Volunteer

Interested in Volunteering or Interning?

Current Volunteers: Track your hours in the portal.

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!

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

We are currently recruiting attorneys to represent clients who are seeking asylum as well as other forms of immigration relief.

To represent an asylum seeker, attorneys are required to attend HIAS PA asylum training sessions which are offered live in the spring and winter as well as on demand. 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.

Fill out an application to learn more.

Volunteer Translators/Interpreters

  1. Learn about our current volunteer opportunities including volunteer interpretation and translation. We are specifically seeking Haitian Creole, Spanish, 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

Our Standards of Excellence

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.

  • To donate home goods for newly-arrived refugees, please visit our Target registry.
  • If you’d like to purchase an equivalent item at a different online store, please have it shipped to this address:Attention: Lisa Lamboy
    HIAS Pennsylvania
    600 Chestnut St., Suite 500B
    Philadelphia, PA 19106

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

Want a speaker to come to your congregation, organization, or place of business?

In 2021-2022,
We were supported by

volunteers

In 2021-2022,
volunteers donated

hours

G'mar chatima tova.

HIAS Pennsylvania's office will be closed on Monday, September 25th, in observance of Yom Kippur. 

TONIGHT (4/20) - Join us ONLINE at the 2023 Golden Door Awards!

Join us ONLINE at 6:45PM TONIGHT, Thursday, April 20th, for HIAS PA's 2023 Golden Door Awards: United for Immigrants!

Happy Passover from HIAS Pennsylvania!HIAS PA is closed in observance of the Jewish holiday of Passover

HIAS Pennsylvania will be closed in observance of the Jewish holiday of Passover from 1PM on Wednesday, April 5th through Friday, April 7th, and on Wednesday, April 12th and Thursday, April 13th.

Join us at the 2023 Golden Door Awards!United for Immigrants

The Golden Door Awards is HIAS Pennsylvania's annual fundraiser. Your generous support helps us serve low-income immigrants from all over the world as they build new lives in our community.

Last chance to be the light for immigrants this year!It only takes one spark to light an entire room.

Your support today means your immigrant neighbors are able to make a home for themselves and thrive in our community.

Building closed until further noticeHIAS PA remains open!

HIAS PA’s physical offices at 600 Chestnut Street are CLOSED until further notice due to a burst pipe in the building.

Our organization remains open, and HIAS PA staff continue to work remotely at this time.

Please call (215) 832-0900 with any questions.

Building closed until further noticeHIAS PA remains open!

HIAS PA’s physical offices at 600 Chestnut Street are CLOSED until further notice due to a burst pipe in the building.

Our organization remains open, and HIAS PA staff continue to work remotely at this time.

Please call (215) 832-0900 with any questions.

Unleash generosity this Giving Tuesday!

This Giving Tuesday, you can change an immigrant's life!


This Giving Tuesday, you have the opportunity to be part of a worldwide effort to give back to those in need in our community and help immigrants and refugees begin new lives here in Pennsylvania!

Join us ONLINE at 12:45PM TODAY at the Tikkun Olam (Repairing the World) Volunteer Appreciation Awards!

Thanking our volunteers, who, in times of crisis and calm, constantly step up to “repair the world” by supporting immigrants and refugees.

Join us at the Tikkun Olam (Repairing the World) Volunteer Appreciation Awards!

The in-person Tikkun Olam Awards are sold out!

Join us online TOMORROW, Wednesday, October 19th, at 12:45PM at the virtual Tikkun Olam Awards!


Thanking our volunteers, who, in times of crisis and calm, constantly step up to “repair the world” by supporting immigrants and refugees.

TONIGHT: Join us at the table!Join us for Thankful Together!

Thankful Together, formerly known as Refugee Thanksgiving, is happening TONIGHT at 6PM!

Register here to join us tonight: https://hiaspa1.wpengine.com/event/thankful-together-2021/

Celebrate our volunteers who make this all possible!Click here at 11:45AM to join our Annual Meeting!

Click here to join our virtual Annual Meeting!

The Annual Meeting starts at noon, but join us at 11:45AM for an informal chat before the event!

POSTPONED! Speed Advocacy: Afghanistan

Today's Speed Advocacy: Afghanistan Facebook Live event has been postponed due to a worldwide Facebook outage. We will update you as soon as possible about rescheduling the event.

Join us for Thankful TogetherWatch performances from cultural groups and immigrants from around Philadelphia.
Give immigrants a brighter future

Make 2021 better for immigrants and refugees by ensuring they have the support to recover from anti-immigrant policies and the pandemic.

Double your donation this Giving Tuesday!All gifts will be matched up to a total of $11,000

Help every immigrant achieve their greatest potential by ensuring there are no obstacles like a lack of legal status or language access stand in their way.