It’s a new year, time to look forward to the future, but it’s also a great time to give back donating or volunteering. If you’ve never volunteered before, here’s how to get started:
• Know what you’re in for. Sarah Tanner, director of development at Friends of the Homeless in Springfield, emphasized the need to call ahead to any agency you want to work with or donate to, adding that “Volunteers are key … We encourage people to give us a call if you want to do something, we’ll accommodate and help come up with a plan to make just about everything work. Before you give, ask what they need. Make it really worthwhile for everyone. Agencies love to be asked what they need.”
Both Tanner and Rebekah Wilder, the executive director of Craig’s Place shelter in Amherst, mentioned that people who wish to donate should be sure to give clothes appropriate for the time of year, not donating summer clothes in winter. Neither the shelters nor the clients who use them tend to have an abundance of storage space, Wilder said, so people should be conscious of what is most useful to give. This time of year shelters need winter clothes, especially hats, gloves, and scarves. Wilder said they need towels, hand and feet warmers, and earplugs to help guests sleep.
Groundworks Collaborative in Brattleboro also said that, in addition to winter clothes, they needed men’s clothing and boots. Gift cards that enable people to buy basic necessities and toiletries were also requested, with Lee Trepini of Groundworks Collaborative adding that many who use their services are on food stamps, which don’t allow the purchase of anything other than food, including such necessities as soap, toothbrushes, and tampons.
• Shop right. For those considering going out and buying products to donate, Tanner suggested making a monetary donation instead. That can be used “in a multitude of ways,” she said, such as for meals, cots, and blankets. The next best thing, she said, “is to ask what is most useful right now.”
According to Amy Swisher, the director of advancement at ServiceNet, which runs the Northampton shelters along with Greenfield Family Inn, Wells Street Shelter, the Pittsfield Barton’s Crossing Shelter, and Our Friends’ House, all of their shelters need winter coats, boots, hats and gloves, as well as long johns, new socks and undergarments, ponchos and umbrellas, blankets, twin size sheets and pillows, towels and facecloths, pots and pans, and personal care items like shaving cream, razors, hair products such as shampoo and conditioner, feminine products, make-up kits, and flip-flops.
Trepini added that, for Groundworks Collaborative, the best time to give is the post-holiday season. Consider donating in February or March, when it is still winter and people are still very much in need of warm clothes and shelter, but there tends to be a lull in donations.
• One hour a month. This was a refrain echoed by Tanner and Wilder; help is needed year round. Tanner suggested that people volunteer on a regular basis — even an hour a month can be a lot of help — adding that they rely on volunteers to increase capacity and serve the needs of more people. Underscoring her advice to call anywhere you want to help before donating or turning up, each of the shelters had different volunteer needs.
Friends of the Homeless needs volunteers “all the time,” while Craig’s Place has a main volunteer base of students during the year, meaning that when the colleges close for the holidays, staff are often left short-handed, according to Wilder. Volunteering for any of their shifts — ranging from 2 hours to overnight — during this season would be very helpful. Groundworks Collaborative, however, discourages volunteering at the location itself, out of a desire to maintain the feeling that it is the residents’ home. Instead, Trepini suggests bringing food or making a donation, which would enable the organization to hire more case managers and increase capacity and the ability to intervene before people become homeless. At the Grove Street Inn in Northampton, volunteers who would like to prepare and serve a meal once a month are in demand. Overnight volunteers are needed at the Interfaith Shelter. The overnight shift volunteer helps out with dinner, stays overnight in a private room, and then serves breakfast in the morning, Swisher said.
For those who do wish to volunteer, Wilder asks that they “be aware of the environment they’re in, be aware that they’re there for the sake of the guests, not for the sake of the organization. We love it when volunteers come in wanting to know our clients … it makes a big difference for our clients. When they come in, they feel like they’re coming home, and volunteers are a big part of that.”•
Craig’s Place Emergency Shelter
413-437-0776
First Baptist Church, 434 North Pleasant St., Amherst
Groundworks Collaborative
802-257-0066
60 S. Main St., Brattleboro
Friends of the Homeless
413-732-3069
755 Worthington St., Springfield
Grove Street Inn
413-586-6001
91 Grove St., Northampton
(Please drop off donations after 3:30 p.m. on weeknights
or during the day Saturday and Sunday).
Interfaith Emergency Shelter
413-586-6750
43 Center St., Northampton
(Please drop off donations between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.
or after 5).
Wells Street Shelter
413-774-6382
60 Wells St., Greenfield
(Please drop off donations any day between 4:30 and
9 p.m.).
Barton’s Crossing
Emergency Shelter
413-442-1445
1307 North St., Pittsfield
(Please drop off donations any time between 10 a.m.
and 3 p.m.).
ServiceNet
413-585-1300
129 King St., Northampton
