The Office of Civic Engagement and Social Responsibility supports Towson University students and student organizations in connecting with local community organizations. For more information on these and other opportunities, visit our Involved@TU page or Events at TU.
TU Serves
Spring 2023 COMMUNITY Engagement OPPORTUNITIES
Below you will find virtual and in-person opportunities to engage with community organizations in the greater Baltimore area. Please visit our Involved@TU page or Events at TU for additional opportunities.
If you have any questions about how to get involved, please email civicengagement AT_TOWSON.
Spring 2023 Virtual Community Engagement Opportunities
Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs
MIMA’s mission is to promote community wellbeing, economic development, and the integration of immigrant communities by identifying needs and opportunities that immigrants bring to our city, while developing public-private partnerships to strengthen the development of these communities.
The Baltimore City Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MIMA) is recruiting reliable individuals to join our Volunteer Team. MIMA understands that due to language, literacy, and technological barriers, members of the immigrant community may have a difficult time navigating services and resources available to them through city, state, and federal entities. The Volunteer Team will bridge these gaps, considering the public health and economic impact that COVID-19 may have on immigrant communities. Volunteers will support a variety of programs and initiatives, both remotely and in-person, depending on need.
Shelter the World
Everything we ask of the Virtual Volunteer is aimed at one goal: helping people living in poverty including women, children, men, and families. We do this by building the largest group of people we can to share what is happening.
Several times a month and sometimes weekly we send an email to all of our virtual volunteers and include things that we would like to see get done. Sometimes the volunteering opportunity is very easy; sometimes the opportunity to help is more specialized. Sometimes we will ask is after you to read an article and comment on it. Or we may be asking for help in actually writing an article. Other times we’ll just ask you to retweet a tweet or create a new social media post taking notice of a particular event, situation, condition, or person.
Tarjimly - Translation
Tarjimly means “translate for me” and was founded in 2017 in response to the Syrian refugee crisis and the US Refugee & Travel Ban. Our mission is to improve the lives of refugees and the efficiency of humanitarian services by eliminating language barriers.
Millions of refugees and people in need of humanitarian assistance struggle with language barriers. Help give them on-demand language access through Tarjimly. Volunteers download the app and are connected to beneficiaries who need translation support through a live chat session
StoryCorps
StoryCorps’ mission is to preserve and share humanity’s stories in order to build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world. We do this to remind one another of our shared humanity, to strengthen and build the connections between people, to teach the value of listening, and to weave into the fabric of our culture the understanding that everyone’s story matters. At the same time, we are creating an invaluable archive for future generations.
As a volunteer, you have the opportunity to record meaningful conversations that are archived at the Library of Congress. Recording a StoryCorps interview couldn’t be easier: You invite a loved one, or anyone else you choose, to share a 40-minute conversation using the StoryCorps App and share the interview with the
If you choose to do this, please share your story with us via social media #tustorycorps
Meals on Wheels
Founded in 1960, our mission is to enable people to live independently at home through the provision of nutritious meals, personal contact and support services, so that they may age in place with dignity. Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland is one of the largest Meals on Wheels programs in the country, serving thousands of people daily. Being a Meals on Wheels volunteer can help make the difference between a homebound senior who chooses to age in place, and one who has no choice.
As a Phone Pal you will be paired with a client who may be socially isolated. Via phone, you make a phone call weekly to a client that may be socially isolated. This is a 6-month commitment and a virtual orientation and background check is required. Fees for the background check will be covered by Meals on Wheels.
Baltimore Neighbors Network
The Baltimore Neighbors Network provides a virtual community of trained volunteers to offer hope, comfort and social solidarity. Baltimore's greatest asset is our people. We are the medicine.
Lend some time to neighbors who can benefit from critical hope, comfort and solidarity in this time of isolation and uncertainty through a weekly phone call.
One Fair Wage Emergency Fund
The One Fair Wage campaign is fighting to end unjust sub-minimum wages in America.
The One Fair Wage campaign needs help with making personal calls to every worker who has applied for assistance. Current organizers on staff are overwhelmed, so they’ve set up a system for volunteers to help place calls. If you can help to make phone calls, please sign up to volunteer!
My Sister’s Place Women’s Center
My Sister’s Place Women’s Center is Baltimore City’s longest-serving women’s day shelter and resource center for women and children experiencing homelessness and poverty. My Sister’s Place is currently looking for volunteers to support with:
- Media and Graphic Design
- Research and Networking
- Leading Virtual Workshops
Contact: Julie Martin jmartin@cc.md.org
Turn Around
TurnAround is committed to trauma-informed care for all survivors of sexual violence, intimate partner violence, and human trafficking.
Volunteer to be part of their social media ambassador team! Turn Around needs support with graphic design and web development.
