County's mission is to pursue social justice with an emphasis on identifying and meeting the needs of the poor by leading and engaging Montgomery County’s faith communities in service, education, and advocacy. For more information, call 301-762-8682
Hearing Loss Association of Montgomery County (HLAA)
The Hearing Loss Association is a national, nonprofit, non-sectarian, educational organization devoted to the welfare and interests of those who cannot hear well. The Association and our members are catalysts who make mainstream society more accessible to people who are hard of hearing. Many people with hard of hearing come to HLAA with a long history of volunteer service. Often they continue their service to others by becoming officers of the HLAA chapter or state association and/or representing hard of hearing people on state and federal committees. For more information, please visit their website at www.mcshhh.org.
Family Friends Program – Easter Seals
This intergenerational program matches adult volunteers with a child with a disability in need of a friend. Volunteers spend a few hours per week playing, reading, spending time and sharing their experience and skills with a child and family in need of extra support. Family Friend volunteers build stronger families and communities by providing greatly needed social and emotional support of a child and his/her family. Volunteers receive pre-service training as well as ongoing training and support. For more information call Dianne Beer at 301-931-8925, extension 118 or email her at dbeer@eseal.org.
Interages/Intergenerational Resource Center
Interages staff and volunteers provide enrichment activities and services in the county public schools facilities. Interages is an award-winning non-profit organization that is dedicated to developing interactive, intergenerational programs that are mutually beneficial to seniors and children throughout Montgomery County. The mission of Interages, Inc. is to build bridges across generational and cultures. For further information, call 301-949-3551
Jewish Council for the Aging (JCA)
Volunteers are the heart and soul of JCA. Volunteers include young people and seniors—retirees, students, homemakers, physicians, accountants, photographers, etc. They keep JCA on the cutting edge of program quality and in step with community needs. All told, more than 500 volunteers in the JCA programs. Contact JCA by calling 301-881-8782
Long-Term Care Ombudsman Programing
The Long Term Care Ombudsman Program is a program of the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, Aging and Disability Services. Volunteers are assigned to nursing homes and assisted living facilities. They act to resolve problems brought to them by residents or those who care for residents. They educate residents and families about their rights and work to empower them to seek positive changes for residents.
Extensive training and support are provided. For Information about becoming a Nursing Home Ombudsman call 240-777-3369 and to volunteer to be an Assisted Living Ombudsman call 240-777-3910
Meals on Wheels
Meals on Wheels’ Volunteers deliver one hot and cold meal to homebound seniors and people with disabilities allowing them to live healthy, independent lives. For general information, call 240-777-3810
Mental Health Association of Montgomery County
The Mental Health Association of Montgomery County provides many direct services to the community. Call 301-424-0656 for more information.
§ Friendly Visitor Program provides friendship, companionship and access to resources to adults who are isolated and lonely due to physical problems that make them homebound. These adults have lived rich lives and enjoy sharing their experiences with people who care. Trained volunteers visit their friends in private homes, group homes and assisted living facilities.
§ Representative Payee/Bill Payer provides financial supervision for Montgomery County adults who receive a government benefit that they are unable to manage because of a physical or mental disability. Program clients are matched with a trained volunteer who manages the monthly benefit for the client.
§ Pets on Wheels is a program where volunteers bring pets, screened for appropriateness, to visit seniors in nursing homes, group homes and other facilities. The friendship and unconditional love provided by an animal can help to overcome feelings of loneliness and isolation.
§ Widowed Persons Services. Outreach volunteers offer support to newly widowed men and women as they adjust to their new status and rebuild their lives. A monthly newsletter is published. Call 301-949-7398 for more information.
Metropolitan Washington Ear
The Metropolitan Washington Ear is a nonprofit organization that serves persons with visual impairments in the Washington region. Volunteers read fro radio broadcasts and a dial-in newspaper and magazine service; research information, participate in a speaker’s bureau and help with office duties. For more information, call 301-681-6636
Montgomery County Public Libraries
Volunteers are a vital part of the library team. Generally, volunteers do not work directly with the public; however, there are many critical operations which volunteers perform that release the staff to assist library users. The best way to become a library volunteer is to call the library where you wish to volunteer to determine what opportunities are available.
Red Cross Shoppers Program
The Red Cross Shoppers Program is partially grant-funded and was created to help those who are unable to shop for groceries independently. The Shoppers Program matches Red Cross volunteers with seniors or residents with disabilities in Montgomery County for weekly shopping trips. In some cases, the volunteer takes a shopping list, does the shopping, and delivers the groceries to the individual’s home. The objective is to ensure that seniors and people with disabilities have groceries and contact with the outside, which often results in friendship. For more information, call 301-628-0090
Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP)
The RSVP is a nationwide volunteer program for individuals over the age of 55 which is sponsored locally by the Montgomery County Volunteer Center. RSVP assists seniors in finding interesting and rewarding volunteer opportunities based on their skills, interests, life experience, geographic preference and time availability. Currently, over 600 RSVP members volunteer in a wide variety of local public and private nonprofit organizations throughout the county. RSVP special programs include:
§ The SAVIE (Senior Adult Volunteers in Education) Program has over 100 senior volunteers work in the public schools as tutors, teacher’s helpers, playground aides, and media center assistants.
§ The RSVP/AARP Tax Aide Program has over 150 senior volunteers help prepare income tax returns for low- and moderate-income citizens. For more information, call 240-777-2600
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The Senior Connection
The Senior Connection is a positive community force. Each month more than 120 volunteers provide transportation and other supportive services to older persons that enable them to maintain their independence and dignity while remaining integral members of their communities. For more information, call 301-962-0820 |
| Senior Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) Senior Health Insurance Assistance volunteers provide information and counseling on topics such as Medicare and Medicare D, Long Term Care Insurance, Medical Assistance, Curbing Fraud and Abuse in Medicare and Medicaid, and Prescription Drug Programs. Call 301-590-2819 for more information. |
Educating people to help themselves |
Services for the Visually Impaired
Services for the Visually Impaired volunteers help people with visual impairment throughout the Washington Area with reading, shopping, recording printed materials on audio cassette, and providing transportation to cultural and recreational activities. Volunteering two hours a week will help a visually impaired person remain independent. For more information, call 301-589-0894.
Seniors
