Volunteer

Interested in Volunteering or Interning?

Current Volunteers: Track your hours in the portal.

Please note we have received a large number of new volunteers and many of our volunteer opportunities are on hold due to the suspension of refugee arrivals. It may take some time before you will have an opportunity to volunteer, but we continue to onboard volunteers for opportunities in the future. During the onboarding process, we will also share other ways to get involved.

There are many ways you can volunteer with HIAS Pennsylvania. Click on the different areas below to learn more about the opportunities and how to get involved!

If you have any questions, please reach out to community@hiaspa.org

Find our upcoming volunteer orientations here.

General Volunteer Positions

  1. Learn about our current volunteer opportunities!
  2. All interested volunteers must attend one of our monthly volunteer orientations to get involved. Our orientations will be virtual for the foreseeable future.
  3. Please sign up for a volunteer database profile to register for one of our upcoming orientations and receive more information about volunteer onboarding. Once you complete a profile, a member of our staff will follow up with you directly.

Pro Bono Attorneys

Thank you for your interest in helping immigrants and refugees through HIAS PA. If you are interested in learning about pro bono opportunities when they arise, please fill out an application to be a pro bono attorney. After doing so, you will be added to our email list and you will receive information about ways to volunteer and clients in need of representation.

If you are looking for more immediate pro bono legal opportunities, please also visit: https://wetheaction.org/causes/16-immigration or Human Rights First.

Training and mentoring is available for pro bono attorneys. HIAS PA is a PA CLE accredited provider and Pennsylvania CLE credit is available for attorneys working on pro bono cases.

 

Volunteer Translators/Interpreters

  1. Learn about our current volunteer opportunities including volunteer interpretation and translation. We are specifically seeking Haitian Creole, Spanish (in-person daytime availability only), French, Arabic, Dari, Pashto, Urdu, Ukrainian, Russian, Swahili, Tigrinya, Rohingya and Burmese speakers.
  2. All interested volunteers must attend one of our monthly volunteer orientations to get involved. Our orientations will be virtual for the foreseeable future.
  3. Please sign up for a volunteer database profile to register for one of our upcoming orientations and receive more information about volunteer onboarding. Once you complete a profile, a member of our staff will follow up with you directly.

Internships

A limited number of internship opportunities in our administration, social services, and legal services departments are available to students who are college-aged or older. Internships at HIAS PA are unpaid.

Click here to intern at HIAS PA!

In your application email, please indicate if you are interested in legal, social, or administrative services.

Interns are accepted on a rolling basis and we cannot guarantee a position.

Bar and Bat Mitzvah

Thank you for your interest in partnering with HIAS PA for your Bar/Bat Mitzvah project. Here are some ideas of what students have done in the past. Ideally, students do a combination of service work with us and then advocacy, community education, and/or fundraising in their communities to share what they have learned and garner support for immigrants and refugees.

Upon reviewing the above document, email community@hiaspa.org and share your timeline and which project(s) above are of interest.

In-Kind Donations & Community Drives

Note we may not be able to accept your supply donation given the suspension of refugee arrivals. Thank you for your patience at this time.

HIAS PA is only able to accept new or gently used items that are clean and in good and working condition.  We do not have the capacity to clean or fix items. Consider: Would you give this item to a loved one?


In-Kind Donations

Visit our list of items we accept and don’t accept.

We do not have the capacity to pick up items. Items on our accepted list get dropped off at our community drop off location in Wynnewood.

If your items match our needs, please contact community@hiaspa.org for donation drop off information with the subject line “Household Goods Donation”.

Please email this address in advance of any drives or collections on behalf of HIAS PA.


HIAS Pennsylvania’s Registry

We have identified our top needs and shared them on our Target registry. All items purchased through the registry link below will automatically ship to HIAS PA. If you would like a donation receipt, please email community@hiaspa.org.

We thank you for your generosity!


Organize a Donation Drive for HIAS PA

We need at least 2-3 community partners per month to host donation drives to meet the urgent material needs of our clients. Our community partners include local businesses and professional groups, religious communities, book clubs, student groups and more. We would love to add you and your group to our list of partners.

Drives focus on collecting the following donations:

  • New & gently used household items
  • Seasonal items, including winter coats/outerwear, space heaters, box fans
  • Welcome Kits: assembled packages of hygiene items, cleaning supplies, safety items, kitchen items, or school supplies
  • Collecting gift cards and funds to donate directly to HIAS PA

Drives can be organized in-person and virtually. Please reach out to community@hiaspa.org if you are interested in organizing a donation drive.


Gift Cards

HIAS PA greatly welcomes donated gift cards to Target, Dollar Tree, and Walmart to support the ongoing and emergency needs of our clients. Gift cards can be sent to community@hiaspa.org or mailed to:

Attention: Lisa Lamboy
HIAS Pennsylvania
Box #8688
Philadelphia, PA 19101

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In 2021-2022,
We were supported by

volunteers

In 2021-2022,
volunteers donated

hours