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Volunteering at Almost Home
What Do Almost Home Volunteers Do?
Almost Home is a residence for families of children
receiving treatment in Kingston hospitals. The house
accommodates up to ten families. Almost Home is also
open to families and caregivers who need a respite
during the day or the evening, but who are not staying
overnight. Almost Home is entirely community supported
and receives no government funding nor agency funding.
We solely rely on donations and voluntary services.
The following areas require active volunteer support,
some more often than others:
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Relief Managers
Almost Home is staffed twenty-four hours a
day. Generally, during the day, the House
Manager is responsible for the house with
the live-in Night Manager covering the overnight
hours. Volunteer relief managers are needed
for evening and weekend shifts and for some
daytime shifts to relieve the
House Manager when she needs to be out of
the house.
House Manager: 7:30 am - 3:30 pm
Mon. - Fri.
Night Manager: 10:00 pm -
7:30 am Sun. - Thurs. and 10:00 pm - 9:00
am weekends
Volunteer Relief Managers:
Most shifts are four and a half hours
3:30 pm -5:30 pm Mon.- Fri.
5:30 pm - 10:00 pm daily
9:00 am - 1:00 pm Sat., Sun. and Holidays
1:00 pm - 5:30 pm Sat., Sun and Holidays
10:00 pm - 9:00 am overnight shifts to cover
holidays
Relief Managers
are primarily responsible for welcoming guests
to the house, answering their questions, and
familiarizing them with the general guidelines
of Almost Home. They are also responsible
for all telephone communications, e.g. enquiries
and messages, and for some small household
duties such as re-stocking rooms and keeping
the coffee perking. Perhaps the most important
and enjoyable aspect of the relief managers'
work is the opportunity to talk to the guests.Relief
managers are asked to commit to at least one
shift every two weeks and make an ongoing
commitment to Almost Home.
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Relief
managers and house volunteers
work under the general direction of the House Manager
who has full responsibility for the management of the
House.
House and/or Grounds Volunteers
Volunteers are needed to assist with regular housekeeping
tasks (e.g. cleaning common areas in the House, re-stocking
rooms that have been vacated so that they are ready
for the next family), and general interior and exterior
maintenance and groundskeeping. Almost Home relies on
families and volunteers to help keep the house clean
and the grounds in good order.
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Administrative
Volunteers
Administrative volunteers assist with data entry, research
of grant opportunities, writing grants, letters and
general correspondence, phoning donors, stuffing envelopes,
assist with the newsletter.
Board Volunteers
Board volunteers meet monthly. A term is for 3 years
with active participation of a Board member on a committee.
Fund Raising Volunteers
Fund raising volunteers may choose from a variety of
interesting tasks: helping organize a fun event, helping
with media output, entering data into a database, assisting
with BINGO, picking up Coin Houses, stuffing envelopes,
making phone calls, and asking for donations.Fund raising
volunteers report to the Development Office. |
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