Outreach Volunteer

At The Crossroads is looking for committed volunteers to support its street outreach to homeless youth. As an Outreach Volunteer you will have the opportunity to work directly with homeless youth in the Mission District and/or Downtown San Francisco.

Responsibilities

One night a week or every other week, each volunteer will accompany staff as they walk around either the Mission or Downtown San Francisco, talking to youth and distributing food, hygiene supplies, condoms, and harm reduction supplies such as clean cookers and alcohol pads. Although volunteers’ primary responsibility will be to support staff on outreach, over time, volunteers have the opportunity to build relationships with folks as they gain a better understanding of the program and the youth.

Expectations

As you may understand, it can be difficult to find a replacement if someone is unable to make your outreach night. You will be expected to contact the appropriate person(s), in a timely manner, if you are not able to make your shift. At the same time, if you are contacted for your availability to cover a shift, please reply as soon as possible. Also, to initiate your own personal growth with us and to help Outreach Counselors improve in their work, you will be asked to give us feedback and receive feedback about your outreach night and our program in general.

Qualifications

In order to work effectively with the population we target, you must be comfortable with street youth (ages 14 – 29+), and be comfortable working at night on the streets in “low-income” neighborhoods. Our work depends on excellent communications skills and an open, non-judgmental attitude toward youth. Previous experience working with homeless youth populations, gang-associated youth, drug-addicted youth, and/or youth working in street economies is favorable. General volunteer experience is a plus, and priority is given to volunteers who meet the most diverse outreach needs, for example bilingual candidates.

Volunteers must be at least 21 years of age. If in recovery, volunteers must have completed at least one year of sobriety. All volunteers will be subject to a fingerprint background check. Potential volunteers with a record will not be automatically disqualified. We will be asking you to fill out an application for this position. All candidates being considered for the position will be asked to come in for an interview. Volunteers must be able to commit to a consistent volunteering schedule, and must be able to get to and from our office on Valencia Street on their own.

We see the role of outreach volunteer as an excellent training to becoming a full time staff member. Outreach volunteers will be given priority if they express an interest in obtaining employment with ATC. In the past we have had several outreach volunteers become full time staff members. This does not mean that volunteers need to be interested in future employment in order to become an outreach volunteer.

Time Obligation

Consistency plays a big part in building a trusting relationship. Because we want our clients to get to know our volunteers, we ask that volunteers commit to working with At the Crossroads for at least six months. Each person will volunteer once each week from 6:15pm or 7:15pm until 11:00pm or midnight. This includes outreach preparation; outreach itself, and post-outreach checkout. If necessary, we will also consider volunteers who can commit to doing outreach only once every two weeks.

Prior to going on outreach, each volunteer will participate in a series of trainings. The dates for these trainings have yet to be determined, though we expect it will require a series of 3-4 two-hour trainings. A training schedule will be made based on staff and volunteers availability.