Volunteer Opportunities for Houston Teens
A charity that offers “the comforts of home and community” — including meals, accommodations, Jewish chaplaincy, child care, and transportation — to patients who come to the Texas Medical Center from around the world.
Deliver meals, create holiday food or crafts for patients, help care for children of patients or family members, sing holiday songs for patient families, and perform other helpful tasks. Please contact Aishel House for COVID-related updates.
A day program that provides fellowship, memory care, and wellness for adults with mild to moderate memory loss, and support to their families and the community.
Visit with participants and join them in activities and outings, or participate in the STARS summer internship program. Please contact Amazing Place for COVID-related updates.
A family-friendly bicycle ride dedicated to finding a cure for diabetes. It includes a variety of routes, a 5k walk/run, and a festival. In past years it has taken place in September at Prairie View A&M.
Set-up, registration, rest stops, start/finish line cheer teams, children’s area, lunch tent, clean up, and more. The 2021 Tour de Cure will be a Texas-wide virtual event on June 26th.
A transitional home for women coming out of incarceration. “Through comprehensive programs and partnerships, Angela House residents are given the opportunity and tools to maintain a positive lifestyle.”
Projects could include helping organize the clothing room or other areas, tutoring women in GED topics or basic computer skills, helping with special events or holiday decorations, helping with administrative tasks, or collecting needed items. Contact Angela House for COVID-related updates.
A global non-profit that serves as “the leading force in forging closer ties between Asia and the West through arts, education, policy, and business.“
Help with ExploreAsia or Dances of Asia Summer Camps, or assist with AsiaFest (May). Please contact the Asia Society for COVID-related updates.
A non-profit that works to end family violence by advocating for the safety and self-determination of victims, promoting accountability for abusers, and fostering a community response to abuse.
Assist with office tasks or special events, or help translate for clients.
A non-profit organization that provides educational services to children and young adults with autism. Services include a year-round day school, a smaller day program for young adults, and three residential group homes.
Help with activities such as games, crafts, and celebrations; assist with special events; help spruce up grounds or facilities; or collect needed items. Please contact Avondale House for COVID-related updates.
BakerRipley is a United Way agency that brings resources, education, and connection to more than half a million Texans each year, offering “innovative solutions to help low-income families in emerging neighborhoods get a foothold in the region’s economy.“
Help applicants complete their naturalization (citizenship) applications at monthly Citizenship & Immigration forums, serve as runners or interpreters, or assist at registration. Please contact Baker Ripley for COVID-related updates.
A Thanksgiving Day foot race for about 15,000 runners; the event supports BakerRipley, the largest community development organization in Texas.
Hundreds of volunteers are needed to help with packet pickup, race day setup, water stations, serving food, and more. Please visit the Turkey Trot website for COVID-related updates.
A city agency that cares for and helps find homes for thousands of animals each year, and provides many other services.
Needs include animal care, help with adoption and other events, foster pantry organization, facility beautification, and administrative help. Please contact BARC for COVID-related updates.
Each year the nonprofit Art Colony Association produces the Bayou City Art Festival Downtown (fall) and Bayou City Art Festival Memorial Park (spring) to raise money to support local nonprofit organizations.
Help at the Children’s Creative Zone or Information Booth, take tickets, greet guests, check in volunteers, provide refreshments to artists and volunteers, or take photos. Please visit the Festival website for COVID-related updates.
A nonprofit that provides weekend meals to elementary school-aged children who are eligible for school lunch programs during the week, but are in danger of going hungry on weekends.
Volunteers may assemble bags of easy-to-prepare food, deliver the bags to the children’s schools, and/or donate pantry items. Please contact the organization for COVID-related updates.
A nonprofit that provides services — meals, showers, laundry service, case management, medical and psychiatric care, pro bono legal services, and pastoral care — that “help restore dignity, self-respect, and hope to Houston’s poor and homeless.”
Volunteer activities include helping prepare and serve meals, laundering and folding clothes, and greeting clients. Please contact The Beacon for COVID-related updates.
