Volunteer Opportunities and Information

Greetings! Thank you so much for your interest in volunteering for the Neighbors Helping Neighbors program! We look forward to working with you!

Volunteering is such an important component to bringing our communities together and helping to meet the needs of our neighbors who are elderly. Building partnerships with community members such as yourself is part of the mission of Neighbors Helping Neighbors. It is one of the most significant ways in which to accomplish our goal of improving the quality of life of our neighboring seniors.

Neighbors Helping Neighbors is always looking for additional volunteers and help. There are various projects that are either on-going or are needed to be completed on an as-needed basis. Here is a list of individual and/or group volunteer opportunities:

ON-GOING ACTIVITIES
AS-NEEDED ACTIVITIES
ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES
  • Provide home visits and companionship
  • Befriend elderly individual
  • Accompany individuals on walks
  • Run errands/shopping
  • Care for pets
  • Light housekeeping
  • Provide transportation/escort to appointments
  • Coordinate recreation and leisure activities

  • Assisting with writing and organizing family genologies
  • Spring cleaning
  • Seasonal yard work
  • Home repairs, maintenance, and safety modifications
  • Interior/exterior painting
  • Provide holiday/ birthday visits
  • Make special purchases/donations
  • Provide special entertainment
  • Take pictures of community service projects
  • Maintain newspaper ads, volunteer websites, church bulletin inserts, flyers, and other PR efforts
  • Assist with newsletter
  • Distribute flyers, brochures, and other program materials throughout the program’s catchment area
  • Maintain a community resource file and loan library
  • Assist with filing, copying, mailings, and data entry
  • Internet resource searches
  • Maintain picture files and scrapbook

If you are interested in volunteering on a regular basis and being matched with a senior to work with one-on-one, please complete and submit the following four forms:

You may type on the forms below before printing them out.

  1. Volunteer Profile
  2. Friendly Visiting Agreement
  3. References/Criminal Background Check Waiver
  4. Liability Waiver
  5. Personally Vehicle Use Agreement

You may mail, fax, drop off, or email as attachments all five forms to the following:

Ryan Engar
Neighbors Helping Neighbors
University of Utah College of Social Work
395 South 1500 East Room 207
Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0260
Fax: (801) 585-6865
ryan.engar@socwk.utah.edu

Once these forms have been returned, we will set up a time to meet with you, discuss your volunteer interests and our volunteer opportunities, and take you out to introduce you to some of our program participants. In this way, we are able to mutually match you with someone who can benefit from your help.

If you are interested in doing a community service project with a group of volunteers, only the volunteer liability waiver is necessary to be completed by each volunteer in your group.

I hope this information is helpful to you. Please call me at 581-5162 or email at ryan.engar@socwk.utah.edu with any questions you may have. We appreciate all the help you can give. Volunteers make such a difference to the seniors with whom we work! The rewards you will receive as a volunteer are invaluable and will endure for a lifetime!

For Current Volunteers!

For your convenience, you may complete the Volunteer Contact Form on line after each home visit or phone call you make to the elderly person with whom you are matched. This documentation is very important for accountability purposes and tracking volunteer time. You may type directly on this form and then press "Tab" to get to each new line; then you may print out the form and mail or fax it, drop it off in person, or just save the document and email it as an attachment.