Volunteering for Initiative for
Affordable Housing
As a community-based, non-profit organization, Initiative for Affordable Housing relies in part on the contributions of funds, time and the talents of its volunteers and donors. Listed below are many ways you can have a direct impact on the work of Initiative.

VOLUNTEERING YOUR TIME:

• 1-2 hours a week helping office with filing, answering phones
• 1-2 hours sorting and delivering donated items to homeless program families
• 3-4 hours playing bingo or other games with seniors at Magnolia Circle Apartments
• A half or whole day preparing a single family house for a homeless family, including painting, light carpentry

VOLUNTEERING YOUR TALENT:

• A half or whole day beautifying the outside of single-family homeless program houses or at apartments.
• Two hours in the evening teaching beginner computer skills at apartment complexes
• Two hours videotaping practice interviews as program participants practice interviewing skills
• 3-4 hours a week coordinating donation pickups and volunteer events

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
Call 404-299-9979 today to find out how!

Adrienne Searer, a junior at Bethel College in Indiana, spent her summer supervising the construction of a nature trail and garden for the Initiative Sol Luna Park Apartment Community in Decatur.

“It was an internship I participated in for Experience Mission, which sponsors mission trips for college students in North and Central America, as well as Europe.” She spent the months of June and July supervising visiting teams of volunteer groups, ranging from seven to thirty-five members, each week.

The nature trail, which runs the full length of the Sol Luna Park property, features a bridge across the creek, a mulch-covered trail and a community garden. “The volunteers cleared trees and cut down vines,” says Searer. “They built a fence, cleared undergrowth for the trail and laid down the five-foot mulch path. By pure stroke of luck, one week two volunteers showed up who had professional bridge-building experience, so the bridge we finally put in place has been built to last.”

“I really enjoyed the project,” she says. “The Initiative staff was very supportive. They showed up every work day to welcome the volunteers and provided real hands-on guidance. In the end, it was a very satisfying project and the residents were very appreciative. I could actually see the effects, the results of all the work we did.”