VOLUNTEER WITH US
Meet Ali and hear her volunteering story.
Building One Community offers volunteers who care deeply about immigrants the opportunity to help them succeed in the community. Much of B1C’s success is due to the commitment and compassion of our diverse group of volunteers. Your time, skills, and talent make a real difference in people's lives. Through volunteering with us, you will learn about our local community, connect with other volunteers, and find a stronger sense of purpose.
If you have any questions or would like to receive more details about our current opportunities, please email our volunteer team at [email protected].
HOW IT WORKS
1
Receive our digital orientation manual or schedule a tour
2
Register as a volunteer
3
Our volunteer team will follow up with specific opportunities
4
Log your hours on your Personal Volunteer Site. Fill out the form and use the link that is emailed. Thank you for logging your hours!
Log Your Hours
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
There are opportunities available for individuals as well as groups. We are always looking for tutors to help us teach English language learners (ELL). Our adult students range from ages 18 to 80 and most come to Stamford with little to no English-speaking skills. We provide study materials necessary for you to use during the sessions and offer training if you need it. Please come in and tour our facility or contact the volunteer team at [email protected]. We will try to match your interests and schedule with opportunities at the center.
Join us in providing these valuable services to our community. These are some sample volunteer opportunities:
- Teaching and tutoring English Language Learning (ELL) classes
Technology tutor
- Job skills training
- Homework help
- Personal support services
Review the section below called Current Volunteer Opportunities to see what is currently available. Make sure to click on the green arrow next to each opportunity to see the full description.
Georgia
This place has opened my eyes. It's definitely a different environment , even though it's so close to where I live.
Don
My students are so alive and yearning to learn more English. It's so gratifying to find people who are trying so hard and feel grateful.
Idania
B1C does its best to help others, no matter your color or race. They offer many programs and activities and they also provide a place to socialize.
Chiara
It has been a great experience. Just getting to know the people here, it's like becoming a part of a family.
Jeffrey
I've been an interpreter and I've also worked with computer literacy programs... by just doing simple things like these I can make a big impact.
CURRENT VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES - DECEMBER 2023
Must be at least 14 years of age, preferably 16 or older.
· Description: tutor an adult immigrant English in person at B1C in one-on-one sessions.
· Responsibilities: tutor and plan sessions independently.
· Skills needed: ability to speak slowly and clearly. Patience and flexibility.
· Schedule and time commitment: Mondays - Fridays 9:30-11am or 11:30am-1pm. Monday and Wednesdays 6:30-8pm.
· Training and supervision: ELL program staff.
· Resources available: ELL books, worksheets and ELL online library.
· Location: 75 Selleck St (entrance at 77 Selleck St).
Must be at least 16 years old.
· Description: tutor basic computer skills to immigrants in person at B1C or via video conference.
· Responsibilities: tutor and plan sessions.
· Skills needed: English/Spanish fluency a plus.
· Schedule and time commitment: minimum 3 month commitment. 45 minutes a week tutoring + prep time. Day and time flexible depending on the tutor and student availability.
· Training and supervision: Workforce Development program staff.
· Resources available: educational materials. Instructor is expected to also research resources.
· Location: both onsite and online.
Must be at least 14 years of age. This opportunity is for high school students only. We emphasize responsibility, independence, communication and leadership skills.
· Description: tutor an adult immigrant English in person at B1C in one-on-one sessions.
· Responsibilities: tutor and plan sessions independently.
· Skills needed: ability to speak slowly and clearly. Patience and flexibility.
· Schedule and time commitment: sign up as available at least one day before session. Sessions available Saturday morning onsite at B1C 11am-12:30pm.
· Training and supervision: ELL program staff and Youth Group leaders.
· Resources available: ELL books, worksheets and ELL online library.
· Location: 75 Selleck St (entrance at 77 Selleck St).
Must be 18 years old and fluent in Haitian Creole and English.
· Description: assist interpreting in Haitian Creole in our Immigration Legal Services Program.
