How You Can Help
Time
The Youth Service Bureau has many opportunities for you to contribute your time. We depend on the help of volunteers to help us to continue in our mission of providing our services free of charge to youth and families of St. Joseph County. Here is a listing of the ways you can help:
Safe Place volunteers are community individuals who are on-call to assess the needs of youth accessing the Safe Place sites located across St. Joseph County. A minimum one-year commitment is requested. Each volunteer will be trained and assigned to a geographic area coinciding with their home. As youth access Safe Place sites within their geographic area, they will be called by the safe station Staff and instructed to drive to the business location, interview the teen, and contact Safe Station for further instructions. Occasionally the youth will choose to return home. If necessary, the volunteer will transport the youth to Safe Station. Call Mary Poczik at Safe Station, (574) 235-9396.
Safe Station volunteers are community individuals who are willing to work along side the counselor and child care staff at Safe Station to supervise teen-aged residents, to assist with tutoring, to interact with board and computer games, and to assist with supervision on outings. Particular needs include evenings and weekends. Volunteers will never be required to manage the residence without the supervision of staff. Call Mary Poczik at (574) 235-9396.
The Young Moms' Self-Sufficiency Program is in need of a few volunteers who will provide childcare during monthly group meetings. The monthly meeting is held in a church on the west side of South Bend. Childcare is a barrier to attendance. Providing childcare allows young moms to attend these important educational meetings and have childcare provided. For more information, call Shelly Ambroziak at (574) 235-9231, extension 15.
Talent
The Youth Service Bureau of St. Joseph County is always in need of the talents from the community. Professionals from many areas of the community volunteer their talents in mentoring and counseling teens at Safe Station, and using a hammer and nails to repair and renovate our facilities. Please call if you would like to share your talents with us!
Contact Bonnie Strycker, Executive Director, at (574) 235-9231 or e-mail bstrycker@sbcglobal.net. Thank you!
Treasures
Annual Appeal Campaign
Your donation to our Annual Appeal Campaign will help us attend to the daily, and sometimes extraordinary, costs of operating the agency. The funding support of YSB becomes more challenging every day, and the needs of youth become greater every day. Since 1972, the Youth Service Bureau of St. Joseph County has assisted youth in crisis in our community, providing emergency shelter for youth, advocating for abused and neglected children in court, providing counseling and social development programs for children in local elementary schools, and providing support and guidance to young mothers and their children. Our strategic plan and our
visioning process have set us on a path to improve the quality and accessibility of youth services through collaborative partnerships.
For annual appeal pledge information, contact Karin Fisher, Development Director, at (574) 235-9231 ext. 21
or e-mail karinfisher1@sbcglobal.net. Thank you!
"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." Winston Churchill
