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OrphanCare

OrphanCare is a lay ministry of North Way Christian Community Church and offers many opportunities for concerned individuals and families to become involved in changing the lives of at risk and orphaned children in their communities and the world. No matter what talents you possess, we have opportunities where you can serve. Volunteer opportunities include, but are not limited to:

  • Traveling with us on a mission trip
  • Collecting, packaging and shipping shoes for our annual shoe drive
  • Joining our ministry team
  • Assisting with our Adoption Support Group
  • Assisting with our Adoption Bible Study
  • Planning, implementing, and volunteering at our yearly Orphan Expo
  • Donating monetarily to our Adoption Fund
  • Praying for our ministry and the 147 million orphans in the world?

Safe Families

Safe Families for Children offers volunteers an opportunity to transform their communities by reaching out to care for children whose parents are facing challenges. As a Safe Family, volunteers host children for a short period of time, allowing the child’s parent(s) to focus on resolving the issues that led to the crisis. The average length of a child’s stay is about 30 days, but is assessed on a case-by-case basis and can vary in length, depending on the needs of child and family. Safe Families is not foster care or adoption – the goal of the program is the reunification of children with their biological parents in a home that is more stable and healthy. For more information contact www.bethany.org/pittsburgh or www.safe-families.org

L.A.M.P.

L.A.M.P.: the Learning and Mentoring Partnership, is collaboration between the Pittsburgh Public Schools, Family Guidance, Inc., and area churches, including North Way Christian Community. http://www.northway.org/secondary/outreach/lamp.aspx The vision of L.A.M.P. is to impact the City of Pittsburgh, one student at a time, by matching a church (or churches) with a specific Pittsburgh public school to serve and provide mentors to the school’s students. In 2006, as part of Pastor Jay Passavant’s broad vision of a Church Disturbed, North Way partnered with the District by providing mentors, services, and resources to the Helen Faison Arts Academy in the Homewood neighborhood in the East End of the City of Pittsburgh. For more information – see Bryan McCabe’s blog: bkmccabe.blogspot.com/

EMBARK!

The mentoring program of the Department of Human Services is called Embark! pairing foster youth attending college with local professionals. These young adults often lack any family ties or positive role models and a mentor can offer life experience advice and help them navigate the college experience. Contact JoAnn.Hannah@AlleghenyCounty.us for more information.

Glade Run Lutheran Services

At Glade Run Lutheran Services the overall goal is to join with children, adults and families to help them lead a life filled with promise and success. Whether in homes, schools, communities or on their 325-acre campus in Zelienople, they offer a safe, healing environment and innovative programming. They believe they can best help people move along a continuum from wounded to wellness by working together to address mental health, behavioral health, educational and vocational needs. The role of the volunteer is extremely important. Your presence and the sharing of your time and talents increase their feelings of self-worth. It is their goal to match a volunteer to the best and most appropriate way to serve. Many levels of service are available to volunteer, ranging from child tutor to assisting in the therapeutic animal program. Visit www.gladerun.org for more information

CASA

CASA volunteers are appointed by judges to watch over and advocate for abused and neglected children, to make sure they don’t get lost in the overburdened legal and social service system or languish in inappropriate group or foster homes. Volunteers stay with each case until it is closed and the child is placed in a safe, permanent home. For many abused children, their CASA volunteer will be the one constant adult presence in their lives. Visit www.pgh-casa.org

Infinite Families

INFINITE FAMILY connects video mentors in living rooms and offices anywhere in the world with southern African teens who have few, if any, adult role models. INFINITE FAMILY makes it possible for adults around the world, through weekly video conversations, to improve the daily life and future of sub-Saharan African children affected by HIV/AIDS and poverty. Share your time, your experience, yourself. Visit www.infinitefamily.org

Holy Family Institute

For more than a century, Holy Family’s passion has been to care for children in need. They are looking for special volunteers to spend time with children in their residential care program - people who would like to share time with a child, with the potential of changing a life in the process. Holy Family Institute is a well-known and respected social service agency in Southwestern Pennsylvania that has been providing care, treatment and education services for children and families since 1900. Theri residential care program serves children, boys and girls ages 6 – 18, who have been removed from their homes due to abuse, neglect or other special circumstances. Holy Family is seeking volunteers to help give the children they serve a bright and productive future. Studies have shown that one of the best ways to do that is for a child to be exposed to a caring adult. Individuals and families can provide interesting and rewarding experiences in a variety of ways. Their volunteer activities include mentoring opportunities for adults who would like to provide one-on-one support to a child or teen or provide support to an entire family. They also have an activity based program that allows individuals the opportunity to bring their special interests, gifts and talents to our youth.