Zooniverse
The Zooniverse is the world’s largest and most popular platform for people-powered research. Their goal is to enable research that would not be possible, or practical, otherwise. Zooniverse research results in new discoveries, datasets useful to the wider research community, and many publications.
The main ways of volunteering with us are helping us with classifications on data, being a beta tester on projects we've yet to launch and/or being a moderator for a project.
BookShare
Bookshare is an online library that makes reading easier. People with dyslexia, blindness, cerebral palsy, and other reading barriers can customize their experience to suit their learning style and find virtually any book they need for school, work, or the joy of reading.
As a volunteer, you will be able to help people with disabilities access the written world by scanning books or cleaning up the files used to create accessible books.
The Human Voicebox
The Human Voicebank celebrates the diversity and power of voice. With over 25,000 individuals from all over the world contributing millions of sentences to our platform, we’re building a community that uplifts voices everywhere.
As a volunteer, you will read a few sentences to contribute your voice to be used in assistive technology for people who are unable to vocalize.
Ted Talk Translator
TED is a global community, welcoming people from every discipline and culture who seek a deeper understanding of the world. We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and, ultimately, the world
TED Translators are a global community of volunteers who subtitle TED Talks, and enable the inspiring ideas in them to crisscross languages and borders.
Be My Eyes
Be My Eyes is a free mobile app with one main goal: to make the world more accessible for blind and low-vision people. The app connects blind and low-vision individuals with sighted volunteers and companies from all over the world through a live video call.
LibriVox
LibriVox volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain, and then we release the audio files back onto the net for free. All our audio is in the public domain, so you may use it for whatever purpose you wish
LibriVox volunteers read and record chapters of books in the public domain (books no longer under copyright) in the USA*, and make them available for free on the Internet. Practically, this means we record books published 95 full years ago or longer. All our recordings (including yours, if you volunteer for us) are also donated into the public domain.
Mozilla
Mozilla is a non-profit organization working to ensure the internet is open and welcoming to all. And we need your help. By joining our community, you can help drive innovation, enhance accountability and trust and make the internet a better place for everyone.
Crisis Text Line
Crisis Text Line is the free, 24/7 text line for people in crisis in the United States. The service is powered by volunteer Crisis Counselors who work remotely—anywhere with a computer and secure internet connection works.
Crisis Counselors answer texts from people in crisis, bringing them from a hot moment to a cool calm through active listening, collaborative problem solving, and safety planning.
7 Cups
7 Cups is an on-demand emotional health service and online therapy provider. Our bridging technology anonymously & securely connects real people to real listeners in one-on-one chat.
Become an online volunteer listener by providing emotional support to millions via online chat. The goal of 7 Cups is o make sure nobody has to face their problems alone and making a difference. Training is available for all volunteers.
The Trevor Project
The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) young people under 25.
In order to provide life-saving support to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) youth, The Trevor Project recruits passionate volunteers to staff our crisis intervention services. Volunteers are vital to Trevor’s work, and are instrumental in providing a safe and secure connection for LGBTQ youth to reach out. Trevor’s team welcomes individuals of all backgrounds into our volunteer family, and works to uplift, recognize, and support our growing volunteer network.
You can virtually support by serving as a Crisis Counselor. Crisis Counselors are trained to answer chat messages or texts online from young people who are struggling with issues such as coming out, LGBTQ identity, depression, and suicide. Training will be required.
Esperanza Center
The Esperanza Center is a comprehensive resource center whose mission is to welcome immigrants by offering hope, compassionate services, and the power to improve their lives.
Volunteer as a teaching partner for the Esperanza Center! You will get partnered with one student to help them build their English literacy. You’ll have the opportunity to understand your partner’s desires and goals for their English learning. All of the teaching material will be given to you.
Thread
Volunteering with Thread can take many forms, but most of our volunteers serve as Thread Family Members (FM), and their activities can include nearly everything you might expect a family would do together.
“Family Members” work directly with Thread student(s) and other volunteers to form an extended network of care and support around the student and each other. This may include homework and resume help or discussion of career options.
Learn to Be
Learn To Be is an organization that brings 1-on-1, online tutoring to underserved youth around the nation in hopes of providing equal opportunity for all students to receive the skills to thrive.
Help K-12 underserved youth in math, science, reading and writing from wherever is most convenient and whenever is most convenient. Volunteer online an hour a week, from wherever you are and make a meaningful difference.
Coversation Partners
Towson University’s English Language Center (ELC) matches TU students with ELC students. The goals of the program are to promote international friendships, cultural exchange, and language learning through casual conversations outside of the classroom.
As a conversation partner you will virtually meet at least one hour per week and receive a training to learn the best ways to communicate with your partner.
