16121 Joy Road Detroit MI 48228    313-846-6942  Fax: 313-846-4044

VOLUNTEER: OVERVIEW

Types of Volunteers

Volunteers are people who believe the mission of an agency is worthwhile and wish to help the agency fulfill its mission. Volunteers can be an individual or a group of people from a civic group; a business group; a religious or church group; or a social or occupational fraternity. The act of volunteering can be in the form of providing direct service to the children we serve or service to the agency. Both types are critical in insuring the delivery of quality treatment and educational services to the children and their families.

Event/Task Volunteers

Event Volunteers are volunteers who people interested in helping with the  implementation of a specific event or projects. Time commitment here may be spread over a single day, single weekend or as long as ninety calendar days. However, the work would not require more than 24 hours from a person and usually shorter.

Scheduled Volunteers

Scheduled Volunteers are people interested in volunteering their time on a weekly or monthly schedule to assist the agency in the delivery of services. A person volunteers a specific amount of time to the agency on a scheduled basis. Examples: a person willing to volunteer two hours a day, three mornings a week as a clerical helper or a person willing to volunteer as a literacy helper  two afternoons a week

Specialized Skill Volunteers

There is a need to find volunteers who have specialized experience, skills, talents or knowledge to head up a group of volunteers in a task project.

Committee Volunteers

Committee volunteers are people willing to make long-term commitments in helping agency and board committees in organizing and planning for events or projects.

Americorps, Work-Study Students and Internships

We have also created a number of volunteer opportunities which qualify for Americorps placement, Work-Study placement and Internships.

About Majors: Many of the internship/work-study positions indicate student majors.  They are our opinion, which majors would benefit most from the experience in resume building. Most colleges also direct work-study jobs tied to the students academic and career goals. This is not a requirement for these positions. Any major may work any position under work-study or Americorps. Internships are tied to college requirements because of credits.

Definitions:

Internship: An internship is taken for college credit. It is arranged through the College Department. Student is give a grade, pass-fail or an evaluation at the end of the semester. The hours for an internship are generally 4-15 hours a week for one or two school semesters. You may not receive work-study money for a credit internships. In some colleges internships are called a student practicum.

Work-Study: Work-Study is part of financial aid for students. A student must meet financial need qualifications to participate in work-study. Work-Study grants are funded by the Federal Government and State of Michigan. Students apply for financial grants with their college Financial Aid Office. Once approved the student would contact the college's career/ job placement office. Generally a work-study assignment pays $8.00-$10.00 per hour for 10-20 hours per week for a semester. The actual position available, size of grant available and the number of hours available are subject to government budget considerations and will vary from academic year to academic year. In some colleges work-study is also called co-op work.

St. Peter’s Home for Boys is now able to take work-study students from the following colleges.

• University of Michigan-Dearborn

• Henry Ford Community College

• Wayne State University

• Wayne County Community College

• Davenport Business College

• Schoolcraft Community College.

St. Peter’s also has Master’s in Social Work Internships through Wayne State University and University of Michigan.

Americorps: Americorps is a Federally funded program. It is similar to work-study. The important part of Americorps is anyone is qualified to participate. You do not need to be an enrolled student at the college to qualify. There is no financial means test to become eligible. In addition to receiving an hourly rate like work-study, Americorps workers are also given a tuition stipend. This stipend can be applied to future education or be used to pay off prior student loans. Usually Americorps commitments are for 9-12 months at 15-20 hours per week.

We are continuously revising our work-study opportunities, so check our website for revisions, subtraction and additions to our opportunities. Also, we are working with other educational institutions to be an approved work-study site. Check our website for additions.