or at your church. Call about special projects including collecting furniture and items for refugees, constructing care kits, working on the Patton Home community garden, sorting and moving food and organizing special events.
Service takes time and commitment. Many opportunities allow for ongoing work with clients and involvement with a core of other volunteers. Sometimes a regular volunteer commitment is not possible. Certain projects are one time only or need no special training or regular schedule.