Contact: Mark McTague mmctague AT_TOWSON
Soccer without Borders
Soccer Without Borders believes in the power of soccer, the world's universal language to create positive change for individuals, families, communities, and the world.
Become a Community Mentor by mentoring students' families. Help them practice English, and assist them with the various other aspects of adjusting to life in the US. A mentor is a friend, a guide, and a resource for our families. Mentors can make their own weekly schedules but are expected to commit to virtually checking in with their family at least once per week.
Contact: Sarah Stangl sstangl@soccerwithoutborders.org or 443-530-4730
Hilma's Heart
Hilma's Heart is an organization that is dedicated to serving people in need through volunteering, providing mentorship and helping others navigate towards maximizing their full potential.
Hilma's Heart partners with others to host drives to collect and donate items needed in the community and shelters, serves meals at shelters/community events, offers targeted workshops, brunches, and virtual mentorship programs for youth (K-12) and college students, single parents, children in single parent homes.
Contact: Tasha Gooden-Shakes info@hilmasheart.org
Peer Forward
Peer Forward’s mission is to unleash the power of positive peer influence to transform the lives of youth living in low-income communities by connecting them to college and careers.
Operation Gratitude
The mission of Operation Gratitude is to forge strong bonds between Americans and their Military and First Responder Heroes through volunteer service projects, acts of gratitude, and meaningful engagements in communities nationwide.
Write personal letters of appreciation for deployed troops, veterans, recruit graduates, first and frontline responders, or wounded heroes and their caregivers.
Baltimore Hunger Project
The Baltimore Hunger Project is dedicated to eliminating the growing problem of weekend childhood hunger by feeding bodies and minds. The Baltimore Hunger Project bridges the gap between Friday and Monday by consistently providing weekend food packages to children identified as food insecure, in a compassionate and dignified manner. This is done by raising awareness about the effects of hunger by establishing partnerships with community members, other organizations, and decision makers.
The Baltimore Hunger Project is currently accepting handcrafted notes of encouragement to place in Create notes of encouragement that will be placed bagged meals for children in the Baltimore area.
Love for our Elders
Love for Our Elders is a nonprofit that believes no one should feel alone and fights isolation in senior communities through handwritten letters, videos, and stories.
Mask Match
Mask Match is a platform to enable people with spare masks to send them directly to the hands of healthcare workers around the country. Send your masks to healthcare workers without leaving your house.
Chemo Angels
The Chemo Angels program offers support to those who find themselves in the most challenging situation of their lives – battling a cancer diagnosis and undergoing IV chemotherapy or intensive immunotherapy treatment.
Volunteers support their “buddy” throughout their journey with cards, uplifting messages, supportive words and lots of positive energy. The encouragement our Angels provide helps give patients the comfort and confidence of knowing they are not alone in their fight.
The goal of Chemo Angels is to help fuel a positive attitude and aid in the road to recovery. Volunteers find that providing emotional support is a most rewarding experience.
Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children - FIMRC
FIMRC is a 501(c)(3), nonprofit organization dedicated to improving access to healthcare for families around the world through the implementation of innovative and self-sustaining health programs.
In response to the impact that COVID-19 is having on international travel, FIMRC has launched exciting virtual volunteer opportunities so that volunteers can gain experience from home! With five programs to choose from: Virtual Global Health Volunteer Experience, Virtual Global Health Fellowship, Virtual Global Health Leadership Training, Virtual Global Health Training, and the Spanish-only Voluntariado Virtual de Salud; there are opportunities for a variety of skill sets, academic programs, and those looking to contribute!
Spring 2023 In-Person Community Engagement Opportunities
Share Baby
ShareBaby provides diapers, clothing and gear to highly effective community organizations – working to ensure Baltimore’s young children get the best start in life!
As a ShareBaby Volunteer, you duties may include counting and sorting clothing, wrapping and shelving diapers, and bundling items for low-income families. Sign up to volunteer using the link provided.
Contact: Alicia Sindlinger alicia@sharebaby.org
Maryland Book Bank
The Maryland Book Bank is a nonprofit organization committed to cultivating literacy in children from under-resourced neighborhoods.
The Maryland Book Bank is currently accepting small group and individual volunteers to the warehouse to help pack and ship story kits to children in Baltimore! This is a great opportunity to have a positive impact on your community and we appreciate your enthusiasm for helping us provide children with the books they need to be successful.
Contact: Kim Crout kcrout@marylandbookbank.org
Paul’s Place Outreach Center
Support Marketplace – Help sort and organize the marketplace to make sure community members can find items efficiently. This position will take place inside and in our wellness room and is limited to 4 participants.
