Click here to download our volunteer application.

Please fill out the application and return it to our office:

Attn: Volunteer Coordinator
990 Nassau Street
Cincinnati, OH 45206  

IHN Family Mentor Opportunity Description

Purpose of Position:

To work, either individually or as a team of mentors, with a former Interfaith Hospitality Network guest family toward developing a purposeful and committed relationship based on mutual caring, respect and trust that leads to increased self-reliance, independence and economic stability for that family. 

Qualifications for Position:

• Good listening skills, nonjudgmental, reliable, accepting and empowering (as opposed to enabling) 
• Familiar with or open to learning about issues of poverty and mental health as they may affect a family's life or the mentor-mentee relationship 
• Willingness to visit guest family in their home neighborhood, which may be out of the mentor's comfort zone or where the mentor is of a racial minority 
• Willingness to complete an application and questionnaire, participate in a screening process, including a background check and an interview

Time Requirement:

• Two training sessions of approximately three hours apiece, dates and times to be announced. 
• Preferred one-year commitment to a family with weekly phone calls, meetings or get-togethers for the first 3 months followed by bimonthly phone or personal contact as needed for the next nine months. 
• Attending occasional mentor group discussions for support and/or education. 
• Reporting Relationships: Interfaith Hospitality Network Housing Retention Case Manager and Volunteer Coordinator.

For more information, contact our Volunteer Coordinator at (513) 471-1100 ext. 16.

Day Center/Childcare Volunteers

Purpose of Position:

Provide play or educational assistance for children of homeless families. Answer phones and handle clerical work sometimes.

Qualifications for Position:

We are seeking kind, patient, reliable and flexible volunteers who enjoy working with children, variety of ages, under the guidance of paid staff. Volunteers may also be asked to handle phones or clerical tasks. Application, including birth date and two non-related references with email addresses or phone numbers, required. Must pass background checks done by Interfaith Hospitality Network.

Times Needed:

• 9:00 am-1:00 pm weekdays; greatest need Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays or Fridays
• 1:00 pm-5:00 pm weekdays
• We prefer a minimum commitment of at least one day or two half-days a week for a period of at least 3 months

Location:

Interfaith Hospitality Network Day Center, 990 Nassau Street, (East Walnut Hills) Cincinnati, OH, 45206

Responsibilities and Activities:

• Play with and supervise children so that their parents can either attend classes, work on their housing programs, or complete house chores.
• Provide educational enrichment to preschoolers, or tutoring to school-age children in homework or reading.
• Care for infants.
• Answer phones and complete clerical tasks when assistance with childcare is not needed.

More questions? View our Volunteer FAQs or contact Jeanne Haungs, Child Enrichment Specialist, (513) 471-1100 ext. 17, or email  jeanne@ihncincinnati.org.

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The Volunteers

"The volunteers didn't make you feel like you were a 'homeless family,' but just a good family in a bad situation. [We] didn't feel judged."

"They treated us as their friends or their brothers/ sisters."

Dinner Preparers

Host Coordinator Supplement “The volunteers were willing to sit and talk with you about some of our problems. They seemed very concerned about everyone in the program.”

Dinner Hosts

“The volunteers were friendly and showed us our sleeping area. It was very nice, clean and comfortable.”

Activities

“They were very pleasant and went out of their way to make our families feel comfortable.”

Overnight