Volunteering with Refugee & Immigrant Services

Help JFCS staff turn a house or temporary hotel room into a home for newly arrived refugee families. Help families feel safe and welcome from their very first day in Pittsburgh.

Maya West, a long time volunteer writes, “Volunteering with the R&I department is one of the best decisions I have ever made. I have gotten to interact with so many unique and wonderful clients, and learned a lot about myself during volunteering. The staff at JFCS is great and really fun to work with, and beginning to work with JFCS has brought me so many positive experiences.”

Apply now by clicking here. 

Our volunteers set up this family’s home so they were welcomed will a fully stocked kitchen, including dishware, food, and more! Along with their kitchen items, they received bedding and other needs to make their transition as easy as possible.

Help teach families or individuals to shop in America, find their closest food pantry, take the bus, walk to their nearest park, get a library card, or any one of many other activities that will be new to them and will help them adjust to this new chapter of their lives.

Apply now by clicking here. 

Work closely with a refugee individual or family to help them meet specific goals, such as learning to identify important mail, becoming more familiar with their new neighborhood, navigating American health care systems, etc.

Emily Shearer, a mentor recalls her volunteer experience, “Being a family mentor for JFCS Refugee and Immigrant Services is incredibly rewarding. It’s not just about guiding our partner families through new beginnings and helping to foster a mindset of self-sufficiency and empowerment; it’s about creating a bond that uplifts both hearts. I feel especially blessed as I learn so much about myself through the family I work with. Together, we help build resilience, compassion and a more inclusive society – but most of all a sense of hope for our community.”

Apply now by clicking here. 

Two of our mentors met and discussed new ways to help our clients. Knowledge, tips, and guidance were shared amongst them so they could better serve clients of JFCS.

Work as a small group of around five people or so to donate the essential non-furniture household items and set up a newly arrived family or individual’s new home.

A Welcome Home Team volunteer, Sabina Bilder Rosenfeld from Rodef Shalom shares, “My great-grandparents, along with 4 small children and a mother-in-law, arrived in Philadelphia in 1899 with $37. The family was greeted at the pier by my grandmother’s great Uncle Hirsch who had secured a place for them to live and a means of income for my great-grandfather. Many refugees and immigrants have no one to welcome them here, so, with gratitude, I honor my Uncle Hirsch’s memory by participating in Rodef Shalom’s Welcome Home team. I also take instruction from my great-grandfather, Louis Leopold Schwartz, who in a letter to my grandmother and future generations wrote: “give a meal to a hungry and a drink to a thirsty.”

Apply now by clicking here. 

Volunteers set up the home with daily essentials, such as furniture and kitchen needs which provides the family with a welcoming space to live in.

Work as a group of 15 or more people to collaborate with JFCS for six months to resettle a newly arriving refugee family, and provide support for the family to become more and more self-sufficient.

Sandy Conley, a Co-Sponsor from Westminster Presbyterian shares their experience volunteering, “Our entire church has rallied around this family in large and small ways. We all now know what a huge impact our sponsorship is having for the family.”

Apply now by clicking here.