Cultural Orientation Childcare Volunteer

SCOPE OF WORK:

IRC SLC provides monthly Cultural Orientation (CO) training to newly-arrived refugees with the goals of providing the information necessary for refugees to successfully navigate available services, their local community, and broader US society and to promote cross-cultural understanding while encouraging clients’ positive psychosocial adjustment. IRC SLC is also providing CO to a subset of arrivals from Afghanistan who are arriving in the United States over the coming months through the Afghan Placement and Assistance (APA) Program. Volunteers will support both newly arrived refugee and the APA CO orientations.

The Cultural Orientation Childcare Volunteer will provide refugee children with a safe place to play, learn, and collaborate with other children while their parents are in cultural orientation sessions. This is an in-person volunteer opportunity. Volunteers willprovide children with physical activities, languagelearning, social-emotional learning, art, music, and collaborative play experiences. This will give parents peace of mind that their children are fully engaged so parents can focus on cultural orientation.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• When completing volunteer work, convey information with respect and kindness
• Lead educational activities(physical, language learning, social-emotional learning, art, music, and collaborative play) for children during the cultural orientation sessions
• Follow a structured schedule giving children a glimpse of what school will feel like in their new home
• Ensure materials and resources remain organized and tidy for future sessions.
• Make sure all youth are with the group at all times
• Actively engage with youth to promote learning English and develop skills particular to navigating life in the U.S.

REQUIREMENTS:

• Patient, reliable communication
• On-time and has a flexible day schedule on weekdays
  • Will need to be committed to whole time slot
• Understands and is willing to navigate the cultural transition youth are experiencing
• Able to commit to at least oneor twofull shiftsmonthly. Sessions are from 8:30 am-2:30 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays
• Able to commit for a minimum of three months.•Adhere to IRC volunteer and workplace policies, including confidentiality policies and respect for family experiences
• Resourceful, patient, flexible, and reliable.•Able to communicate effectively and clearly in English, knowledge of any of the following languages is a plus: Kinyarwanda, Kiswahili, Rohingya, Dari/Farsi/Pashto, Spanish, Vietnamese and Arabic.
• COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement: In accordance with IRC’s duty to provide and maintain a workplace that is free of known hazards and our commitment to safeguard the health of our employees, clients, and communities, IRC requires all volunteers who are interested in providing in-person support for our work to furnish proof of vaccination against COVID-19 in order to be onboarded for the position. If proof of vaccine cannot be provided, volunteers may still apply for virtual-only roles.

NEXT STEPS:

• Attend a general volunteer orientation to learn more about the IRC, the people we serve and the volunteer opportunities we host. Sign up here
• All volunteers must clear a background check. We ask for a $45 donation to help cover the cost. Steps for this will be provided after you have attended volunteer orientation

QUESTIONS?

Please contact us at VolunteerSLC [at] Rescue.org