Volunteer with City Relief (Various Opportunities)

City Relief: Overview

City Relief is a mobile outreach offering people experiencing poverty and homelessness hot meals, supplies, and connections to resources for housing, employment, and health care. These connections change people’s lives.

Volunteers Make an Impact!

We rely on our volunteers to create a welcoming, fun environment where people are cared for and connected to tangible resources and hope. Volunteering with us offers a one-of-a-kind experience!

The Typical Day

Volunteers have the option to begin the day in Clifton, New Jersey at 8:00 am or to meet on-site at 10:15 am, at one of our outreach locations in New York City or New Jersey.

Volunteers who meet at our base at 8:00 am will help us prepare our famous vegan, gluten-free soup, hot chocolate in the winter, or lemonade and fruit punch in the summer, and load the bus, including the freshly baked bread, which our team picks up from Teixeira's Bakery.

Volunteers who meet on-site at 10:15 am will join the team as the bus arrives at the outreach location for that day, to set up the mini block party on the street!

When outreach begins at 11:00 am, The Team - a mix of Volunteers, City Relief Staff, and Community Partners - works together to create a fun, positive environment where people are served with dignity and respect. The Team serving in the Kitchen opens the windows on the side of the bus and starts serving food. Another part of The Team will hand out socks and offer prayer to anyone who wants it. The rest of The Team is stationed at tables where our guests visiting outreach can connect with City Relief through friendly, hospitable conversation. Volunteers assist our staff by identifying folks' immediate needs through a pre-screening process, then introduce them to City Relief Staff members who are equipped to provide referrals or directly connect people to our on-site community partners to meet their expressed needs.

Once the outreach is officially concluded at 1:00 pm, The Team gets to work again to break down the outreach site. This includes picking up all of our trash to leave the neighborhood cleaner than we found it, cleaning and folding up tables and chairs, and helping City Relief staff pack up all of our tents, loading everything back into the bus.

At 1:15, Volunteers who met on site are officially dismissed, and The Bus departs for our home base with volunteers who rode the bus into NYC. Back at home base, Volunteers and Staff work together to reset for the next day's outreach by cleaning our vehicles and the soup and drink containers. The number of food servings and the number of people connected are reported weekly.

The Bridge Between Needs And Resources

City Relief is a bridge that connects those in need with life-changing resources, including individuals with time, compassion, and funds. During outreach, Volunteers help City Relief Staff connect people to various programs immediately, using our database of resources and the wealth of knowledge shared by our individual and collective staff. We have developed strong relationships with many service providers. Our years of experience on the streets help us make sound referral decisions. Many people receive immediate care, whether they connect with our on-site Community Partners or are referred to other partners by our staff.

Why Volunteer with City Relief?

Volunteers who serve in the kitchen, hand out socks, and engage in conversation with our guests make it possible for the City Relief Team to make as many connections as possible during the 2-hour outreach. All volunteers who serve at City Relief Outreaches have the opportunity to make face-to-face connections with people experiencing homelessness during an outreach. As a volunteer, can serve your neighbors experiencing homelessness, and instill a sense of dignity in people who are often otherwise overlooked and mistreated.

Volunteers who, in addition to outreach support, come for prep and clean up directly impact The Staff's ability to provide case management. By taking on the lion's share of physical labor, volunteers allow more staff to record vital information about the connections made during outreach, which will later be used to follow up with our guests who have received care.

Watch our video to learn more: City Relief : LIFE