Welcome to Heading Home of South Central Indiana's Volunteer and Advocacy Newsletter! Here you'll find upcoming volunteer and advocacy opportunities within the field of housing security – and beyond! Take action, get involved and help to create a positive impact in our region.

If you do volunteer, be sure to post photos and tag us on Facebook and Insta!

Do you like working with kids?

New Hope for Families has several volunteer opportunities open both during the day and in the evenings. These opportunities include classroom helpers in their Early Learning Center, help with phones and donations at the shelter, and Thursday evening activities with families.

If you are interested, you can complete the volunteer registration to join their volunteer contact list and find opportunities that work for you!

Multiple Volunteer Openings



Beacon is looking for volunteers who are willing to commit to volunteering once a week for a two-hour shift.

Openings include:

• Hospitality Desk Volunteer:
• Wed. 10-noon
• Thurs-Fri. 12-2 p.m.
• Kitchen Volunteer:
• Mon-Fri. 9:30-11:30 a.m.
• Tues-Fri. 11:45-2 p.m.

If you are interested in this opportunity, visit this link to fill out an application.

Multiple Volunteer Openings

Middle Way House supports survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking. The organization has a variety of volunteer opportunities, including:

• Crisis Line: Answer phone lines for crisis calls, take messages for staff and residents, and interact with and assist residents in the shelter. Three-hour shifts are available any day of the week (weekdays and weekends) from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.

• Community Reception at the Rise: Maintain/monitor building security, protect confidentiality, and interact with residents and community members in two-hour shifts, Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Shifts from 5-7 p.m. are also available to volunteers with additional training.

• Youth Empowerment Services / YES Program: Volunteers interact with children, ages four to 18 years, living at the Rise and the emergency shelter. Activities include homework help, tutoring, mentoring, arts & science programs, games, and service projects. Tutors and mentors work one-on-one with school-age children. Programs are open from 3-8:30 p.m. Monday through Friday during the school year. Hours vary during the summer.

• Legal Advocacy Program: Volunteers will primarily attend court hearings, complete the daily court calendar, manage our cell phone donation program, and maintain our database system. Volunteers will have direct contact with judges, survivors, and court personnel. Volunteer hours would be Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m.

• Community Reception in the Administration Building: There are many opportunities such as working in the Resource Center (library organization, indexing, and research), answering incoming (non-crisis) telephone calls, welcoming visitors, and assisting with administrative tasks (filing, developing/disseminating publicity and agency newsletter, assisting with special events, fundraising, grant writing, etc.). Volunteer hours are available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

• Shelter Programming: Volunteers plan, organize and participate in activities for residents of Middle Way's emergency shelter. They may also work on office activities (copying, filing, etc.), materials development, and community and web research projects as needed.

Note: Volunteers must be able to commit at least 4 hours a week and be able to commit for a year (with the understanding that student volunteers may not be here during school breaks and in the summer). Volunteers need to be vaccinated and wear a mask during the in-person preservice training and while volunteering.

Please reach out to [email protected] with questions about volunteer trainings and/or positions.

Multiple Volunteer Openings

South Central Community Action Program's Thriving Connections program is seeking to build their volunteer team this year.

Volunteers needed:

• Youth program volunteers
• Meal preparation & serving
• Meeting set up & breakdown

If you have a few friends or belong to a group that can volunteer for a Thursday night, Thriving Connections is looking for meal volunteers. Or if you're an individual who would like to prepare and donate part of a meal, that's an option too. If interested, please review the open slots here and sign up!

Thriving Connections is also looking for "allies" to support program participants. An ally is a community volunteer who can provide guidance and connections, and is willing to support someone on their journey out of poverty.

If you are interested in any of these opportunities, contact Katie Hopkins at [email protected].

Meal Service Volunteer



Are you passionate about combatting food insecurity? Help Wheeler Mission serve meals to guests.

• When: Ongoing volunteer opportunity
• Morning, afternoon, and evening volunteer shifts are available
• Individual/group signups are available here.

Housekeeping or Front Desk Volunteer

Are you interested in helping hands-on at the men's shelter? Help Wheeler Mission with housekeeping or at their front desk.

• When: Ongoing volunteer opportunity
• Morning, afternoon, and evening volunteer shifts are available
• Individual/group signups are available here.
• Sign up for housekeeping here.
• Sign up for the front desk here.

Habitat for Humanity

Multiple Volunteer Openings

Habitat for Humanity has a variety of volunteer opportunities for you to get involved:

ReStore Cashier and Donation Intake Assistant

• Help ensure customers and donors have exceptional experiences, which helps ReStore fulfill its mission to increase the number of homes built by Habitat in Monroe County.
• Ideally, volunteers can commit to a weekly 2-hour shift: Monday-Friday 10:45 a.m.-1 p.m., 1-3 p.m., 3-5 p.m. and Saturday 9:45 a.m.-noon, noon-2 p.m., 2-4 p.m.

Construction Crew Leader

• Bring prior construction experience or develop your skills on the build site. Crew Leaders build on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and/or assist full-time construction site supervisors in leading volunteers to perform specific tasks on Saturdays. Crew Leaders ideally commit to building at least once per month. Build days are 8:30 am.-4:30 p.m.



Habitat Translator 

• Help break down barriers and provide equitable experiences for our future homeowners by sharing your Spanish translation skills.

Register to volunteer here!

Email [email protected] to learn more and get started!

South Central Housing Network

Advocacy Committee

The South Central Housing Network's Advocacy Committee meets on the second Tuesday of each month to work on issues at the local, state and federal levels. The group is chaired by Chase Techentin, shelter director at New Hope for Families.

Interested in joining? Fill out a New Member Form here!

Public Hearing: Indiana Housing Action Plan

The Indiana Housing & Community Development Authority (IHCDA) is holding the first hearing of its draft 2024 Indiana Annual Action Plan on Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 4 p.m. Use this Zoom link to participate. The plan "concerns programs funded through the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development under Title I of the Housing & Community Development Act of 1974 as amended."

Annually, the state receives about $65 million for housing and community development funds. This action plans governs the allocation of those funds among housing and community development activities (e.g., economic development initiatives, infrastructure improvements, and homeownership and rental programs).

Click here for additional information.

Share Your Story!

The Indiana Housing & Community Development Authority (IHCDA) seeks input for its Analysis of Impediments in regard to Fair Housing. The results of this survey will help inform IHCDA's budgeting and funding decisions.

Take this survey and share about your experiences with housing, jobs, and community needs in Indiana, and please share this link along to other Hoosier residents.

Click HERE to take the survey in English.

Click HERE to take the survey in Spanish.