Catholic Charities of Onondaga County welcomes individuals and/or groups who would like to volunteer their time to assist our programs and staff in helping others. Our numerous programs and services carry a variety of opportunities for those willing to make a difference in the Syracuse community.

You can volunteer with:

Basic Needs Division
315-424-1800

Neighborhood Centers Division
Contact Mark Clary at 315-362-7543

Elderly Services Division
Contact Eleanor Carr at 315-362-7511

Other volunteer programs include:

Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP)

RSVP (the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program) is part of Senior Corps, a network of national
service programs that provides older Americans the opportunity to apply their life experience
to meeting community needs.

RSVP volunteers serve in a diverse range of nonprofit organizations, public agencies, and faith-based groups. Among other activities, they mentor at-risk youth, organize neighborhood watch programs, test drinking water for contaminants, teach English to immigrants, and lend their business skills to community groups that provide critical social services. In fiscal year 2005, approximately 450,000 volunteers provided over 83,000 hours of service.

For more information on the RSVP program, please contact:

Donna Nash
Phone: (315) 424-1810
Fax: (315) 424-6045
Email: dnash@ccoc.us

Jesuit Volunteers
Since 1956 more than 7,000 members of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps have committed themselves to working with the poor. They have put off graduate school and turned down job offers in order to offer alternatives to people who have few options.

Hundreds of grassroots organizations across the country count on Jesuit Volunteers to provide essential services to low-income people and those who live on the margins of our society. Jesuit Volunteers serve the homeless, the unemployed, refugees, people with AIDS, the elderly, street youth, abused women and children, the mentally ill and the developmentally disabled. JVC has become the largest Catholic lay volunteer program in the country.

Some job placements require specific credentials or licenses, but most JVC jobs can be done by people who have a general educational background and a willingness to learn new skills.

JVC is more than just a job. Social justice, simple life-style, community and spirituality: these values provide the cornerstone for living out a commitment to faith and justice.

To learn more about becoming a Jesuit Volunteer, please visit www.jesuitvolunteers.org