Needs From: Volunteer East Tennessee

Our mission is to provide opportunities for refugees to rebuild their lives after suffering persecution so that they may become productive, contributing members of the community. Bridge Refugee Services offers support to over 400 refugee clients in the greater Knox Co. area, and we cannot do this without community support.

Through Second Harvest's Food Rescue Program, we have been able to create partnerships with local ethnic grocery stores and restaurants around Knoxville to combat food insecurity in the refugee community.  We would love to have volunteers help us pick up food donations from these stores and restaurants each week.  We will give you a location or locations to pick up from and you will represent Bridge as you drive to these locations to interact with store employees and pick up these donations.  Then bring these donations back to our office to help us weigh and record the donation.  Vehicles that can haul large donations are preferred, but may not be required.  This volunteer opportunity is a weekly opportunity with some flexibility.

Help us provide our refugee families culturally familiar, nourishing food!

Volunteer Requirements:

Foreign language skills or experience working with refugee populations not required.

If you have any additional questions, please reach out to Peter Green, our Volunteer & Co-Sponsorship Manager, via email at pgreen@bridgerefugees.org.

Bridge Refugee Services is searching for committed volunteers who love working with people and are interested in helping another person start or continue learning English.

As a refugee resettlement agency, Bridge helps refugees start a new life in the United States. English/ESL volunteers are a wonderful one-on-one resource for people as they begin this journey.

Being able to speak English is crucial for refugees as they start their first job and learn about their new community.

Even if you have never taught English, this is a great opportunity to work with an individual or family as they improve their English skills.  Bridge can offer an opportunity for instruction in cross-cultural ESL and free ESL materials for teachers. 

Volunteer Requirements:

Foreign language skills or experience working with refugee populations not required.

If you have additional questions, please reach out to Peter Green, our Volunteer & Co-Sponsorship Manager, via email at pgreen@bridgerefugees.org.

Do you have a vehicle and time to volunteer? Do you like meeting new people from all over the world?

We are looking for volunteer drivers to help us transport our refugee clients to and from medical appointments, the Social Security Office, English classes, Summer Camps, etc. Our clients are dependent upon public and community transportation when they arrive in Knoxville, so volunteers helping them navigate the community makes a definite impact in welcoming them to Knoxville.

Transportation needs generally happen on an as-needed basis usually during Bridge office hours, 8:30-5:30 M-F.  However, night and weekend opportunities arise! 

Volunteer Requirements:

And, of course, a vehicle! Foreign language skills or experience working with refugee populations not required.

If you have additional questions, please reach out to Peter Green, our Volunteer & Co-Sponsorship Manager, via email at pgreen@bridgerefugees.org.

Do you have the gift of hospitality? Help us welcome our newest refugee neighbors to Knoxville!

Volunteers help us set-up a new home and create a welcoming space for an arriving refugee family seeking safety and peace in Knoxville. Our volunteers will help us move and place furniture, put linens on beds, hang shower curtains, put dishes in cabinets, and make an empty apartment or house look like a welcoming home for our weary travelers.

If you have a truck or a trailer and can help us move furniture from our storage unit to the new home, we would love to have your assistance! However, a truck or a trailer is not required to volunteer for this role.

Apartment set-ups generally happen on an as-needed basis usually during Bridge office hours, 8:30-5:30 M-F.

Volunteer Requirements:

Foreign language skills or experience working with refugee populations not required.

If you have any additional questions, please reach out to Peter Green, our Volunteer & Co-Sponsorship Manager, via email at pgreen@bridgerefugees.org.

Have you ever wished you could make a difference just by running your daily errands? 

Our mission is to provide opportunities for refugees to rebuild their lives after suffering persecution so that they may become productive, contributing members of the community. Bridge Refugee Services is expecting to welcome a record number of refugees to Knoxville this year, and we cannot do this without community support.

We would love to have volunteers help us shop for culturally appropriate groceries.  We will give you grocery gift cards (you don't have to use your own money!) and a culturally appropriate grocery list for the family you are shopping for; you help us by going to a local Walmart or other grocery store and shopping for the items on the list and return the groceries to our office. This volunteer opportunity is very flexible with busy schedules!

Help us give a refugee family a head start in their new city by providing nourishing food.  

Volunteer Requirements:

Foreign language skills or experience working with refugee populations not required.

If you have any additional questions, please reach out to Peter Green, our Volunteer & Co-Sponsorship Manager, via email at pgreen@bridgerefugees.org.

Help us welcome our newest refugee neighbors to Knoxville!  We need volunteers with trucks, trailers, or tow equipment to help us pick up furniture donations from week-to-week!

One of our missions at Bridge Refugee Services is to provide safe, affordable, and furnished housing for our arriving refugee families.  We are largely dependent upon in-kind donations of gently used furniture from the community to set up a new home for our refugee families.  Sadly, we are missing out on a lot of donations because our organization is unable to do furniture pick-ups.  

We are looking for hero volunteers with weekday availability and vehicles that can transport couches, loveseats, dressers, dining tables, nightstands, end tables, and other basic types of furniture!  

Furniture pick-ups will generally happen on an as-needed basis usually during Bridge office hours, 8:30-5:30 M-F, and furniture will need to be transported to our off-site storage unit on Western Ave.

Volunteer Requirements:

Foreign language skills or experience working with refugee populations not required.

