Catholic Charities SouthWestern Ohio
Depends on Volunteers
CCSWO depends on volunteers to enhance and extend our client services far beyond those we could offer with our professional staff. Your interest in volunteering and willingness to assist us in providing vital services to our clients and the community is greatly appreciated. We welcome volunteers of all faiths. It is our hope that your volunteer experience with us will be a long and happy one. It is further our hope that you will feel free to make suggestions that will improve the overall quality of our services and your volunteer experience.
Below, you will find listed a number of volunteer opportunities. Please understand that within the context of modern society it is necessary for us to take measures to ensure the safety of our clients. Some of our volunteer positions require a background check and a formal screening process for this reason. Please understand that fingerprinting is now required for all persons who may come into contact with a protected class. Under Ohio law protected classes include children, older adults, and persons who are mentally retarded. [Volunteer Application]
Again, thank you for your interest and taking the time to read through the following opportunities:
Volunteer Opportunities at Su Casa
Notary Services
Su Casa Hispanic Center needs someone with their notary public to notarize various documents for our clients. Ideally, this person would commit to providing this service one day a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, or Fridays.
Tutoring
At Su Casa Hispanic Center, we offer tutoring free of charge to bilingual Hispanic students ages six to 13. These students come from St. Clements Catholic School and other schools in the neighborhood. Tutoring involves homework help from 3:30 to 5:00 in the afternoon in a variety of subject areas. Volunteer tutors should commit to one day a week, Tuesdays or Thursdays.
Assisting Bilingual Caseworkers
Su Casa Hispanic Center’s bilingual caseworkers have a very full workload, meeting with clients on a daily basis to deal with issues including employment, housing, translation, and obtaining assistance (WIC, Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps, etc.). Assisting the bilingual caseworkers may involve tasks such as helping individuals to fill out paperwork, create resumes, and search for employment on the Internet. Ideally, a person volunteering to assist the caseworkers would commit to one day a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, or Fridays.
Office Work
Su Casa Hispanic Center can always use help with general office work. Various tasks include data entry using Microsoft Outlook, answering phones, filing, and word processing. Time commitment for this volunteer opportunity is flexible, but one day a week is preferred, any day Monday through Saturday.
Teaching Basic Computer Classes
Su Casa Hispanic Center offers computer classes in Spanish free of charge in our new computer lab. The curriculum is already in place, and includes lessons on keyboarding, sending and receiving emails, and searching for information on the Internet. We just need someone to teach the class for two hours a week during a 10 week session. Days and times of the week are flexible.
Caregiver Assistance Network:
This program provides various forms of assistance and help for family and volunteer caregivers who are themselves caring for a loved one. Family Caregivers provide more than 85% of the entire home healthcare given each year in the United States. Volunteers who have been caregivers themselves or have some professional background in areas like social work or nursing are particularly needed as:
Caregiver Support Group Facilitators, who with another facilitator, provide leadership for a caregiver support group, and/or as speakers with our Speakers Bureau, who give presentations on caregiving and related topics for community and employee groups.
Persons with knowledge of family caregiving and good telephone skills are needed as Caregiver Advocates, who answer calls from Caregivers and older adults and advise them on resources.
Chaplaincy:
This program provides urgently needed visitation and assistance with worship for persons incarcerated in Hamilton County Jail facilities. Our jail residents will be back on the street quickly, most within a year. This program provides human contact and a touch of care that is very difficult to obtain in the very structured jail system. No formal religious training is required, but active participation in a Catholic Church and the pastor's recommendation is needed. As a chaplain you will provide direct supportive listening and informal pastoral counseling. (Background check through Council of Christian Communions)
Older Americans Volunteer Programs:
Provide volunteer opportunities with a stipend for low-income older adults, age 60 and over. We need Senior Companions to help elderly persons that are homebound or need assistance to meet all of their needs and Foster Grandparents to be a source of individual attention and personalized care for children with special needs in a variety of residential and community settings. (Background check covered by programs)
Refugee Resettlement:
This program resettles refugees, persons who have fled their homeland in fear of persecution, from around the world in the Greater Cincinnati Area. The primary objective is to provide refugees with the means necessary to obtain self-sufficiency. With a coordinated effort involving both staff and volunteers, we seek to ensure that the refugees' basic needs are met, beginning with food, transportation, clothing and shelter, while respecting and assisting them to make the necessary cultural, employment and linguistic adjustments to become independent in our community as quickly as possible.
As a volunteer in this program you help recent refugee arrivals in their efforts to start life over in Greater Cincinnati and become self sufficient. In this effort, volunteers can play a wide variety of roles: assist with arrival and greeting new families, locating household goods and furniture, assisting with transportation including learning to use public transit, helping with various applications, taking family members to health screenings or medical appointments, working with children around school adjustment, find various kinds of needed resources, help provide orientation, help with interpretation if you speak a needed foreign language, assist with preparing for and obtaining employment, provide follow-up to the above services, or help with applications for travel or other immigration related concerns.
Volunteers in this program may also help plan events such as World Refugee Day or Diversity Day. A Refugee Program Advisory Committee is currently being formed and dedicated members are needed to assist the limited staff in providing better services for arriving refugees.
Application Process:
Catholic Charities requires that all prospective volunteers to submit an application in order to be considered or assigned to any of our service programs. Please be sure to complete all sections of this application. All information on this application, including your references and your self-assessment evaluation are critical. Once you have completed this application, please review all information you have provided for accuracy. Catholic Charities respects your privacy and does not share your personal information with any third parties without your consent.
Please note:
For further information, please email Mike Dutle at MDutle@catholiccharitiesswo.org, or call (513) 241-7745 and ask for the particular program of interest. Please mail or fax your application to Catholic Charities, 100 East Eighth Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202. Phone - (513) 241-7745 Fax - (513) 241-4333. Completion of the accompanying application does not assure placement as a volunteer. Thank you.
Volunteer Application (PDF)