Be Part of Something Amazing
Our goal is a safe successful return to the community for every person in our programs and that takes a lot of volunteers and resources. We have so many opportunities for you to contribute inside or outside of the jail or prison that we can't list them all.
We have great connection points across a wide spectrum of commitment levels - everything from note-writing and laundry to legal counsel and prayer warriors. We definitely have a perfect fit for you. The best part is that each donation of time or money comes with an incredible opportunity to create lasting change in someone's life.
Why Should We Volunteer?
Volunteering is not only good for the women we help, it's also good for us!
Research indicates that volunteering improves mental and physical health, life satisfaction, self-esteem and happiness, and lowers depression symptoms, worry, distress, suffering and grief. Volunteering can even help you live longer. While the exact reasons why volunteering has these effects is unclear, some studies have identified some possible explanations:
Volunteering gives us a purpose. When we are engaged in purposeful activity we feel a sense accomplishment. This is especially true for individuals who like to achieve goals. When we feel like we aren’t moving up the ladder at work or hitting our weight-loss goals volunteering can fill in the emotional gap.
Volunteering give us perspective. While scrolling through social media it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by others “success.” We know that everyone curates what they share – only showing the best of the best – but our hearts still might tell us that we should be envious. Volunteering gives us a chance to counter that instinctive response by offering another narrative for our heart – one that says we have more than many. Our life seen from a different angle can be refreshing and gratitude inducing.
Volunteering gives us skills. Looking to build that resume? Volunteering may be a great way for us gain experience in a particular subject or with a specific population of focus. It can also put us in contact with influencers within our field of study giving us opportunities to learn and make important connections throughout our careers.
Volunteering gives us people. When we volunteer we increase our time spent with people who care about the same kinds of things that we care about. This often becomes a social network that can be an important buffer for stress and pressure that is inherent in life. Studies show that this can reduce the risk of disease. Plus, these real life interactions can have a collective effect. There is nothing better than time to solidify friendships, and time spent together working toward a common goal is particularly effective. Many volunteers report that the friendships they make while volunteering are some of the richest in their lives.
Volunteering gives us brain power. Studies show that volunteers actually increase their brain functioning with improvement in working memory and processing capacity. Many of us have experienced having a “senior” moment (either ourselves or with someone we know) where our brains don’t seem to be quite as good as they used to be. Indeed, cognitive function has been shown to decline as we age. However, volunteering may be one thing we can do to slow the process. Other studies have revealed that interacting with others in in our social network (aka our fellow volunteers) can promote cognitive health and may even reduce the risk of dementia.
