Being a volunteer gives you the opportunity to share your time, talents, and energy with people in your community. It is an opportunity for you to help people in need in your community, make new friends and social connections, participate more in your community, and learn job skills and social skills.

On this page, you will find resources you can use to create and find volunteer opportunities in your community.

Make a Plan to Volunteer

Making a plan can help you find a volunteer position that matches your interests and goals for volunteering. My Volunteer Vision is a document can help you think through your vision for volunteering. Once you complete this, share it with friends, family members, or professionals you trust. You and your trusted supporters can work together to find volunteer opportunities in your community that fit with your vision. These supporters can also help you address any challenges and worries that you have. You can download My Volunteer Vision here.

It is possible that you may volunteer somewhere but not like what you are doing or not feel comfortable there. If this happens, ask for advice from the people you trust about how you feel. They can help you find ways to either make the situation better or find another volunteer activity!

Search for Volunteer Opportunities in Your Community

There are many volunteer databases that you can use to find opportunities in your community. These sites will search for volunteer opportunities based on what you want to do, where you are, when you want to work, and how much you want to volunteer.

• All for Good
• Create the Good
• Do Something
• Volunteer Match
• Idealist
• HandsOn Network
• MeetUp
• Eventbrite

Remember to practice good internet safety skills as you search for opportunities online. Here is a website that you can use to learn more about safety skills.

Reach Out to a Group You Want to Help and Create Your Own Volunteer Role

You may already know where you want to volunteer. If you do, reach out to the group and mention you are interested in volunteering with them. See if you can schedule time to meet with the group in person to learn more about the type of help they need and how you can volunteer with them.

Before you talk with them, check out this article and review the questions for you to ask yourself and to ask the organization where you want to volunteer.

Asking yourself and the group these questions can help you make sure you get what you want out a volunteer position.

What Else Can I Do?

Check with your local chapter of The Arc to learn more about other local volunteer opportunities you may want to participate in!