Not everyone can afford to allocate funds to charity. However, there is a wide range of opportunities and options in LA where you can donate your time and skills for the benefit of local organizations in need. i-los-angeles.com will tell you more about the ways you can help.
Volunteer Portal
It is worth starting with a volunteer portal called Volunteer LA, which was opened in 2018 by Eric Garcetti, a former mayor of the city. The portal unites people who want to help by doing charitable activities. So, positive changes in communities are being achieved through a proactive population.
La Works
It is the largest and longest-running volunteer center which is quite famous in Los Angeles. Volunteers can easily find non-profit organizations with La Works and help them with their time, skills, energy or communication.
This center unites diverse communities and inspires a culture of compassion and help. It is also interesting that the center’s official website contains a calendar of monthly projects, which are under the guidance of trained curators.
Everyone can get acquainted with ready-made business solutions for corporations participating in various public projects.
Homeboy Industries
You may have heard about the largest and most successful program intended to help former gang members. It was founded by Father Greg Boyle. Thanks to the program, each year, more than 10,000 former mobsters try to start a new life and break old habits.
Those who join the community are welcomed with open arms by showing love and kinship. This program offers such services as the removal of past-life tattoos, anger control and even parenting lessons.
The program needs such volunteers:
- specialists who can provide legal services
- people who prepare for GED
- specialists to remove tattoos
- Professionals to assist in the mental health programs, such as psychologists.
APLA Health
It is another major volunteer organization that serves more than 15 thousand patients and clients annually. The organization helps LGBT representatives with low-income and people with HIV.
This organization not only supports but also carries out important informational work on HIV prevention. It also assists people with medical education in Los Angeles.
Anyone from the age of 12 to 86 can become a volunteer at this facility. APLA Health is always happy to have a new person because there is enough work for all who wish. There are such options:
- collect food packages
- help with fundraising
- know banking services and, accordingly, help those who need it.
Every year, over 1500 volunteers spend more than 65 thousand hours of their time in APLA Health.
The Midnight Mission
It is the oldest organization that has been functioning since 1914. The Midnight Mission provides emergency services to people in LA, as well as 12-step recovery, family life and training programs. It also provides people with work. The whole list of services is too long to cover since all of this is necessary to maintain a healthy, productive and full life.
The organization constantly needs volunteers who will be engaged in
- cooking
- preparing for special events
- sorting clothes, food and hygiene kit
- helping in the unit
- big cleaning up and painting.
In addition, The Midnight Mission often requires specialists who can be tutors and provide professional services (for example, motivational seminars, assistance with law and taxes). The organization will welcome people who will help with internships and student projects.
It is easy to join this volunteer community, just call the contact number or fill out the online form.
Los Angeles Mission
It is a non-profit religious organization that was founded in 1936. The Los Angeles Mission supports the private sector, thereby helping homeless and outcast men, women and children.
The organization is focused on any kind of volunteer activity, including outdoor events. To enroll in this Mission, you need to fill in an online form on its website.
Helping women
We are talking about the Downtown Women’s Center which was established in 1978 and dedicated exclusively to serving women who are homeless or are in need. Countless lives have been saved since its inception. The center annually serves over 5,000 women, which exceeds 25,000 thousand hours per year.
The center’s volunteers work in the following areas:
- administration
- assistance to the day center
- sorting out donations
- help in the kitchen
- manage in a residence, etc.
Supporting the homeless and people without hope
One of the largest social services agencies in the San Gabriel Valley is Union Station Homeless Services. Homeless people, adults and low-income families come here for help.
The agency was founded in 1973. Since then, Union Station has recovered people who had already lost their hope.
Volunteers have the opportunity to apply for the position that suits them the best. There are units of cooking, conducting workshops and craft events. One can also help in the office or with administrative work.
Volunteers for food delivery and sorting
This kind of assistance is always relevant, so here are some popular options:
- The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank has been operating since 1973 and its employees regularly collect food. Owing to volunteers, they sort, check and pack the products. Volunteers are right hands during food sales and special occasions.
- Another organization is Project Angel Food. Its employees cook and annually deliver delicious meals to people with life-threatening ailments for free. Volunteers also help to select proper nutrition (from a medical point of view) and make purchases for those unable to do this on their own due to illness. Participants of all ages can join in cooking or help with fundraising events as well as do some office work.
- No Us Without You is a Boyle-Heights-based organization that provides grocery baskets to illegal immigrants. Damian Diaz and Othon Nolasco are its founders who gratuitously supply food to over 700 families every two weeks. To become one of the organization’s volunteers, it is enough to fill out an online contact form.
- The One Voice organization helps poor people, saves them from poverty and involves everyone who cares.
It is time to take action!
It is almost impossible to list all the volunteer organizations that work to help others in LA. When choosing such a center or a specific organization, the most important thing to remember is your desire to help. No money is needed for this, just your precious time and energy.