Volunteer Opportunities

In collaboration with our community partners, Build It offers ongoing opportunities for volunteers to work and learn in schools and nonprofit organizations in Northside Richmond neighborhoods. These long-term service experiences, combined with opportunities for study and reflection, facilitate the sustained personal relationships that are the foundation of the Build It initiative. As individuals from different ends of Richmond’s geographic – and at times, economic – spectrum learn more about life on the other side, they begin to consider the underlying causes behind their differences and similarities. This type of reflective dialogue can help a diverse community work together to spur social change in Richmond and beyond.

In order to receive a placement at a Build It site during fall 2008 or spring 2009, all volunteers must commit to working at their site for at least one hour per week for at one semester, and preferably for the entire year. New volunteers must attend an orientation session, where they will receive a registration form. Returning volunteers must complete a new registration form each academic year. Individuals who submit their registration to the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement (Tyler Haynes Commons, 201) according to the timeline indicated on the registration form will be placed on the volunteer schedule. Please see the calendar for orientation sessions and volunteer start dates.

Brief descriptions of current Build It volunteer opportunities are provided below. For more information about the partner organizations, please visit the Build It partners page or click on the organization name to link to their Web site.

For additional information about Build It, or to find out more about how you, your class, or organization can can get involved, please contact the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) at (804) 484-1600 or engage@richmond.edu.

Volunteers are asked to submit a semester-end evaluation of their Build It experience. Such feedback helps the CCE steadily improve Build It.

Boaz & Ruth
3030 Meadowbridge Rd., Richmond, VA 23222
Phone: (804) 329-4900

Boaz & Ruth is a nonprofit organization in Highland Park with a threefold mission: the successful re-entry of ex-offenders into society, achieved in part by providing job and life-skills training as well as caring and coaching relationships for ex-offenders; neighborhood revitalization, achieved through renovating properties and starting new neighborhood businesses; and interracial and cross-cultural dialogue. Build It volunteers have served in a number of ways, including offering ex-offenders one-on-one tutoring in computer skills (email, Web search, Word, and Excel), writing skills, and elementary math. Others have taken on administrative duties or assisted in building renovations in support of long-term Boaz & Ruth projects.

Volunteer shifts available Monday – Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Driving directions and contact information

Chandler Middle School
201 E. Brookland Park Blvd., Richmond, VA 23222
Phone: (804) 780-4332

Fax: (804) 780-4423

Chandler is a Richmond public middle school (grades 6-8) located in Highland Park. Build It volunteers serve as classroom aides during the school day and offer tutoring and homework assistance after school. Tutors are needed in the after-school reading remediation program from 3-4:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Homework tutors are also needed in a variety of subjects from 3-4:30 p.m. Mondays - Thursdays. There are no after-school programs on Fridays at Chandler. Volunteers participating in any of the after-school programs will need to pick up a volunteer packet from Cassie Price in the CCE (room 201, Tyler Haynes Commons). Build It volunteers may also participate in the mentoring program AMP! Metro Richmond. Amp! mentors and mentees meet on a one-on-one basis on Fridays during lunch between noon and 1:00 p.m. The AMP! mentor program is currently full for spring 2009. All volunteers serving at Chandler--whether as classroom aides, AMP! mentors, or after-school tutors--must register with the Keep N Track system and log into the Keep N Track console located in the school's front office every time they volunteer.

Volunteer shifts available Monday – Thursday between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. and between 8:30 and 2:40 p.m. on Friday

Driving directions and contact information

Hotchkiss Field Community Center
701 E. Brookland Park Blvd., Richmond, VA 23222
Phone: (804) 646-4466

The Hotchkiss Field Community Center in Highland Park provides after-school programs and athletic activities for children and youth. Build It participants may serve as assistant sports coaches for children's sports teams from 5:30-7 p.m. and for youth sports teams from 7-8:30 p.m. The CCE shuttle runs during the 5:30-7 p.m. time period but not the 7-8:30 p.m. time period. Football and cheerleading season runs from early August through late November; basketball season from early December through early March; baseball, softball, and soccer season from mid-March to early June; and track and field season from mid-March to late July.

