Join our Good Neighbor Network today!
Our volunteers are a diverse group with different backgrounds and skill sets who share a common goal: to help reduce homelessness and promote housing justice through education, advocacy, and compassion in action. Do you want to donate your time and talents to help resolve homelessness in Santa Cruz County?
Artist Ally
The Artist Ally is a volunteer at Housing Matters who fosters equitable access to the local creative community for our program participants. The Artist Ally has a background in creative arts and is enthusiastic about helping our program participants, in a group setting, to achieve one or more of the following:
The volunteer experience
Artist Allies work with the Volunteer Program Manager to bring ongoing opportunities for creative self-expression to the Housing Matters community, keeping in mind the three main goals listed above.
Volunteer qualifications
Book Buddies
Rebele Family Shelter (RFS) provides emergency shelter for up to 28 households with children (approximately 90 individuals) on any given night. Families reside in the shelter for an average of six months while working toward obtaining permanent housing.
The volunteer experience
Book Buddies volunteer in the RFS to inspire a love of reading in some of our youngest shelter residents. Volunteers read on the first and third Mondays of every month, from 3:30 – 4:30 pm.
Young readers at RFS range in age from elementary school through middle school. There are at least three volunteers working together during each Book Buddies reading group, and parents are never out of sight. So it’s a supportive environment for RFS families as well as for volunteers. Book Buddies meet in the RFS Dining Room and on the RFS playground.
Volunteer qualifications
Campus Companion
Housing Matters welcomes about 150 shelter guests on any given night at our Coral Street campus. We operate three unique shelter programs: the Recuperative Care Center, Rebele Family Shelter, and The Loft. We also welcome about 80 people onto our campus daily to access Day Services like our mail room, showers, and bathrooms.
The volunteer experience
Campus Companions greet guests in public spaces on the Housing Matters campus and offer friendly conversation to enhance our guests’ sense of purpose and belonging. Campus Companions may also offer way finding to guests in the form of schedules of services available on and off campus.
Volunteer qualifications
Day Service Support
Each year more than 2,500 of our unhoused neighbors access Day Services at Housing Matters, including hot showers and bathrooms open seven days a week. Towels and toiletries are offered to shower program participants, thanks to the generous donations of personal hygiene supplies received from community members and organizations.
The volunteer experience
Day Services Assistants help our Direct Services staff to operate the Hygiene Bay, where Housing Matters offers showers and bathrooms to our guests. The Day Services Assistant may also help staff with light cleaning and organizing of supplies; meal delivery; and laundry support for shelter residents.
Volunteer qualifications
Front Desk Assistant
Our Front Desk is the first stop for visitors to our administrative offices and is located on the ground floor of the Rebele Family Shelter. Our Front Desk also serves as an information hub for community members calling Housing Matters in search of shelter options and other essential services. It’s open Monday through Friday, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm.
The volunteer experience
Front Desk volunteers greet visitors with a kind word and a smile and answer calls from community members. Callers are often seeking information about shelter program eligibility and other essential services offered by Housing Matters and partner organizations. This position is supervised by our Guest Experience Coordinator.
Volunteer qualifications
Gratitude Group
Each year about 1,000 compassionate community members give financial support to help sustain Housing Matters programs and services. When our donors receive a personal thank you call, they are significantly more likely to give a second gift and to make it larger than the first. With help from volunteers, our Development Team and Board of Directors work together to make thank you calls throughout the year to let donors know the significance of their impact.
The volunteer experience
Gratitude Group volunteers gather via Zoom with Development staff for thank you call parties. Development staff get this party started by setting motivation and discussing strategy with volunteers. Next, volunteers turn off their cameras and hit the phones for about 40 minutes. Finally, the whole group returns to the Zoom meeting to debrief and celebrate the meaningful connections they have made with Housing Matters donors over the phone.
Volunteer qualifications
Kitchen Assistant
Housing Matters welcomes about 200 shelter program participants on any given night at our Coral Street campus. We operate three unique shelter programs: the Recuperative Care Center, Rebele Family Shelter, and The Loft. Our guests enjoy meals in the Dining Hall or on The Patio, an open-air dining space. Our full-scale kitchen offers a nutritious breakfast, lunch, and dinner, every day of the week, to all of our shelter guests.
The volunteer experience
The Kitchen Assistant greets shelter guests at dinnertime and serves meals in a cafeteria-style line. After dinner is served, volunteers help kitchen staff to clean the kitchen and wash the dishes.
Volunteer qualifications
Mail Room Assistant
Without a physical address, receiving important mail can be challenging. More than 1,300 individuals experiencing homelessness use the Housing Matters mail room to receive important mail such as letters confirming Social Security payments, housing vouchers, and other government benefits, which are often an important part of someone’s pathway back to permanent housing.
We provide mail accounts as well as stationary, envelopes, and pens to those experiencing homelessness at no cost. Our mail room is open to the public from 10am–2pm, Monday through Friday; 6am–8am on Tuesdays; and 4pm–6pm on Thursdays.
