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"We
make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." -Winston Churchill |
Given Shelter Network’s wide network of locations, programs and support services, it is very easy to become involved in solving the problem of homelessness on the Peninsula. Your participation will not only provide you a deep sense of meaning and community, but it will create a lasting impact in every life you help.
I encourage you to spend a few minutes looking over our numerous volunteer programs to find the best match for your talents and interests. We offer a variety of volunteer opportunities that are ongoing or can be done-in-a-day for individuals, kids, young adults, companies, or service, social and religious organizations.
Please feel free to contact me by email or phone to explore ways we can work together in the near future. Thanks for your time and interest.
I look foward to meeting you soon!
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Lynnelle Bilsey
Volunteer Coordinator
Shelter Network
Telephone: (650) 685-5880 x 25
E-mail: volunteer@shelternetwork.org
Individual
Volunteer Opportunities
One person can make a tremendously positive impact on the lives of homeless families and individuals. Here are just some of the ways you can get started, today!
Volunteer Profiles
There are no brighter faces to see at First Step for Families at 8 am than Dena and Christy. This mother-and-daughter pair are long-time volunteers at Shelter Network. Following are just a few facts that we may not have thought to ask them when they're delivering fresh food in the mornings or throwing parties at First Step with Christy's Girl Scout troop.
What
is your job/profession/school?
Christy: College student in Arizona, after graduating from Burlingame High
School.
Dena: Professional volunteer!
What are your hobbies?
Christy: Volleyball, skiing, hiking, dancing, Girl Scouts, and modeling
Dena: (Christy laughs, "My mom's hobbies are volunteering, volunteering, and volunteering!") Skiing, rollerblading, and bike riding
Who is your personal hero?
Christy: My mom, because without her we wouldn't be doing this.
Dena: Mother Teresa because of her great love of people and devotion to helping people.
What other volunteer experience do you have?
Christy: Through the Girl Scouts, I did a lot of community service. We did
Adopt-a-Family through them. I also did the food and toy give away at Samaritan
House and then through Make a Difference Day, my mom and I did a coat drive.
I have also volunteered for the Hillsborough Fire Department Help Program.
Dena: I've been President of CALL Auxiliary and a child advocate for two children.
I've also been an assistant leader with the Girl Scouts ever since Christy
was in kindergarten, and I am the "official" photographer for the Hillsborough
Fire Department. I even have a jacket from them! And twice a week, I pick
up food from the Burlingame Mollie Stone's, and deliver it to seven different
housing and food programs, including Sheter Network' s First Step.
When
does your food delivery morning usually end?
Christy: You mean when she talks to everyone, or when she doesn't talk?
Dena: Well, if I didn't talk I'd be done early - but what I enjoy is the interaction I have with everyone at the programs! So I usually go home at 11:30 am.
How
did you first get involved with Shelter Network?
Dena: Every year we did Adopt-a-Family through the Girl Scouts and I think
we found Shelter Network's Haven Family House that way in 1994. We volunteered
with the Girl Scouts by throwing parties there and then at First Step for
Families. Then I was invited to join the Support Committee at First Step,
throwing monthly parties for the families, organizing back-to-school backpacks
for the children, and delivering food on Mondays and Thursdays.
Please tell us a favorite story you have from volunteering.
Christy: Once when we were delivering food, I ran into a family that we met
at First Step who was staying at Interfaith Hospitality Network, and had just
found housing. It made me so happy to see them again!
What do you like best about volunteering?
Christy: The smiles from everyone. They are so meaningful!
Dena: The children. Children are my passion in life. But all of the people as well. I work harder than I've ever worked now, but my pay is in a different way. That's real satisfaction.
Shelter Network is truly lucky to have such enthusiastic and giving volunteers. We appreciate their spontaneity in giving and their enormous hearts. Thank you, Dena and Christy, from all the staff and participants at Shelter Network's programs!
Corporate,
Community Service Group, and Religious Organization Volunteer Opportunities
It's easy for groups to get organized and take action to help make the lives of homeless families and individuals easier during their stay with Shelter Network. Here are some of the ways you can get involved in meaningful projects, today!
Volunteer Profiles
For Sun Microsystems' Global Volunteer Week, we were fortunate to have a team of Sun volunteers at Shelter Network. The talented group of Sun employees spent the day at Family Crossroads creating colorful murals in the new Children's Room.
As mural sketches were discussed and paint cans opened, Khuyen Huynh, Carol Fong and Eugen Ho offered their services and re-painted the wood trim throughout the room, including door frames and baseboards.
Hiten Patel and Roey Loerum led the creative efforts by free-handing sketches for the bathroom and hallway murals. Hiten eagerly attacked his self-contained project in the bathroom with orange and teal paints to create an underwater motif of fish, kelp, and a giant octopus over the medicine cabinet, while Roey drew out a wall-sized storybook rainbow scene.
Meanwhile, Chakradhar Dunna and Carole Wong painstakingly sketched and painted a border of stylized animals onto the front room wall. Renee Tuttle, Khuyen Huynh, Carol Fong, Eugene Ho and Anita Nagarajan then went to work, alternately painting the animal border and the sun, butterflies, and tree that sprang up around Roey's rainbow.
The completed murals reflect the energy and the inspired painting that the group brought to Family Crossroads. In fact, they were so committed to the project that they were touching up the walls right up until their scheduled departure. Thanks to their commitment and teamwork, the new Children's Room is a bright and fun place for the children who study and play there.
We are thankful for the volunteerism that Sun Microsystems inspires with its Global Volunteer Week. We would like to recognize Carole Wong, Hiten Patel, Chakradhar Dunna, Roey Loeurm, Khuyen Huynh, Anita Nagarajan, Carol Fong, and Eugene Ho for their hard work, and note special thanks to Renee Tuttle for organizing the project.
Youth Volunteer Opportunities for Students, Boy and Girl Scout Troops, School Groups and Youth Groups of all kinds.There are many fun and meaningful experiences to be had by giving to those less fortunate than ourselves. Young people in our community have been volunteering at Shelter Network for 15 years. Here are some of the ways to get involved today!
Volunteer Profiles
Erica has been a helpful and fun addition to Shelter Network's office! Erica originally worked with Tamara, the Volunteer Coordinator, as a holiday intern at our administrative office in Burlingame, and she has also helped Bob, Shelter Network's Program Evaluation Assistant, with a number of database projects. Following are a few fun facts about Erica:
How did you get involved with Shelter Network?
Erica: I first learned about Shelter Network when I came across a volunteer posting on craigslist.org. I liked what I saw about Shelter Network and I thought the position of Holiday Intern looked interesting, so I called Tamara, the Volunteer Coordinator.
What do you do professionally?
Erica: I am a student at San Francisco State University, where I am majoring in Speech Communications.
When not studying or volunteering, what do you enjoy doing?
Erica: I enjoy hanging out with friends, traveling, and watching movies - my favorites are Disney movies, especially Finding Nemo.
What do you like best about volunteering with Shelter Network?
Erica: I enjoy helping others less fortunate than myself, and meeting new people. I really enjoyed helping with the Annual Breakfast last year.
Thank you to Erica and all of our fabulous volunteers!!