· Responsibilities: Interpret during legal consultations or translate documents needed for legal proceedings.
· Skills needed: must speak and write Spanish, Haitian Creole or Farsi fluently and be computer literate.
· Schedule and time commitment: flexible depending on volunteer availability.
· Training and supervision: Immigration Legal Services program staff.
· Resources available: N/A.
· Location: 417 Shippan Ave.
Must be at least 16 years of age or a junior in high school, tech-savvy and familiar with Google classroom. This opportunity is for individuals who have leadership experience or experience working with elementary school aged children. It is very important that a volunteer commits at least once weekly for 3 months. There will be an interview process and observation period for this position and completion of B1C’s abuse prevention training is mandatory prior to volunteering with children. We need both English speakers and especially Haitian Creole speakers.
• Description: tutor an elementary school child with homework help and enrichment educational activities. Nurture a
mentor/mentee relationship with your student under the supervision of B1C staff.
• Responsibilities: help children with their homework, guide enrichment activities and classroom conversation.
• Skills needed: must be tech-savvy and feel comfortable using Google classroom. Must be familiar with how elementary
school math is presently taught.
• Schedule and time commitment: minimum of one day a week for 3 months. Sessions take place Mondays - Thursdays
from 4:30-5:45pm.
• Training and supervision: Family and Individual Services program staff.
• Location: onsite at 417 Shippan Ave.
Must be 18 years of age or older and fluent in Spanish/English.
· Description: teach a class to day laborers with a focus on speaking and listening skills with very little reading and writing involved, if any at all. Build vocabulary and conversation skills around the construction/landscaping fields.
· Responsibilities: develop lessons, with the help of the online ELL library and the Workforce Development staff, to teach day workers conversational vocational English and boost their self-confidence.
· Skills needed: must be fluent in Spanish/English and have the ability to connect with day laborers.
· Schedule and time commitment: Sunday afternoons. Weekday evenings or Saturdays could be an option.
· Training and supervision: Workforce Development program staff.
· Resources available: ELL Online Library.
· Location: 417 Shippan Ave.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
We have both adult and youth volunteers. Youth volunteers must be 14 years of age in order to volunteer. Keep in mind that we expect youth volunteers to function independently as volunteers.
It is B1C policy that volunteer tutoring and mentoring be conducted at our center on 75 Selleck Street. We will occasionally ask volunteers to assist at partner locations, including the Stamford Public Schools, or at an off-site fundraising venue.
Fluency in another language other than English is not required unless an opportunity specifically calls for it. We currently serve clients who originally come from 56 different countries so Spanish is not required.
Most of our volunteers come from varied backgrounds and having a teaching background is not required. What we do ask is that you speak clearly, loudly and slowly. We also ask that you follow our ELL class structure with the help of our ELL Teacher Guide.
Sometimes our students may not make it to their already scheduled tutoring session. Even though we make every effort to coordinate between clients and volunteers these instances will happen. We ask that our volunteers remain flexible and open to performing other volunteer tasks.
Keeping track of volunteer hours is crucial. We not only value your time and effort, but we also need a record of service hours so we can apply for grants that will help fund us.
You bet you do! Any time you spend planning or organizing for your volunteer opportunity must be logged. This includes any time spent planning lessons, photocopying, etc.
Once you register to volunteer you will receive a monthly newsletter containing information about current opportunities. You can also come back to this page to see our current opportunities or contact the Volunteer Director directly by emailing here.
You can go to your Personal Volunteer Site by clicking on the Log Your Hours button a the top of this page.
Sometimes in the course of volunteering, a volunteer may get to know details about a participant’s personal history which may be upsetting. Hearing about a traumatic event in somebody else’s life may generate feelings of sadness, helplessness or anger and even trigger memories of past traumatic events the volunteer may have experienced.
In order to help manage these feelings in case they arise, B1C has put together the following resources to identify and manage second hand trauma. Remember, it’s ok to take a break from volunteering or rotate to a different volunteer opportunity to take care of your wellbeing. Please reach out to B1C’s volunteer team at [email protected] if you need support or would like to rotate to a different opportunity. Click on the links below for more information.
