Volunteer

No, we want to provide opportunities that work with your schedule. However, the most beneficial volunteer experience for both Amazing Place and the volunteer is a repeat assignment at specific intervals (weekly, bimonthly, monthly). This allows meaningful relationships to be formed between volunteers, participants, and staff.

We usually schedule volunteer shifts from 2-3 hours. In our Day Program, we have shifts from 8am-9:30am, 9:30am-11:30am, 11:30am-1pm, 1pm-3pm and 3pm-5pm. Our front desk shifts are typically from 4pm-6pm. Volunteers who help in the kitchen typically work from 9am-12pm or 1pm-3pm. Bible Study Leaders and Art Teachers typically dedicate an hour and a half to include set up and clean up.

Yes, prior to volunteering, our volunteers must attend an orientation where we provide extensive training on dementia, strategies for interacting with our participants, HIPPA, and handling emergencies. Our training also includes information on our history and mission, how we operate, our philosophy of care, volunteer guidelines, online scheduling through our volunteer portal, and any necessary training specific to your volunteer assignment.

We welcome entertainment groups of all kinds. Our participants are a very friendly, attentive, and appreciative audience. Because of the nature of dementia, we typically cannot offer large group volunteer opportunities other than entertainment. In addition, the training requirements for interacting with our participants make one-time group opportunities challenging.

We do! Check out our STARS Program page for more information.

Managing volunteering with school schedules can be difficult which is why we concentrate on student volunteers during the summer break. Many of our STARS, once trained, continue volunteering throughout the next school year on school breaks or late afternoons after school.