Social Services
Below you will find a listing of Social Service
Agencies in the Athens-Clarke County area, along with relevant and
helpful statistics, resources, and service-learning reflection
questions.
Athens Area Habitat for Humanity
There are the
following volunteer opportunities: office work, providing lunch and
delivering it to construction sites, serving on the Habitat
committee, and area Habitat fundraising. (also on General
Resources sheet)
Contact: Annique
Gerson at 706-208-1001 or annique@athenshabitat.com
Athens Area Homeless Shelter
This agency has the
following volunteer opportunities: Dinner volunteers, Children's
Programs, Fundraising Events, Supply Drives, and other Special
Projects.
Contact: Jane
Matthews at 706-354-0423 or aahs@negia.net
Catholic Social
Services
Volunteers are
needed to teach English as a Second Language to adults in the Athens
community.
Contact: Stella
Sailors at 706-548-9421 or cssath1@bellsouth.net
Foodbank of Northeast Georgia
This agency is
looking for volunteers between 8am - 5pm Monday - Friday. Volunteers
are needed to load and unload vehicles, stack and sort, and place
food on shelves.
Contact: David
Williams at 706-354-8191 or food@foodbanknega.org
Project Safe
This agency has
training sessions for potential volunteers 3 times a year. One can
be selected to volunteer at this organization after training and
reference checks are completed.
The opportunities
for volunteers include: Women's Advocates, Children's Programs,
Spanish Translators, Donation Coordinators, and Community Outreach.
Contact: Awatif
Eljack at 706-549-0922 or projectvolunteer@yahoo.com
Salvation Army
This agency is
looking for volunteers in the following areas: clerical help,
cleaning, Thrift Store, Meal Time, Women's Shelter, lawn care, youth
activities, kettles, and the distribution center.
Contact:
706-543-5350 or Major Patty Price at geopatpri@aol.com or Juanita
Archer at nitaarcher61@hotmail.com
Sexual Assault Center
The Sexual Assault
Center provides advocacy for victims of sexual violence in our
community, as well as education and prevention programming.
Volunteers are needed to assist
with the 24 hour Crisis Hotline. As a hotline volunteer, you will
provide emotional support to survivors of sexual assault and their
significant others, friends and family members who may call the
line. You will also be trained to accompany sexual assault survivors
during the law enforcement interview and the rape exam.
Volunteers are also needed to
work individually or with others to create innovative sexual assault
prevention programs for the community. Program topics encompass all
issues surrounding sexual assault, such as self-protection, dating
violence, and child sexual abuse. Volunteers represent the agency
at local health fairs, festivals, and in classrooms in an effort to
prevent sexual assault through education.
Opportunities are open to
eligible men and women age 18+. All volunteers must complete a 30
hour intensive training course and pass a criminal background check
before volunteering
Contact: April
Ridgeway at 706-546-1133 or aridgeway@sacnega.org
Strong Day
Recovery, Inc.
A place designed
for men to get back on their feet and prepare to enter the work
force. Male volunteers needed to help with various services and
classes offered.
Contact:
706-543-3538 or strongdayrecovery@charter.net
Athens-Clarke
Demographic Information (data
from 2000 Census & Family Connection Partnership)
-
Total
population – 101,489
-
64.9% White ;
27.3% African-American; 6.3% Hispanic or Latino; 3.1% Asian
-
In 2003 – 52.9%
of the high school-age students in Clarke County completed high
school
-
11.8% of the
population speak a language other than English ; 6.4% of the
population speak Spanish
-
14.8% of the
families in Athens-Clarke were below poverty level in 1999
Resources
National Coalition for the Homeless
National Coalition to End Homelessness
Stand up for Kids
54 Ways to Help the Homeless (on-line book)
Bread
for the World
Rape,
Abuse, and Incest National Network
Sexual
Assault Care Center
Family
Violence and Sexual Assault Institute
National
Domestic Violence Hotline Website
National
Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Pre-Service
Activities: Enhance your service experience.
If you would like
to get the most out of your service experience, please consider the
following questions:
-
Why are you
interested in working with these agencies?
-
What have your
experiences been so far with these activities?
-
What do you
think your service experience will be like?
-
Are you
interested in learning about these facts at the service site? If
so, what are some ways that you might be able to do that?
-
What are your
goals in participating in service?
-
What issues do
you think will be present as you begin volunteering?
Post-Service
Reflection Questions: To understand your service experience
In order to
understand your experiences please reflect on the following
questions:
WHAT:
- What happened
at the agency?
- What types of
activities did you participate in at the agency?
SO WHAT:
- What did your
experience(s) mean to you?
- What did you
learn from your experience(s)?
- What do you
feel is your main contribution to the agency or the people you
worked with?
- What did you
learn about yourself?
NOW WHAT:
- In what ways
can you apply what you are learning to other areas of your life?
- The most
important thing you will take with you from this experience is…
- Has your
community service sparked an interest in service or in the issue
that you worked with?
- If so, how do
you plan to continue pursuing that interest?
(Reference: Florida State University’s
Children/Youth Sheets)
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