YOUTH VOLUNTEERS
Our youth service program strongly promotes independence, responsibility, self-confidence, and communication skills. If you are interested in volunteering you can register online or reach out to our volunteer team directly at [email protected].
Please note that youth can start volunteering at 14 years of age or older and that parents are intentionally not involved in this process. We have many youth volunteer opportunities available after school, on the weekend, during school breaks, and summer months. Below are sample volunteer opportunities. Go above to Current Volunteer Opportunities to see what is currently available.
ELL VOLUNTEER:
Become an English language teacher or tutor to an adult immigrant.
YOUTH GROUP:
Join our high school youth-led volunteer group on Saturdays from 11am-12:30 pm. Sign up only for the Saturdays you are available.
YOUTH AMBASSADOR:
Youth Ambassador opportunities may become available throughout the year. Make sure you volunteer with us first before inquiring about this position in which you can represent B1C and our mission at your school, place of worship, social club, or sports team. Organize a fundraiser to sponsor a drive, event, or collaborate with B1C to create your own volunteer project.
HOMEWORK AND ENRICHMENT CLUB:
Help with Homework on Mondays through Thursdays from 4:30-5:45 pm during the school year.
SUMMER PROGRAMS AND INTERNSHIPS:
Join our Summer Reading or Summer Math programs. Internship opportunities may become available in the summer or during the school year depending on our needs. If you are interested in inquiring about a possible internship opportunity, please send a resume, cover letter and program area of interest to [email protected].
ELL Library
Welcome to the English Language Learning (ELL) Library!
The ELL Library is a curriculum tool created to better support teachers at Building One Community. It contains Curriculum Guides for each level of ELL at Building One Community with lesson goals, grammar, vocabulary, and materials for every day of the week.
The ELL Team!
Thank you to our wonderful 2022 Volunteers!
Ricardo Abad
Susan Adamsen
Samir Afsary
Santos Ajeataz
Domenica Alban
Sonia Alcantarilla
Sophie Alcyone
Angelo Alfaro
Alejandro Alfaro
Jeanne Altman
Naomi Alvarado
Nicholas Anaya
Alice Anderson
Brooke Andrews Peden
Oscar Aquino
Alvaro Arbelaez
Leonel Arenas
Josefa Arias
Rico Arocha
Melanie Asness
Grace Asness
Matthew Augustine
Eric Aveni
Lilian Ayala
Madeline Azrak
Carter Bagaria
Robin Baker
Bruce Balinsky
Elysee Barakett
Alex Barbagallo
Juan Baron
Adair Beck
Laquasha Belle
Jackson Bench
Nidhi Bendre
Kirstie Benedict
Claudia Benitez
Mukala Benjamine
Martina Bernal
Sahana Bhagavatula
George Biolsi
Charlotte Black
Emma Blenke
Manuel Boado
Charlotte Boeckmann
Eleonore Boisrond
Christian Bojanovich
Jenifer Bonilla
