Volunteer Opportunities:
Ithaca and Tompkins County

Cornell Public Service Center Volunteer Program
200 Barnes Hall
607/255-1148
cupsc@cornell.edu

office hours: 8:30 am—5:00 pm, M—F (open all summer)
T, W, Th 5:00—7:00 pm when classes are in session, academic year only.

Staff at the Cornell Public Service Center:

• are familiar with local opportunities and organizations
  
• can provide information about a variety of volunteer opportunities that are available
  
• are in contact with many nonprofit organizations, government departments and programs in the Ithaca community, including Cayuga Medical Center* (CMC) 
  

Students may view a range of volunteer opportunities via the Public Service Center (PSC) website and make agency contact on their own, or they may have a consultation with a Center Programs Specialist at the PSC. Students may also visit VolunteerTompkins.org for information on local volunteer needs.

Students are welcome to come into the 200 Barnes office and complete a "Community Volunteer Interest Form" and be placed on a list-serve that would notify them of current or immediate volunteer opportunities as well as jobs, internships, awards, and other services related activities. This e-newsletter is sent once weekly when classes are in session.

The Volunteer Program posts opportunities with:

Physically and mentally handicapped children

• big brother/big sister
• after-school programs
• day treatment centers
   

Physically and mentally handicapped adults

• day treatment centers
   

The elderly  

• administrative agencies
• one-to-one friendly visiting relationships
• nursing and residential homes
• the Cornell Elderly Project
   

The emotionally handicapped  

• counseling services (suicide, crisis, mental health, and battered women)
• mental health clinics
• day treatment programs
   

The drug and alcohol dependent  

• administrative agencies
• outpatient services
   

The physically ill  

• Cayuga Medical Center - contact via Public Service Center in 200 Barnes
  
• Volunteer - Work in the gift shop, serve as a visitor guide, answer telephones at reception desk, assist nurses with non-medical tasks, comfort patients in waiting rooms, transport patients where appropriate, provide clerical support, sort and deliver mail, and assist in many other ways.
• Emergency Dept. Patient Advocate - Provides comfort and information to patients who may be physically and emotionally vulnerable.  Establishes respectful and trusting relationships with patients, their families, and the care team to address patient care areas and the non-medical needs of patient and/or significant others, and health care providers.
  
• hospice program
• nursing homes and residential care homes
• AIDS-HIV education and support programs
• Ithaca Free Clinic
• cancer patient support program
  

The administrators of health services

• health agencies and health-related agencies
• nutrition and food distribution programs
• sex, birth control, and pregnancy education programs
• Public Health Department

Opportunities are also available working with:

Animals

• animal shelters
• community education/youth programs
• Cornell Companions (therapeutic)
• therapeutic riding center
• veterinary clinics
• factory farm animal sanctury
  

Wildlife/environmental issues

• outdoor education programs
• outdoor recreation programs
• conservation projects
• youth programs
• animal care facilities
• land trust
• environmental agencies/programs

Individualized Opportunities

Students who have an idea of some other kind of opportunity or project with a nonprofit organization that they would like to pursue may be able to arrange it through a consultation with a Center Program Specialist.

Organizations Health Careers Students Have Volunteered with in Ithaca

Some examples follow. See also Volunteer Tompkins and Human Services of Tompkins County Services Directory for other organizations.

• Advocacy Center
  
  • Serves battered women, rape, and child sexual abuse victims
• Alcohol and Drug Council of Tompkins County
• American Cancer Society
• American Red Cross of Tompkins County
  
• Cayuga Addiction and Recovery Services
• Cayuga Medical Center (Ithaca's 204 bed hospital)
• Franziska Racker Centers (formerly Special Children's Center)
• Hospicare and Palliative Care Services of Tompkins County
  
  • Hospice and related services
• Human Services Coalition of Tompkins County
  
  • Including Health Planning Council
• The Cancer Resource Center of the Finger Lakes
  
  • Support, information, and advocacy for cancer patients
• Ithaca Free Clinic
  
  • Serves uninsured and underinsured
• Ithaca Pregnancy Center
• Ithaca and Cayuga Heights Fire Departments
  
  • Those in Bunker Program reside at the fire houses and repond with the fire fighters
• Lansing Residential Center
  
  • Serves court-placed delinquent girls
• Louis Gossett, Jr., Residential Center
  
  • Serves court-placed delinquent boys
• Mental Health Association
  
  • Includes Skylight Day Treatment for adults
• Planned Parenthood of the Southern Finger Lakes
  
• Public Health Department of Tompkins County
  
  • Includes Women, Infants, and Children's (WIC) program
• Southern Tier AIDS Program, Inc.
• Tompkins County Office for the Aging
  
  • Includes Project CARE: friendly visitors and respite for care givers
• Unity House
  
  • Provides services to adults with psychiatric and/or developmental disabilities

...also, nursing homes and retirement communities, some with medical wings, and on-campus with Gannett Health Services and Emergency Medical Service.