PBHA’s St. James Summer Shelter is a student-run transitional program for 12 homeless men and women. We strive to create a stable, comfortable, and friendly environment for our guests by providing them with 3 meals a day and permanent beds for the duration of our seven-week program. By connecting guests with important resources, we help them find housing and better employment. For more info please contact Caroline McDowell (cmcdowel@fas.harvard.edu) or Katie Dahlinghaus (kdahlinghaus@gmail.com).
PBHA’s CYEP is the largest of the SUP camps and the only one in Cambridge. CYEP consists of three sites serving about 150 children with a total senior staff of 21. Our youth come from low-income families, primarily from North Cambridge, East Cambridge, and Area IV. CYEP serves youth from a wide range of racial, cultural, and religious groups, reflecting the diversity of both the immigrant population in Cambridge and that of the city’s long-term residents. At-risk Cambridge youth are often overlooked because of the focus placed on the universities and biotechnical institutions that dominate much of the landscape. However, almost all of the children CYEP serves receive free school meals and qualify for subsidized and/or public housing. As the only summer camp in Cambridge specifically targeting low-income families, CYEP’s low-cost, quality enrichment programming is in demand each summer. sup.cyep@gmail.com
PBHA’s Youth Recreation volunteers act as coaches and teachers for youth at Cambridge schools. We currently focus on two sports: basketball and swimming. Every Friday afternoon, we teach, coach, and play basketball with 4th – 6th grade students, and every Monday afternoon, we teach swimming to students at the Harvard MAC. Our programs emphasize having fun and raising confidence rather than merely perfecting a skill. For more information on the basketball program, please contact Billy Hubbard (billyhubbard12@gmail.com) or Matt Zapf (mazapf@fas.harvard.edu); for information on the swimming program, contact Erin Harrington (eharring@fas.harvard.edu) and Megan McGrath (mcgrath3@fas.harvard.edu).
PBHA’s S.A.B.E.S. (Spanish Acquisition Beginning in Elementary School) is an after school program that teaches Spanish at the Maria Baldwin School on Oxford Street. Our goal is to get kids excited about foreign language and culture from an early age through fun and creative exposure. We teach kindergarten through fifth grade in pairs on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 2:45-4:15. Our volunteers have all different backgrounds in Spanish–our only requirements are lots of enthusiasm for the language and a love of kids. For more information, please contact Caitlin Marquis (marquis@fas).
PBHA’s King School Buddies chapter matches Harvard volunteers with developmentally delayed and learning disabled kids and adults from Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School. Since all three sites are within easy walking distance of the Yard, volunteers can make their own schedules for visiting their Buddies each week. The goal of the program is to form friendships that are rewarding both for volunteers and for Buddies. In its ten years at Harvard, King School Buddies has grown to include nearly thirty committed members. Please contact Kathleen Brady (kebrady@fas) or Elise Sullivan (esulliv@fas).
PBHA’s Harvard Square Homeless Shelter operates an emergency homeless shelter at the University Lutheran Church (UniLu) in Harvard Square. We provide shelter, food, and resource counseling for 24 guests each night, as well as dinner plates for all who come to the door. The shelter is open 7 nights a week from Nov. 15th through Apr. 15th. There are several ways you can volunteer with us, including regular weekly shifts (2-10 hrs/wk) and intermittent volunteering. Find out all the ways you can volunteer at our website, http://hshshelter.org. If you are interested in volunteering, contact hshs.volunteer@gmail.com, or to get more general information, please contact hshs@hcs.harvard.edu.
Harvard Emerging Literacy Project (HELP) recognizes that if economically disadvantaged children do not have the resources to practice the skill of reading, their chances for later academic success and future learning are significantly diminished. Volunteers visit Cambridge Head Start preschools in pairs once a week for an hour to read and play with the children, who have poor access to books and potential readers. We seek to close the gap in their literacy capability by showing them that reading is fun and preparing our students for first grade to the extent of their more fortunate peers. Please contact Caroline Bleeke (cableeke@fas) with any questions.
The Harvard College Youth Leadership Institute (HYLI) offers a leadership development program to middle school students from Cambridge public and charter schools. We focus on teaching our students essential leadership skills using hands-on, experiential learning techniques. The program takes place on-campus once a week and a variety of student groups serve as classroom guests throughout the semester. For more information please contact harvardcollegeyouthleadership@gmail.com or directors Elizabeth Fryman (emfryman@fas.harvard.edu) and Tom Wang (tomwang@fas.harvard.edu).
The HARMONY Program offers volunteers the opportunity to act as mentors and music teachers to talented elementary and high school students in the Cambridge public schools. HARMONY targets children who have an interest in music but are unable to afford music lessons. We have three programs: One-on-One, After School, and Performing Arts. Volunteers with One-on-One give private lessons to students from Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. After School volunteers travel in small groups to local after-school programs and give general music lessons to groups of children. The Performing Arts Initiative, our new expansion, is a group of performers that travels to hospitals and nursing homes to perform for ill children ad the elderly. HARMONY welcomes vocalists and instrumentalists from diverse musical backgrounds as well as dancers. For more information,please contact harmony@hcs.harvard.edu or directors Shami Entenman (entenman@fas.harvard.edu) or Saki Takahashi (takahashi@fas.harvard.edu), or check out our website at http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~harmony/
Vernon Hall is one of the programs of the Elderly Affairs Committee. Volunteers visit nursing home patients together as a group and entertain the elderly individuals by playing exciting rounds of Bingo and painting residents’ fingernails. There are also opportunities for one-on-one interaction through personal visits and games like checkers and Scrabble. We are also looking at ways to expand our activities repertoire this year! The Vernon Hall nursing home is a 10-15 minute walk from Harvard Square. We volunteer from approximately 1:45pm-4pm on Saturday afternoons, including walking time. Contact Daniel Lage (dlage@fas) or Taylor LiCausi (tlicausi@fas) for more information.
.JPG)