Susan Boria
Nadia Borja
Lily Braun
Meg Broderick
Tancee Brodeur-Sassi
Sophia Broide
Jeff Brown
Jacklyn Brzoska
Graham Burchill
Catherine Butcher
Grace Butler
Emma Cadena
Georgina Campanelli
Jacqueline Campbell
Marcia Campoverde
Isabella Caracciolo
Julio Cardenas
Gloria Cardona
Rafael Carnaval
Ana Carnaval
Carolyn Carpenter
Ellie Carter
Isabella Casinelli
Sofia Castrillon
Chloe Casturo-Burnette
Swaha Chakraborty
Claire Chan
Melissa Charles
Emma Cheung
Jorge Chiluisa
Beatrice Chodosh
Jett Choquette
Adhlere Coffy
David Cohen
Moira Colangelo
Emily Colino
Eilish Collins Main
Harlie Confident
Bruno Coppe
Eric Coppe
Sebastian Cordulack
Isabella Corona
Gabriella Corona
Andres Felipe Cortes
Alexandra Cowin
Valentina Cuccolo
Bruno da Costa
Angeles Dam
Allegra DaPuzzo
Elena Dashi
Jennifer Degenhardt
Sophie Dekker
Marcelo De la Garza
Jorge De la Zota
Margaret Della Ragione
Debbi Dempster
Patrick de Saint-Aignan
Jose De Santiago Ramirez
Thomas Devlin
Davis Diaz
Joaquin Diaz-Huerta
Jaymin Ding
Miguel Dominguez
Carmen Domonkos
Jennifer Donnalley
Anne Downey
Sheila Doyle
Robby Duncan
Niya Eapen
Thomas Eberwein
Alex Errico
Melissa Escajadillo
Jennifer Escobar
Joel Fass
Ronald Feng
Leslie Fermon
Fridda Fernandez
Deborah Fins
Bronwyn Fitzgerald
Elizabeth FitzPatrick
Harry FitzPatrick
Janie FitzPatrick
Corinne Flax
Ximena Maria Flores
Jackeline Flores
Chelsea Flores
Sofia Fontana
Marco Fontana
Ginny Fox
Marta Fromherz
Aleksandar Gajdadziev
Leighton Gajwani
Grace Galarza
Giovanni Galicia
Sarah Garcia
Kaitlin Genovese
Annie Genovese
Christopher Geotes
Victoria Gibek
Mateo Gigliani-Alcantarilla
Nicolas Gigliani-Alcantarilla
Steisy Gil
Christine Gilbert
Julia Giventer
Gaston Gomez
Nicolas A. Gonzalez
Jill Gordon
Felicity Goudie
Zofia Grajski
Jeff Greenberg
Shannon Guerra
Giselle Gutierrez
Sophie Haas
Lisa Haas
Karen Habib
Cesar Camilo Ham Benitez
Swapnil Sudhir Hampi
Sarita Hanley
Kit Harned
Bryce Heaton
Tara Hellemann
Carol Heller
Ben Helman
Patrick Hentemann
Jensly Hernandez
Harald Hille
Connor Hoch
Paige Hochadel
Deborah Holcombe
Anders Hovstadius
Joyce Huang
Keila Idelfonso
Russell Inga
Marcos Inglada
Mauricio Inglada
Jaya Iyer
Eliot Jacobs
Meher Jain
Saskia Jakubcin
Myrtho Jean-Noel
Aaliyah Jimenez
Clerin John
Laura Jordan
Maryann Kann
Olivia Karanikolaidis
Amalia Kassaris
Barri Kaye
Sean Kelly
Richard Kelsey
Sebastian Kelsey
Lucia Kempton
Barbara Kestenbaum
Elizabeth King
Anika Kini
Bennett Klein
Hanna Klingbeil
James Knight
Linda Koe
Bruce Koe
Daphne Konstantinis
Elias Kraushaar
Viviani Kulig
Sarina Kulsakdinun
Sanskriti Kumar
Louis Kural
Grace Kushner
Karla Lainez
Richard Lee
Austin Lehn
Andrew Li
Zach Libow
Scott Lichtman
Anastasia Lohinska
Andres Lopez
Brayan Lopez
Miguel Lopez
Mari-Carmen Losada
Evelande Louis
Kherveleen Louis
Francesca Loverro
Ricardo Lozano
Tamu Lucero
Chris Lucey
Elizabeth Lurz
