Homeless Shelter Volunteers

Volunteer Newsletter March 2009
Volunteer Newsletter December 2008

Thank you for your interest in becoming a volunteer for SJEHS. There are many ways to get involved:

Meal Preparation and Serving - We need people who like to cook for a crowd! Please see the meals page for more details on providing and serving meals for our shelter guests.
Please visit the recipes page for sharing ideas.
Donations - If you would like to make a monetary donation, please see the donors page for more information. To donate items to the shelter, please check our current wish list for items we can use. Call the shelter if you have questions about items you would like to donate that are not included on the list.
Inventory Volunteers - We have a crew of people who meet Monday and Thursday mornings (November - April) to sort and organize the items that are donated to the shelter. To volunteer in this capacity, you will need to complete the necessary volunteer paperwork. Once the paperwork has been completed, you will be contacted by our Volunteer Coordinator.
Laundry Volunteers - We need people who can volunteer during the day to run a load or two of laundry. While the machine is running, there are other jobs you can do to help us get ready for opening for the evening. To volunteer in this capacity, you will need to complete the necessary volunteer paperwork. Once the paperwork has been completed, you will be contacted by our Volunteer Coordinator.
Hospitality Volunteers - We need people who will spend time at the shelter during the hours of the day it is open. It helps to have 2 or 3 people for each of the three shifts: Morning: 6:00am-9:00am, 1st Evening: 4:45pm-7:30pm, 2nd Evening: 7:30pm-10:00pm. (update: all Mondays 1st evening shift need 5-7 volunteers)
To become a Hospitality Volunteer, you will need to complete the necessary paperwork. Once the paperwork has been completed, you will be contacted by our Volunteer Coordinator.

THANK YOU FOR OFFERING YOUR TIME TO THE SHELTER!

To volunteer for the first time, please fill out a volunteer application form and send it to: St. John Homeless Shelter, 413 St. John St., Green Bay, WI 54301. If you served as a volunteer last winter (2007-2008) and completed these forms already, you do not need to complete them again.

Adobe Reader will allow you either to print the blank form, then fill it out by hand; or to fill it out online, before printing and signing it.
The freeware PDF-XChange Viewer does all that as well, but also allows you to save the form you fill out, in case you need to finish it later.
After printing, please sign pages 2, 3, and 4 before mailing it in.

Once we have received your application and completed a background check, our volunteer coordinator will contact you to setup a time to come in and help out.

Anyone employed or volunteering through any Catholic diocese in the United States who has any contact with minors must first complete Virtus training to ensure the safety of all children. Last year, through an overwhelming outpouring of generosity and goodwill, over 500 people volunteered to help at St. John's. There wasn't enough time for everyone to attend a Virtus class, so it was necessary that they did not have any contact with minors, even fellow volunteers.
So our current policy is that all volunteers at the shelter must be at least 18 years old, even if they are with a group, even if they are with their parents. The only possible exception would be an independantly organized and supervised group service project that did not have any contact with other shelter volunteers.

• The Compass, December 14, 2007 - Volunteers step forward to assist at homeless shelter