Advocacy at Win
Win’s advocacy seeks to engage New Yorkers — including elected officials, legislators, advocates, and the community at large — in recognizing and advancing policy solutions to the family homelessness crisis in New York City.
Getting Started
To become a Win volunteer just click on “Sign Up To Volunteer” on the right and fill out our brief application. Once you submit this form, a member of Volunteer Services will be in touch within two weeks to schedule an orientation call with you. Our 30-minute volunteer phone orientation allows you to learn more about Win families, our organization, and volunteer opportunities.
Everyone must complete an orientation before volunteering with Win. Please note that individual volunteers must be 18 years or older. Check out the Group Volunteer page for opportunities to bring youth groups to Win.
The Forgotten Face of Homelessness
Headquarters Champions assist our Manhattan office staff with filing, data entry, and support with special projects. This is a great way to learn about different departments in nonprofit organizations. HQ Champions should have great organizational skills.
Learn more about our First Forgotten Face of Homelessness Campaign.
Residence Heroes support our Win social services staff with general office duties, including answering phones, filing and data entry. This is a great way to learn more about social work in a shelter environment.
Learn about last year’s campaign.
And learn about our policy recommendations in full.
Key Issues
Windividual volunteers come in to help facilitate pre-planned activities with our after-school Recreation and Camp Win programs. We currently run activities that focus on reading, art, science, and musical theater. This is a great way to have fun and support our Win kids.
Win Associates is an internal Win Volunteer group that hosts monthly events for Win kids at a variety of sites.
PLACEHOLDER
Win-Kind packers help sort and categorize in-kind donations before sending them directly to Win clients. Work with a team to organize clothing, toiletries and gifts for our clients.
Backpack Buddies Drive (August): Help source, fill and distribute backpacks with school supplies for each of our 2,600+ school-aged children. Sign up to volunteer at the end of June.
Holiday Gift Drive (October-December): Make the holidays brighter for Win children by helping to collect and sort thousands of gifts for our Holiday Gift Program. Sign-ups start mid-September.
To learn more about In-Kind Donations and Drives click here.
Volunteer As A Group
From corporate to church groups, group volunteering is a great way to give back.
Your company or other group can make an impact on the lives of our families by volunteering with both our kids and moms. While groups are required to come up with their own activities, they can pull inspiration from past programs, which have included those listed below.
TESTIMONIES
- Workshops on managing household finances
- “Mock Interview” scenarios before job fairs
- Workshops on Internet identity and job hunting through social media
- A spa day in celebration of International Women’s Day
- Dinner and crafts around Mother’s Day
- A holiday meal for the whole shelter with food and crafting opportunities
Hours
Our adult programming hours run from 10 am-4 pm, Monday – Friday. During the summertime we focus on children’s programing.
Parties for families can be scheduled for weekday evenings pending the approval of the sites.
PUBLICATIONS
- Fun and educational STEM programs that teach our children how to make paper mâché volcanoes, create a solar oven to make s’mores, build replica models of cities using basic art supplies, etc.
- Holiday themed arts and crafts around Halloween, Valentine’s Day, and the start of summer
- Offsite museum trips throughout the city
- Engaging our kids by bringing them out into the city with a fun field trip opportunity such as a museum or office visit
- Field trips to New York sporting events
Hours:
Our children programming hours run from 4-6pm, Monday – Friday during the school year. During Camp Win (school holidays and summer break), our hours are and 9am – 3pm, Monday – Friday.
Group Dynamics:
Win can accommodate up to 15 volunteers per event, unless it is a special event. All volunteers under 15 years old must be accompanied by an adult.
Supplies:
Volunteers must supply any necessary items to make their volunteer event a success. This includes things like color paper, stickers and glue for arts and crafts projects, as well as refreshments and gifts for workshops and beauty days. This helps our recreation programs keep supplies high for children in shelters, and also gives adults and families great incentive to participate in group activities.
Confidentiality:
Win asks all volunteers to adhere to confidentiality policies while working in our shelters and clinics. This includes a policy of no volunteer photography or filmography. All volunteers will be asked to sign a waiver during their orientation to the event. WIN staff may take photos of the event and will obtain permission from volunteers before doing so. Any pictures that do not contain residents’ faces can be shared with the Volunteer Group.
If you are representing a Group interested in doing an event, please fill out the form below and someone from the Volunteer Services Department will contact you. Thank you for your interest!
Please share information about your group in our sign-up form or email volunteer@winnyc.org.