Keara Lyons
Mary Maarbjerg
Maria Esther Magallanes
Beatriz Maldonado
Aven Mallie
Nicolas Manco
Rebeca Manzo
Lorenzo Marsili
Jeronimo Marsili
Leidy Martinez
Leidy Lorena Martinez Rojas
Carrington Mattis
Judy McCann
Hunter McCarthy
Lauren McElrea
Carolina McGoey
Karen McGown
Adrián McMahon
Melissa Melissa Reyes
Josue Menard
Oscar Mendez
Barbarah Mesamour
Elbert Mets
Mike Meyer
Camila Miranda
Gaishi Miyazaki
Gabrielle Molina
Jackie Monahan
Daniella Montero
Lorraine Montero
Aaron Monterroso
Santiago Morales
Camila Moreno
Jack Morningstar
Kristin Morrow
Joelle Mulzac
Caroline Murray
Shanmathi Muruganambi
Edward Nagler
Betsy Nagurney
Theo Naidich
Candy Najera
Dan Najjar
Selin Nalbantoglu
Serra Nalbantoglu
Deniz Nalbantoglu
Pat Nelson
Will Newton
Vanessa Obando
Mateo Olea
Juan Ospina
Cathy Ostuw
Helena Owens
Morgan O’Neil
Dianna Palacios
Ted Pardoe
Pari Patel
Ana Patricio
Josselyn Paute
Jack Peattie
Denise Pedraza Guzman
Doug Penn
Elena Perez Moreno
Zoe Perrine
Alessandra Pinto
Jacklyn Pizzella
Caterina Pye
Alicia Qin
Maxwell Raabe
Graydon Raabe
Karen Raidt
James Raidt
Yazmin Ramos
Kiran Rao
E. Sebastian Raz Guzman
Joshua Recinos Moya
Ellen Reid
Jane Renaud
Melissa Reyes
Anne Rich
Lisa Rich
Cady Ridall
Arisleyda Riehl
Eleanor Riemer
Valentin Riou
Agustina Rissola
Peggy Rivage-Seul
Lexi Roberts
Isabella Roberts
Matthew Robinson
Jesse Rodriguez
Zayed Rodriguez
Daria Rolle
Katherine Romero
Edward Romeyn
Anne Ross
Jennifer Rowling
Marke Rubenstein
Allison Ruilova
Holly Russell
Maggie Ruvinsky
Cathy Sacks
Melina Salame
Michelle Saldivar
Yojanan Salinas
Tara Salli
Charles Samson
Justin Samson
Samantha Samuel
Camilla Sanchez
Maria Isabel Sandoval
Sonia Santizo
Andrew Schau
Belen Scheggia
Sofia Schimmeck
Ben Schindelman
Jackson Schnabel
Zoe Schwartz
David Sealy
Aneri Shah
Aliya Shahum
Grace Shepard
Katie Siegel
Jared Sierra
Obed Sierra
Christian Silva
Avery Sleeper
Monica Smyth
Sokhak So
Gael Sobrino
Mary Sommer Sandak
Elen Sotzing
Swati Sriram
Phillip Stabinsky
Alex Stafford
Florencia Stefani
Charlie Stemerman
Jack Stemerman
Lia Stewart
Walter Stewart
Gavin Stops
Michele Stuart
Flynn Sullivan
Jolanda Sutherland
Serena Sweeney
Brisa Tejeda Diaz
Mauro Tete
Julie Thiele
Lola Tirabassi
Michael Toy
Alex Troyb
Priyanka Umamaheswaran
Jill Valderrama Vukelja de Patricio
Gabriela Valverde
Hannah Valverde
Raheen Van Dyke
Robert Vargas
Celita Velasquez
Giselle Vigil
Cristina Villarreal
Francisca Vivanco
Kathleen Walsh
Murphy Watner
Diana Wawrzonkiewicz
Kaya Wawrzonkiewicz
Lynne Weinberg
Ellison Weiner
Sam Welch
Mackenzie Wenzel
Iris West
Paul Whitman
Anne Wichman
Tucker Williams
Annie Wind
Arthur Wit
Kate Wolters
Kathryn Xia
Dan Yamaguchi
Derek Zaeske
Rida Zaidi
Ella Zea
Jose Luis Zepeda
Selina Zhang
Tiffany Zhang
JIn Xiang Zheng
Dante Zimmerman
Saskia Zimmerman
Bea Zimmermann
Please excuse any errors or omissions.
