Provides young adults transitioning out of foster care a safe place to live while offering resources, support, and teaching life skills. Serves ages 18 to 24, must apply before 24th birthday.

Foster Arizona Housing Project | Foster Arizona Housing Project

Organizations that are actively seeking individuals who are willing, on a voluntary basis without remuneration, to provide companionship and guidance and/or serve as role models for individuals who are disadvantaged because of age, income, physical or developmental disabilities or family environment. Some programs may be looking specifically for male or female adult volunteers to serve as mentors for young men or women from families in which adult figures of the same gender are absent or only available on a limited and inadequate basis or who are troubled and at risk for delinquency; or for people who are willing to serve as peer role models. Also included are volunteer opportunities for career mentors, i.e., professionals who are willing to be paired with people who have an interest in their occupation/job.

Mentoring Services Volunteer Opportunities

Programs that help older children in foster care, emancipated youth who are no longer eligible for foster care and/or other youth, usually to age 21, establish residence in private homes, apartments, boarding homes, college dormitories or other residential settings and provide supervision and support while they develop independent living skills.

Supervised Living for Older Youth

Programs that offer training which focuses on the knowledge and skills an individual may need to live independently or make a successful transition to independent living. Participants may include runaway youth who are living on their own, youth who because of age can no longer be maintained in foster care, new widows, victims of domestic abuse, people who have previously been homeless, and others who have lived in an environment in which decision making and responsibilities of daily living have been handled by another as well as people currently living independently who want to be more effective. Training may address job search and retention, money management, insurance, taxes, rental agreements, vehicle purchase, nutrition, home management, health care, legal emancipation for teens and other similar topics.

Life Skills Education

Programs that assist low-income single parents, teen parents, displaced homemakers, public assistance recipients or other targeted individuals and families to achieve economic independence and long-term stability through an integrated group of services which may include education and job training, microenterprise development, mentoring services, life skills training, personal enrichment classes, counseling services, parenting skills development, legal assistance, housing assistance, child care and transportation assistance, information and referral and advocacy. The services may be delivered using an intensive case management model which involves assignment of a case manager, development of an individualized case plan and assessment of progress in meeting agreed upon goals and objectives.

Economic Self Sufficiency Programs

Programs that provide extended shelter and supportive services primarily for homeless individuals and/or families with the goal of helping them live independently and transition into permanent housing. Some programs require that the individual/family be transitioning from a short-term emergency shelter. The length of stay varies considerably by program. It is generally longer than two weeks but typically 60 days or more and, in many cases, up to two years or more. The supportive services may be provided directly by the organization managing the housing or may be coordinated by them and provided by other public or private agencies. Transitional housing/shelter is generally provided in apartment style facilities with a higher degree of privacy than short-term homeless shelters; may be provided at no cost to the resident; and may be configured for specialized groups within the homeless population such as people with substance use disorders, a mental illness, AIDS/HIV, who have experienced domestic violence and/or veterans. In some cases, a "transition in place" option allows families to continue living in the same complex (if not the same unit) where their transitional housing unit is located when they are ready to move to permanent housing. In other cases, the permanent housing option is either public housing or private rental housing supported by a tenant-based voucher subsidy. Included are post-domestic violence shelter housing programs that make affordable rental housing (or other accommodations) available to women, generally those who are coming directly out of a domestic violence shelter or other crisis shelter, often in apartment complexes owned by the shelter; and programs that provide transitional housing and support services for other targeted groups such as military and veteran families and others who need a temporary supportive living environment to maintain stability and begin to thrive.

Transitional Housing/Shelter

Programs that provide opportunities for people to investigate their occupational interests through simulated job experiences such as role playing; career mentoring, i.e., pairing professionals and people interested in that occupation; and job shadowing, a work-based learning experience that allows a visitor to follow a host during a typical day (or other period of time) observing and asking questions about a particular career. Also included are police explorer programs, fire cadet explorer programs, and other similar groups which provide opportunities for youth who may be interested in pursuing a career in these fields as adults to gain experience in the area.

Career Exploration

Food pantries and other similar organizations that are actively seeking individuals who are willing, on a voluntary basis without remuneration, to unload purchased or donated food, stock the shelves, pack donated food into shopping bags for distribution to people the agency serves and clean the pantry after it has closed.

Food Sorting/Packing Volunteer Opportunities

Organizations that are actively seeking individuals who are willing, on a voluntary basis without remuneration, to use their expertise in the areas of auto, home and yard maintenance or construction to work on projects for the organization itself or to help the people it serves.

Construction/Home Maintenance Volunteer Opportunities

Divisions of businesses or nonprofit agencies that are responsible for developing products or delivering designated services to the public. Departments of NGOs are generally led by a manager, supervisor, director or vice president.

Nongovernmental Agency Departments

Provides services for youth and young adults aging out of the foster care system. Offers life skills training, employment support, educational and vocational payment assistance, and help finding and maintaining housing.

A Place 2 Turn | A Place 2 Turn

Programs that accept cosmetics, shaving utensils, beard trimming equipment, hygienic supplies and other personal care items and keep them for use in their own program or donate them to shelters and other community-based organizations for distribution to the people they serve. Also included are programs that assemble a collection of personal/grooming supplies for women and/or men and make the materials available to people in the community who need them.

Personal/Grooming Supplies Donation Programs

Programs that accept new or secondhand clothing, repair the items if necessary, and keep the clothing for use in their own programs, donate it to shelters and other community-based organizations for distribution to the people they serve, or sell it to raise money for agency programs. These programs accept donations of all types of clothing including children's clothes, work clothes, maternity clothes and shoes rather than specialize in a particular type of clothing.

General Clothing Donation Programs

Programs that accept canned food and other food resources and keep the food for use in their own programs or donate it to food banks, food pantries, meal programs and other community-based food programs for distribution to the people they serve.

Food Donation Programs

Programs that provide comprehensive support services for specific populations of at-risk youth such as young offenders, homeless youth, youth living in high-poverty areas and foster youth who need assistance preparing for, finding and retaining paid employment. Services may include vocational assessment; guidance relating to resume preparation, job application letters and questionnaires, interview techniques, appropriate dress and personal-social behaviors that will allow them to get along with employers and co-workers on the job; job skills development support; job placement assistance; limited periods of subsidized employment, where necessary; and/or on-the-job support, as required, to help the individual retain his or her position.

At Risk Youth Employment Programs

Programs that provide financial assistance to help individuals pay for educational placement tests, college/university entrance examinations, test preparation instruction, second language learning expenses or other education-related fees in situations where the person is unable to make the payment without support.