Serve Lunch – Help pass grab n go lunches to community members. Due to COVID-19, lunches will be served outside. Water will be proved for volunteers
Contact: Nicole Davis ndavis@paulsplaceoutreach.org
University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC)
At a research and teaching facility like UMMC, volunteers can learn a great deal from health care professionals. That is why they come to us from all walks of life seeking unique educational and professional experiences.
We work carefully with our volunteers to match their interests and talents with the needs that exist throughout the hospital.
Contact Number: 410-328-5600
Maryland Food Bank
The Maryland Food Bank (MFB) is a non-profit organization leading the movement to end hunger in Maryland. We have an extensive network of community and organizational partners across the state that distributes food to the Marylanders who need us.
MFB relies on a network of volunteers to sort millions of pounds of food as much of their food arrives as bulk loads of non-perishable goods all mixed together. MFB needs groups of volunteers to sort and box this food so it gets off the shelves and out the door!
Contact: volunteer@mdfoodbank.org
Meals on Wheels
Founded in 1960, our mission is to enable people to live independently at home through the provision of nutritious meals, personal contact and support services, so that they may age in place with dignity.
Meals on Wheels is currently looking for volunteers to help with food packing As a Food Packer you help pack meal boxes for people in the community. Each week, Meals on Wheels creates and sends approximately 10,000 boxes per week into the community and needs support in making that happen.
Contact: volunteer@mowcm.org
HARBEL Community Organization
HARBEL provides services to residents who live in North East Baltimore City. We work collectively with neighborhoods and communities to encourage community pride, residential ownership and much more. HARBEL is still working diligently to support all in need and has a wealth of volunteer opportunities:
- Food Distributer - Wednesdays and Fridays from 12:30 PM- 3:30 PM. Volunteers bag pre made meals as well as provide fresh produce for all who attend the distribution.
- Master Gardner – A pollinator garden is a garden that is planted predominately with flowers that provide nectar or pollen for a wide range of pollinating insects.
- Help to maintain this beautiful space for our insect friends on Saturdays, from 9AM-11:30AM between Saturday, August 22 - October 3, 2020. *Bring your own gloves
- Unloading Crew – Help with truck unloading days, where we unload all of the regular food distribution supplies Tuesdays between the hours of 12:30pm and 2:00pm.
- Outdoor Movie Night Volunteers - September 20th, 2020 at sundown - Need volunteers to help with crowd control, parking, and kid activities/crafts.
Contact: Diana Emerson demerson@harbel.org
Great Kids Farm
Friends of Great Kids Farm, Inc., is a nonprofit organization created to support, promote, and enhance the programming at Baltimore City Public Schools’ Great Kids Farm. Friends works with City Schools to bring students to the Farm, a 33-acre urban farm with a stream, woods, fields, and greenhouses, providing students hands-on opportunities to connect farm and plate, reinforce curricular concepts, strengthen environmental literacy, and promote healthy habits for the whole child.
Great Kids Farm is currently looking for volunteers to:
- Help drop off supplies at various sites. Students with vehicles who would be interested to drop off supplies at sites when that is needed. This would be one-time volunteer opportunity throughout the semester
- Help us further design our virtual educational experiences with interest in survey and data management for non-profits OR students with interest and expertise in digital film editing/graphic design who might help us further design our virtual educational experiences.
- Help with food education, experiential education or outdoor/agriculture education
Contact: Laura Menyuk lnmenyuk@bcps.k12.md.us
Civic Works
Volunteer at Real Food Farm!
We are always looking for individuals and groups to volunteer at our urban farm! For information, please visit Real Food Farm’s page. We have regularly scheduled volunteer hours every Wednesday from 9am-12pm and every second and third Saturday of the month from 9am-12pm. From March to November, we host open volunteer hours on Thursdays from 4:30pm-7pm at our Perlman Place site. Volunteer groups can be scheduled by emailing jpowell@civicworks.com.
Transform Vacant Lots!
The Community Lot Team invites volunteers to join us in transforming vacant lots into community gardens. All work is outdoors, physically intense, usually dirty, and we will be working in city neighborhoods with potentially limited access to bathrooms and food– make sure to bring a refillable water bottle! Children 14 and older are welcome at our projects, but must have a waiver signed by a guardian. For more information, email jpowell@civicworks.com.
Contact: Jayna Powell jpowell@civicworks.com
Intersections of Change - Strength to Love II
Volunteer tasks include seeding and planting, harvesting produce, packing produce, clearing areas, setting up our hoophouses for the winter months, etc. As we head into the colder winter months, we could use all the volunteers we can to prepare for the colder weather! We are especially looking for volunteers that would be inclined to come back and volunteer with us again. That being said, we would really appreciate it if you could include us on any outgoing communications to your students.