Thank you to our community for the outpouring of support for refugees in Denver. We are receiving an incredible amount of interest to aid the arriving Afghan evacuees and families and others.
This community support is greatly needed and appreciated!!
We are mobilizing and creating new opportunities to engage volunteers. We appreciate your patience throughout this process.
- Please complete this Volunteer Interest Form to let us know how you wish to help.
We will soon have opportunties for volunteers to:
- Provide temporary or permanent housing (We are not currenlty arranging homestays. Apartments/homes with separate entrances, kitchens, and bathrooms are sought.)
- Contact leasing agencies to secure safe permanent affordable housing
- Welcome new arrivals - airport pickup, warm meal, grocery shopping (We are currently prioritizing volunteers who speak Dari/Farsi, Pashto, Swahili, Arabic, Burmese, Spanish)
- Mentor/assist with navigation around their communities and accessing community networks and services
- Provide transportation to appointments
- Assist with apartment setups (on call weekdays during business hours 9-5) You can sign up now to be on our On-Call Housing Volunteers List.
- Coordinate Donation Drives of household goods and furniture (with storage of items for 2-3 months)
- Organize/Sort donated household goods
- Pick up and deliver donations, including furniture
- Provide garage or large storage space for donated furniture and household goods
- Assist with office administrative tasks and communication
- Serve as a coordinator for regional donation dropoff sites
Due to the large volume of calls and emails we are not able to respond to every inquiry or answer individual questions. Your support is important to us and we apologize for not being responsive in a way that shows how much we value our volunteers.
If you are unable to connect with us as a volunteer, please consider supporting our work in other very important ways:
Donations
Our greatest need at the moment is for funding to secure housing, purchase household items and food, transportation, for medical and other basic needs of our new Afghan neighbors as well as other new families arriving from around the world. Whether your donation is $10 or $10,000, you will make an impact and help these individuals and families rebuild their lives in Colorado. Learn more and donate here. Host a fundaiser to encourage others to give as well.
In-Kind Donations
The IRC Denver is a 501c3 organization and accepts furniture and household goods that community members give to us to create homes for refugee individuals and families. Here is an up-to-date list of what we accept.
If you have furniture or other household items to donate, please complete this form to let us know what items from our list that you have. We are asking that your donations not be dropped off at our office or off-site storage facility until such time as space becomes available and we are able to contact you with drop off location. Please note that we are unable to pick up items.
The items we are most in need of at this time are on our Amazon Wish list. Items purchased from this site are delivered directly to our office and can quickly go out to families. as soon as they are needed.
More opportunities in Denver, CO
Resettlement Support Volunteer
An on-call volunteer position supporting newly arrived clients to meet their basic needs. Resettlement Support volunteers can sign up for tasks such as delivering items to client home, transporting clients to appointments or to purchase food and clothing, setting up temporary housing, or creating welcome boxes.
Food Program Delivery Volunteer
Seeking volunteer delivery drivers who will work with our partner, Village Exchange Center, using their easy-to-navigate food delivery application to deliver bags of fresh produce, toiletries, meals, and more to Afghan clients each week.
Volunteer Coordination Assistant
This volunteer position will support the volunteer and donations team with the onboarding of new volunteers and interns and with the ongoing maintenance of volunteer and intern programs at the IRC in Denver. This role is vital in supporting the IRC's ability to serve newly-arrived refugee families and other vulnerable immigrant groups.
Mentor
Support one-on-one as a mentor and help ease a refugee family or individual’s transition into their new community. Mentors will focus on a refugee’s English acquisition, socialization of American culture, and integration into the local community. Based on each client’s needs and relationship, mentors and mentees can cook together, schedule follow-up medical appointments, visit local attractions, parks, farmer’s markets, the library and museums. Mentors may also support in opening bank accounts, learning where to pay bills, navigating transportation, and more. Mentors and mentees will establish boundaries and expectations in an initial meeting with an IRC staff member and interpreter in order to better understand needs.