Overview:

Community service and volunteering can be steps in your career to help disadvantaged groups or neighborhoods in the community; however, volunteering and community service can be putting your skills at work regardless of your profession throughout your professional career.

Not only will it help the community and help you feel good, it also develops professional skills and allows you to network with people you may not otherwise have been able to meet. Furthermore, there are many ways to volunteer with community service organizations including: donating money, donating time, donating skills, or serving as a member of their board.

However, there are also professional jobs you can do through rigorous volunteer programs targeted for young people that help develop professional skills while also serving the community

Potential Jobs in the Field/Potential Projects:

City Year Corps Member:

City Year Description

As a Corps Member with City Year, you could serve at a high-need school working as a tutor, mentor, role model, and after school program coordinator. You could be providing comprehensive tutoring, planning activities and events, and providing behavior interventions for students most at-risk to drop out from high school.

Americorps NCCC Member

Americorps NCCC Description

As an NCCC member with Americorps you could work on meaningful projects in communities across the United States. The projects you work on would address critical needs related to natural and other disasters, infrastructure improvement, environmental stewardship and conservation, energy conservation, and urban and rural development. You could construct and rehabilitate low-income housing, respond to natural disasters, clean up streams, help communities develop emergency plans, and address countless other local needs.

Resources on Campus:

Community Impact Comprehensive listing of the community service organizations under the Community Impact umbrella. CI’s programs range from youth education to emergency programs for the homeless to job training for adults.

Peer Health Exchange Student organization teaching middle and high schoolers across New York about health issues.

Youth for Debate Student run not-for-profit teaching debate and public speaking to high-need students across NY.

Columbia Community Outreach Student run and led program where 1000 members of the Columbia community unite to give a day of service in March.

Links:

Americorps Vista A yearlong Americorps service program matching volunteers to not-for-profits across America.

Corporation for National and Community Service A Comprehensive guide created by the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency that engages Americorps volunteers, of volunteer opportunities nationwide.

Indeed Listing of community service jobs from the #1 most visited job search website worldwide.

Volunteer Match Organization matching volunteers to more than 75,000 not-for-profits nationally.

New York Cares Organization mobilizing caring New Yorkers in volunteers service to meet pressing community needs.