Get Involved!

Looking to get involved in your community?  Here are a list of volunteer/service opportunities that you can participate in the NYC area:

826NYC

Description: After-school tutors volunteer once a week to provide homework help and lead workshops on kid-friendly topics like writing scary stories.

Location: 372 Fifth Ave between 5th and 6th Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn

Phone No: (718) 499 - 9884

Website: 826nyc.org

 

Ali Forney Center

Description: Teach at-risk LGBT youth résumé building and other essential skills during the center’s employment-placement program. 

Location: 224 West 35th St, 15th Floor

Phone No: (212) 222 - 3427

Website: aliforneycenter.org

New York Needs YouDescription: Mentor Coaches collaborate one-on-one with students on projects like résumé-writing and interviewing, while Career Coaches serve on workshop panels, fill in for Mentor Coaches or give informational interviews. Have more than 15 years of professional experience in your field? Apply to be a Life Coach - they pitch in for a single session or on a periodic basis, sharing their advanced knowledge with larger groups. Location: 589 Eighth Ave between 38th and 39th Street Phone No: (212) 571 - 0202Website: newyorkneedsyou.org

Bushwick School for Music

Description: Each Sunday, volunteers and tweens and teens looking to rawk - take over Bushwick DIY fave Silent Barn for rehearsal sessions. The six-week course ends with a big show and even a recording session in a pro studio.

Location: 603 Bushwick Ave, Brooklyn New York

Website: bushwickschoolformusic.org

Women in Need

Description: WiN encompasses 10 shelters in the five boroughs, providing housing to mothers as well as about 2,600 children each night. Domestic violence counseling and drug and alcohol treatment programs are also available.

Phone No: (212) 695 - 4758

Website: winnyc.org

Bowery Mission

Description: Founded in 1879 on the original Skid Row, this venerable organization aims to transform the lives of homeless people caught in the cycle of poverty. In addition to providing the immediate needs of food, shelter and clothing, the Mission also offers recovery programs and a free medical clinic.

Phone No: 227 Bowery between Rivington and Stanton Street

Phone No: (212) 674 - 3456

Website: bowery.org

Build It Green! NYCDescription: Nonprofit program BIG!NYC takes basic recycling to new lengths, reducing city waste by selling low-cost, salvaged and surplus building material like scaffolding, tiling, panels and shutters, which would otherwise get dumped in a landfill. Keeping New York’s carbon footprint to a minimum is no easy task, but BIG!NYC holds volunteer days at which you can pitch in at one of the organization’s warehouses in Astoria and Gowanus. Tasks include breaking down materials, painting, sorting, inventory tagging, basic warehouse organization and some light retail duties. As an added perk, the group has been known to reward hard work with a pizza lunch or complimentary goody bag. Queens location: 3-17 26th Ave between 3rd and 4th Street, Astoria, Queens Phone No: (718) 777 - 0132 Brooklyn location: 69 9th St at Gowanus Canal, Gowanus, Brooklyn Phone No: (718) 725 - 8925Website: bignyc.org

 

Animal Haven

Description: Volunteers assist with a number of daily tasks, including feeding, handling and bathing the animals.

Location: 251 Centre St between Broome and Grand Street

Phone No: (212) 274 - 8511

Website: animalhavenshelter.org

NYU Langone Medical CenterDescription: The East Side institution regularly employs 1,000 volunteers to fill an array of positions, including acting as liaisons to patient visitors in the emergency department or post-anesthesia care unit. If you’re especially good with kids, you can also play with youngsters as a pediatric-patient recreation helper. Location: 400 E 34th St at First Ave Phone: (212) 263 - 6100Website: med.nyu.edu

Medicare Rights CenterDescription: Help seniors and people with disabilities obtain access to Medicare. Manning the national help line, which requires a four-day training stint and basic computer skills. Though people of all backgrounds are welcome to staff the phones, bilingual Spanish-English speakers are especially in demand. Other opportunities include assisting with administrative work, information technology, graphic design or marketing and communications materials at the office. Shifts are a minimum two to four hours per week, but the time slots are only on weekdays. Phone No: (800) 333 - 4114 Website: medicarerights.org

Identifying Scam Jobs

Identifying Scam Jobs

--Zeenib Younis

• The advertisement is written very poorly

When you find uncertainty in the job’s description, such as very vague job duties, sentences that don’t make sense or inconsistencies, you can bet that it's a job scam.

• Receiving emails from a non-business address

An official hiring manager will have the company’s name as the end of his/her email address. However, if a potential employer contacts you from emails such as Aol Gmail, Hotmail, and Yahoo, right away you should believe that it's a scam job. They cannot use their personal email to reach out to you—only the business one.

• Company contacts you at odd hours

Remember, work emails can only be sent and answered during the normal business hours. Therefore, getting an email 2’o clock in the morning is another sign of a scam job.

• You are receiving emails from an Employer, Job Recruiter, or Job Board

Be careful of employers who find your resume on Monster, Careerbuilder or their company's website, especially if they think you’re the “best candidate” without speaking with you.

• No experience needed

While some entry-level jobs exist in retail, customer service, or day camps,

the vast majority of jobs require some type of experience. Even if you graduated from high school or college, you often still have to provide some sort of experience, such as a previous job or an internship.

 

 

• Salary is too high

Jobs that do not require experience or education do not start off with a high salary.  If you find a very high salary job and your qualification is not even equivalent to an associate's degree, that’s totally bogus. You should never believe in such offers.

•  Getting a job right away

No one can be hired right away, especially online. Even if you have higher degrees, there’s a whole process that could take a while until you’re officially hired. Also try to avoid an online or instant message interview, because that’s another way you can be scammed. 

• Sharing personal financial info

Never provide your personal information such as social security, bank account, or routing number. Keep in mind that the employer can give you fake reasons why they need to view your personal info—for example to run a credit check or to deposit initials funds into your account.  However, there is no reason for a potential employer to ask such personal financial info about you.