Volunteer
Take Me To Volunteer Opportunities For
Individuals
Ongoing volunteer opportunities for individuals or small groups
Consistency and relationships are important at Dégagé. As a result, we ask volunteers to commit to a regular schedule for volunteering – anything from several days a week to one particular day each month, depending on your availability.
Kitchen support
Breakfast – every day from 7:15 AM – 9:15 AM
Lunch – Monday to Friday from 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM
Dinner – every day from 4:30 PM – 6:30 PM
Community Center patron activities
Flexible dates and times
Wellness Center
Monday to Friday from 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Salon
Monday to Friday, 9 AM – Noon
Rest Center
As needed, Monday to Friday, from 9 AM – 3 PM
Open Door Shelter
Develop relationships while opening lockers and helping with showers
Every day from 6 PM – 8 PM
In-Kind Donation sorting and tracking
Thrift on Div retail store
Monday to Friday, from 9 AM – Noon, or Noon- 3 PM
Open Door Bakery retail store
Monday to Friday, 9 AM – 1 PM
Open Door Bakery baking
Special/Professional Skills
If you have a particular skill that you want to share. Attorneys, accountants, yoga instructors, and nurses meet with patrons on a regular basis.
Winter Day Center Needs
8am – 10am help serve cofffee (two people max)
10am – noon lead Bible study or activities (six people max)
12:30pm – 2:30pm help serve lunch (three people max)
This opportunity is not at the Dégagé main campus. Rather, it is next door in a building called The Vault. This winter day center is in partnership with LaGrave Christian Reformed Church, The City of Grand Rapids, and Mel Trotter Ministries.
If you are interested in helping out in any of these areas and are able to commit to volunteering at least monthly, please click here to begin the process. We will contact you to within 7 business days to discuss your schedule further, and will send a form for our required background check at that time.
Please note: A few of our volunteer opportunities allow for small groups to volunteer together, and we understand it might mean that the participants might not be the same people every time. Please have the leader of the group complete the application. By doing so, that person agrees to be our main point of contact. If your group wants a one-time volunteer opportunity, please see information below about Groups.
Groups
One-time volunteer opportunities for groups
Groups can make a big impact in just one day! We want to make sure all groups have a quality experience at Dégagé, and maximize their impact as a result.
Because we want all volunteer work to be meaningful, we do not ‘make work’ when there are no tasks to be completed by a group. This may mean that the dates your group would like to join us do not coincide with work that needs to be done. Please be as flexible as possible with your dates and times so everyone can have a great experience. If dates do not work out, please consider scheduling one of our Learning Experiences at your location. They can be extremely powerful as well!
Each group will be expected to participate in an educational experience during their visit. This may be 15-30 minute discussion on poverty and homelessness, up to an entire 90 minute housing simulation program, depending on the interest of the group.
At the end of their visit, each group will be presented with further ways they can stay involved with Dégagé.
VOLUNTEERING
THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND
While volunteering, we ask each person to treat those we serve with dignity and respect
Respecting our patron’s privacy, ie: do not mention specific names, dates, or times of patron interactions with anyone who is not facility at Dégagé Ministries
For everyone’s safety, we ask that volunteers not fraternize with the patrons outside of Dégagé Ministries, ie: giving money or a ride without clearing it with the Volunteer Manager
In case of an emergency, find your supervisor! Please don’t try to handle the situation yourself.