The volunteer experience
Mail room volunteers help sort the mail and manage our community message board and program information board. Mail room volunteers work under the direction of the Mail Services Coordinator.
Volunteer qualifications
Neighbors for Neighbors Greeter
Housing Matters is proud to offer community education opportunities for the general public on solutions to homelessness, free of charge, every month of the year.
Neighbors for Neighbors is an educational program hosted in partnership with Santa Cruz Public Libraries. Our monthly in-person library meetups feature expert speakers on topics pertinent to homelessness and housing justice. Past topics have included: Shelter programs in Santa Cruz County; What’s working in other places; and Safe parking programs.
The volunteer experience
The Neighbors for Neighbors Greeter manages the welcome table where attendees sign in before joining our meet up. The Greeter is often the first point of contact for attendees. They offer a welcoming smile, collect accurate attendance information, and do their best to answer questions that may arise.
Volunteer qualifications
Neighbors for Neighbors Video Editor
Housing Matters is proud to offer community-education opportunities for the general public on solutions to homelessness, free of charge, every month of the year.
Neighbors for Neighbors is an educational program hosted in partnership with Santa Cruz Public Libraries. These monthly in-person library meetups feature expert speakers on topics pertinent to homelessness and housing justice. Past topics have included: Shelter programs in Santa Cruz County; What’s working in other places; and Safe parking programs.
Housing Matters receives ongoing requests for remote access to library meetup content. Our goal is to offer a publicly accessible online archive of Neighbors for Neighbors meetup content, sharing the expert knowledge shared by guest speakers.
The volunteer experience
The volunteer video editor works in partnership with Housing Matters Community Engagement staff to create a uniform collection of educational videos, using raw footage our staff has collected from the Neighbors for Neighbors program.
Volunteer qualifications
Special Events Volunteer
Housing Matters invites our community at large to come together for special events with opportunities to help resolve homelessness in Santa Cruz County. Our special events provide education around the issue of homelessness and opportunities for community engagement and fundraising.
The volunteer experience
Volunteers help make special events run smoothly through their event-day roles and responsibilities. Examples of event-day roles include:
Volunteer qualifications
Volunteer Coordinator
The Good Neighbor Network is a diverse group of community members engaging in volunteer projects around a shared mission: to reduce homelessness and promote housing justice in Santa Cruz County through education, advocacy, and compassion in action.
The volunteer experience
The Volunteer Program Coordinator works primarily with new applicants to the Good Neighbor Network, offering program support in the following areas:
Volunteer qualifications
Welcome Home Delivery Driver
The Good Neighbor Network is partnering with Wings Homeless Advocacy to help expand its Welcome Home Program. Wings is a local nonprofit whose Welcome Home Program has offered furniture and baskets full of household essentials to newly housed individuals and families, since 2010. This program helps our newly housed neighbors to achieve stability during this critical transition period when their experience of homelessness has just ended.
Good Neighbor Network Volunteers are helping Wings to expand the Welcome Home Program by delivering additional move-in baskets to newly housed neighbors every month.
The volunteer experience
After attending Housing Matters’ Volunteer Orientation, Welcome Home Delivery Drivers are connected with Wings to schedule their Welcome Home Program training. After training with Wings is complete, the Delivery Driver’s name and contact information is shared with the Wings Dispatcher. The Dispatcher receives requests for Welcome Home Kits from case managers throughout Santa Cruz County and sends these delivery opportunities out to all Delivery Drivers. Volunteers claim the deliveries that work with their personal schedules. Once delivery details are set, volunteers drive to Wings’ storage shed, load the items for each order, and deliver baskets with household essentials to newly housed neighbors.
Delivery Driver volunteers aren’t just delivering essential supplies; they are a warm smile, a vote of confidence, and a pair of helping hands offering a sense of dignity and increased stability to our newly housed neighbors during this critical phase of change in their lives.
Volunteer qualifications
Welcome Home Donations Collector
The Good Neighbor Network is partnering with Wings Homeless Advocacy to help expand its Welcome Home Program. Wings is a local nonprofit whose Welcome Home Program has offered furniture and baskets full of household essentials to newly housed individuals and families, since 2010. This program helps our newly housed neighbors to achieve stability during this critical transition period when their experience of homelessness has just ended.
Good Neighbor Network Volunteers are helping Wings to expand the Welcome Home Program by delivering additional move-in baskets to newly housed neighbors every month.
The volunteer experience
Volunteers work within their networks to collect brand-new household essentials to be included in Welcome Home Baskets. Donations Collectors typically choose one area from our inventory list to focus their efforts, such as cleaning supplies, kitchen essentials, or linens. They are then provided a list of specific items to collect.
Donations Collectors work with the Volunteer Program Manager to develop a collection plan. Help with problem-solving is available every step of the way. Some volunteers choose to leave collection bins in key locations, like churches and classrooms, with signage supplied by Housing Matters. Other volunteers choose to travel door-to-door inviting neighbors to make a commitment to support their donation goals over the coming weeks. Once donations are collected, volunteers bring their Welcome Home supplies to Housing Matters.
Volunteer qualifications