Volunteer shifts available Monday – Friday between 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Driving directions and contact information

Overby-Sheppard Elementary School
2300 First Ave., Richmond, VA 23222
Phone: (804) 329-2515

Fax: (804) 780-4321

Overby-Sheppard, a Highland Park elementary school serving children in kindergarten through fifth grade, is part of the Richmond Public School (RPS) system. Build It volunteers assist with the Voyager reading program (K - 2), serve as aides in science and history classrooms (3 - 5), read to children in the cafeteria during their lunch period (10:30 a.m.-12:55 p.m.), and offer tutoring assistance and lead enrichment activities in two after-school programs, the Bumblebee Academy (3:00-4:30 p.m., Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, beginning in early October) and the Department of Parks and Recreation's After School Program (2:40-5:30 p.m., Monday - Friday). The Bumblebee Academy welcomes all volunteers and encourages those with a particular talent, such as dancers, musicians, chess masters, cheerleaders, etc., to start a club for the children. The director of the Bumblebee Academy would also like to find a UR student to set up a database to analyze OS students' academic progress by tracking their test scores. All volunteers serving at Overby-Sheppard must register with the RPS Keep N Track system and log into the Keep N Track computer console located in the school office every time they volunteer. Volunteers participating in the Parks and Rec-sponsored After School Program should contact Cassie Price in the CCE (room 201, Tyler Haynes Commons) about picking up a volunteer packet and providing TB screening documentation (screening must have been done within last two years) and undergoing a background check.

Volunteer shifts available Monday – Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Driving directions and contact information

Reach Out and Read Virginia
VCU Medical Center, Main Hospital, Pediatric Emergency Department
Volunteer Services Department, Main Hospital, 1st Floor, 1250 E. Marshall St., Richmond, VA 23298
Phone: (804) 828-0922

Reach Out and Read (ROR) promotes early childhood literacy by making books a routine part of primary health care for children. Build It volunteers read to the children waiting to be seen by the doctors at the VCU Medical Center pediatric emergency department. Although the VCU Medical Center pediatric emergency department is located in downtown Richmond in VCU's Main Hospital, it serves many patients from inner-city Northside and East End neighborhoods, and was therefore adopted as a Build It partner site.

This site is ideal for volunteers interested in early childhood literacy or in health care. Volunteers must be willing to attend a one-hour Build It orientation, a 45-minute ROR orientation, and a two-hour hospital orientation (offered only on Jan. 21 and 23 during spring semester 2009) as well as provide documentation of two recent TB tests. Please contact Build It program manager Cassie Price for details.

The Volunteer Services Department listed above coordinates all volunteers for VCU Medical Center.

Volunteer shifts available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including holidays

Youth Life Foundation of Richmond

Highland Park Learning Center

3076 Meadowbridge Rd., Richmond, VA 23222

Phone: (804) 321-1381

Fax: (804) 321-1382

The Youth Life Foundation of Richmond (YLFR) Highland Park Learning Center is located in the Northside Outreach Center at 3076 Meadowbridge Rd. and offers an after-school program. The learning center currently serves 15 children in kindergarten through fifth grade. Mentors work with the same one or two children every time, helping them with character development and academics. YLFR differs from many other tutoring/mentoring programs in its level of intensity (the children are tutored one-on-one by adult mentors every day after school) and its duration (the children are encouraged to remain in the program through their senior year in high school). The YLFR lead teacher provides mentors with a detailed lesson plan to follow for every session. Children who have behaved well throughout the week may participate in Fun Friday activities, which include field trips and guest speakers. Although YLFR is a Christian-based organization, children and volunteers participating in the program do not have to be Christian.  

Volunteer shifts available Monday – Thursdays between 3 p.m. and 5:45 p.m. for those riding the CCE shuttle and interested in both mentoring and tutoring and between 3:45-5:45 for those with their own transportation interested only in tutoring.

Driving directions and contact information

YLFR Facebook group account

YLFR Highland Park Learning Center calendar of events