A nonprofit “dedicated to restoring dignity and hope to abused and neglected children involved in Harris County Child Protective Services. BEAR provides basic necessities to the children in care, and support to the caseworkers of CPS.”
Help provide and/or organize donations of basic supplies, holiday gifts, or school supplies, or help with celebrations for youth who are graduating from CPS care. Please contact BEAR for COVID-related updates.
A nonprofit “dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for friendships, employment, and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.”
Assist with the Friendship Walk & 5K fundraiser in April, or help with event planning in the office. The 2021 Friendship Walk date is April 17.
A nonprofit dedicated to bringing birthday parties to children in homeless shelters, group homes, & other disadvantaged situations in Harris and Galveston counties.
Help host birthday parties in Houston, LaPorte, Liverpool, and Texas City; collect gifts or other party supplies; assemble goody bags, make decorations. Please contact Birthday Joy for COVID-related updates.
A “bereavement center offering grief support services to children, ages 3 to 18, and their families who have experienced the death of a child or an adult in their immediate family, as well as programs for grieving adults.”
Help serve potluck meals that families provide, or bring and serve a meal; help supervise children in the playground. Please contact Bo’s Place for COVID-related updates.
A charity that collects gently used books and distributes them to Houston’s at-risk children. Since 2013 Books Between Kids has distributed more than 1,769,000 books.
Help organize books at the warehouse on Harwin Drive, or collect books to donate. Please check with BBK about COVID-related changes; small groups of volunteers are permitted.
A nonprofit that works with teams of volunteers to gather donated books, sort them, and box them for transport. These recycled books are donated to underdeveloped countries around the world to help them create and maintain local libraries.
Help sort and package books in the warehouse, or collect books, especially those in subjects such as health and medicine, social science, and applied science. Currently volunteer groups are limited to ten people. Please contact BFD for COVID-related updates.
A comprehensive crisis intervention and prevention center whose services include a 100-bed emergency shelter, transitional housing for women, permanent housing for adults with disabilities and children in their care, and many other programs.
Projects include collecting needed supplies, organizing the shelter food pantry, arranging activities for children, helping with mailings, and working on annual charity races and other events.
A nonprofit that delivers fresh produce and nutrition education to underserved communities where access to grocery stores stocked with fresh fruits and vegetables is sorely limited.
Help unload and bag the fresh fruits and vegetables that are sent home with families each week, help distribute food, and other tasks. Please contact Brighter Bites for COVID-related updates.
A “God-centered educational, residential, entrepreneurial community” that provides spiritual, educational, & vocational opportunities for adults with special needs.
Help with Saturday fitness activities such as team sports, walking, and biking, and/or assist with Sunday worship services. Please contact Brookwood for COVID-related updates.
A non-profit organization that is revitalizing and transforming Buffalo Bayou, Houston’s most significant natural resource. Work includes addition of major destinations, landscaping, water features, and pedestrian bridges in Buffalo Bayou Park.
Groups or individuals can help with gardening, invasive species removal, trash pickup, trail work, special events such as KBR Kids Day, or administrative tasks. Please contact BBP for COVID-related updates.
A safe place for children in crisis due to abuse, neglect, or the effects of HIV. Casa de Esperanza provides residential care, and coordinates medical and psychological services according to the needs of each child.
Collect basic needs or items for welcome packages; students may propose other projects.
A free, non-profit health clinic that “shares the love of Jesus Christ while providing whole-person — body, soul, spirit — healthcare to the low-income and uninsured population in our community.”
Projects could include computer work, child care, patient education materials, website updates, organization, and building maintenance. Please contact the clinic for COVID-related updates.
The most comprehensive resource for pediatric hearing loss in Texas, offering health services and “enabling children with hearing loss to reach their full potential by teaching them listening, speaking, and literacy skills.”
Help with Via Colori, the annual street painting festival that supports the Center. Via Colori usually takes place on a November weekend.
A nonprofit organization that provides “residential, vocational, and day services that promote individual choice, personal growth, and independence for persons with developmental disabilities.”
Assist with campus beautification projects, engage with clients, collect needed items, and/or package gingersnaps and other baked goods for sale. Please contact the Center for COVID-related updates.
