Refugee & Immigration Services Volunteers
Refugee Employment Support
Location: Phoenix and Tucson
Details: Do you enjoy meeting others, marketing/networking, and helping people succeed in finding employment?Volunteers are needed to help advocate for and secure job placements for refugees who are eager to find work.After the LSS employment team or case managers have submitted an application on behalf of a refugee client for a job, volunteers are needed to make in-person visits to those employers/businesses. The visits help to bridge the gap between what a hiring manager may read on paper and the skills the candidate has. LSS will provide volunteers with training, talking points, and the list of employers to visit.
Refugee Youth Mentor
Location: Phoenix and Tucson
Details: Community members are matched for a 4 month commitment as a mentor to a refugee between the ages of 15 to 24 years old. Mentors help their mentee navigate their new community, explore professional and educational opportunities, and have fun together.
English as a Second Language Tutor
Location: Phoenix and Tucson - at the refugee home/apartment
Details: Teach and practice English speaking, reading, and writing to newly resettled refugees. Have simple, natural conversation practice with refugees who are learning the language, helping them to feel more comfortable with basic dialogue, practice useful phrases and words, and help them memorize key vocabulary they’ll need in everyday life. We have various English materials and workbooks at our office that you can utilize to design your lessons.
First Friend & Co-Sponsor Welcome Teams
Location: Phoenix and Tucson
Details: Refugees new to Arizona need support navigating their new community - have fun together as well as help them with practical tasks such as sorting mails, making appointments, grocery shopping, as well as English practice and navigating their career path. Community groups/churches/families of 3-7 volunteers are matched with refugee families and individual volunteers will be matched with an individual refugee.
Sewing or Crochet Teacher
Location: Phoenix and Tucson
Details: Share your skills with refugee women on how to sew, crochet or do other crafts. Lead workshops to the full group at our office or teach 1:1 in a refugee woman’s apartment. The classes offer the women a time to meet others, learn or perfect a skill, and provide an income stream for those who sell their finished products on Etsy or at community markets.
English Teacher - Women’s Empowerment Program
Location: Phoenix LSS Office
Details: Share your teaching skills with our Women’s Empowerment Program. The program is looking for a skilled teacher to help our community of refugee women learn more English during their Women's Empowerment Classes. English classes are held on Tuesdays and Fridays from 12pm to 12:45pm. As a volunteer teacher, you can serve one or both days depending on your schedule.
Etsy Support - Women’s Empowerment Program
Location: Phoenix LSS Office
Details: Refugee women are invited to learn to sew and create products they can sell to support their family. A volunteer is needed who can commit a few hours a week working from their home or our office to assist the program by taking photos of products, listing items on the Etsy store page, and shipping items once purchased. Training is provided.
Local Market Assistant - Women’s Empowerment Program
Location: Phoenix
Details: Refugee women are invited to learn to sew and create products they can sell to support their family. In addition to selling on our Etsy store page, the Women’s Empowerment Program also sells the products at local markets in the Phoenix area. The Local Market Assistant will help sell items at markets on the weekends and work with our program to find new markets or businesses to sell at.
Transportation
Location: Phoenix and Tucson
Details: Pick up refugee women at their apartment that don’t have vehicles, so they can attend the Women’s Empowerment classes at our office, or taking a refugee to a medical appointment. Driving clearances required.
Childcare
Location: Phoenix and Tucson LSS offices
Details: Watch the children of parents’ attending classes at our offices so they can focus closely on the material being shared. Classes are offered on the topics of financial education, sewing, or other important lifeskills or cultural orientation.
Housing Application Assistant
Location: Phoenix and Glendale - at the refugee home/apartment
Details: Assist refugees in filling out low-income housing applications; obtain information from clients and enter into online forms. Each application process will take place in the home of the client and then may include some remote/virtual follow up. You can help just one family or be assigned multiple families.
Ready to get started? Register for a virtual volunteer orientation to learn more and get started with a current opening.