If you have any additional questions, please reach out to Peter Green, our Volunteer & Co-Sponsorship Manager, via email at pgreen@bridgerefugees.org.

Bridge Refugee Services is expecting to welcome a record number of refugees to Knoxville this year, and we cannot do this without community support.  We are always looking to restock our supply of donations of household goods and furniture to provide material support for our refugee families arriving all year long.  

I would like to invite both individuals and groups to assist us through in-kind donation drives for household goods to help us in new home set-ups for our newest neighbors.  Pillows, bedding, fresh towels and washcloths, toiletries, laundry detergent, kitchen trash cans, dishes and cookware, cleaning supplies, school supplies--all are needed!

We are launching a brand-new initiative this year to create sustainability and efficiency in our donations process, and charitable groups can help us by donating various housing kits.  Your group can look through our brand new BRS Housing Kit Guide and pick a housing kit that speaks to your group, and then put together as many kits as you are able to.  We do accept some items as gently used, like dishes, flatware, pots, and pans; but other items like bedding, towels, toiletries, etc. would need to be new.

If you cannot commit to a whole kit, you can still donate any item(s) from this guide to support welcoming refugees to the Knoxville area!  Even if you wanted to just collect new pillows or umbrellas (or school supplies, which are not in the Housing Kit Guide), this would be a huge help!  Large groups collecting donations for us really help us meet the material needs of our refugee families.  If this is something you or your group would like to do, I can point you in the right direction as far as current needs go.

If you are interested in welcoming our newest neighbors to Knoxville in this way, please contact Bridge Refugee Services for more information and the new BRS Housing Kit Guide:

Peter Green
pgreen@bridgerefugees.org

One of our roles as Knoxville's only refugee resettlement agency is to find affordable housing for our arriving refugee families. This task comes with unique challenges. One of these unique challenges is the rental agreements and city ordinances that require our refugee families to take care of the yard of their rental property.

We receive a lot of refugee families--many of whom are single mother with young children--who:

There are opportunities in the Spring, Summer, and early Fall months for volunteers to help us meet the yard work needs of our refugee families and single mothers. This is also a great opportunity for groups that can serve refugee families through cutting grass, pulling weeds, raking leaves, and general yard clean-up.

Special Requirement: The volunteer would need to be able to provide their own lawn equipment and get it to and from the property, since the families do not own any equipment.

If this is an opportunity you or a group you are associated with are interested in helping us with, please reach out to me at pgreen@bridgerefugees.org!

We are looking for volunteer Swahili interpreters to support our budding G.R.O.W. gardening program for refugees!

G.R.O.W. stands for Growing Refugee Opportunity and Wealth, and it is a community-driven Bridge Refugee Services initiative centered on fostering sustained self-sufficiency through culturally informed vocational training, wellness education, and entrepreneurial opportunities.  We are expanding this program in partnership with the Knox Co. Community Gardens & Growers Alliance to provide gardening plots and tools; teach gardening skills; and provide the appropriate entrepreneurial instruction to navigate the local farmer’s markets.

We would love to use your valuable language knowledge to serve our local refugee population as a volunteer interpreter for these gardening classes and entrepreneurial instruction.

Volunteer Requirements:

Complete Bridge Volunteer Paperwork
Attend Bridge Volunteer Orientation (about 1hr via Zoom)
Background Check through Sterling Volunteers ($17.50 paid to Sterling Volunteers)

If you are interested or have any additional questions, please reach out to Peter Green, our Volunteer & Co-Sponsorship Manager, at pgreen@bridgerefugees.org. 

Bridge Refugee Services, Inc. is a nonprofit agency operating in Knoxville and Chattanooga and committed to providing protection and assistance in refugees' inspiring journey. 

At Bridge Refugee Services, we continue to search for new prospects who are interested in joining our Board of Directors.  As East Tennessee's only refugee and international protected class resettlement agency, Bridge is always looking for enthusiastic candidates who will support our mission, who are motivated to offer organizational governance, and who have a strong skill set to help boost Bridge's capacity for client services.

Do you have compassion for welcoming the newest members of our community?  Do you believe you have unique qualities that can make an impact on our organization and those we serve?

We would like to know more about you!

The service term will begin at the beginning of the new year and last for three years. 

If you have interest in joining Bridge's Board or you have additional questions, please reach out to Peter Green at pgreen@bridgerefugees.org.  Please include the following:

Name:
Phone Number:
Email Address:
Organizational Affiliations:
Key Professional Expertise/Industry:

Also, please describe your interest in Bridge Refugee Services' mission "to provide opportunities for refugees to rebuild their lives after suffering persecution so that they may become productive, contributing members of the community."

Come help us teach refugees how to sew and how to market that new skill on their path to self-sufficiency!

The three pillars of success for refugees in the United States are learning English, employment, and community engagement.  With our new G.R.O.W. program, we hope to provide our refugees a path to accomplish all three.

G.R.O.W. stands for Growing Refugee Opportunities and Wealth, and it is a community-driven Bridge Refugee Services initiative centered on fostering sustained self-sufficiency through culturally informed vocational training, wellness education, and entrepreneurial opportunities.  Right now, the program is centered around teaching sewing as a marketable skill, ESL, and the entrepreneurial instruction to use this new skill to bring in a steady income. 

We are looking for volunteers to help us as floaters/assistants, with transportation, with set-up and tear-down, and with childcare.  No sewing experience, foreign language skills, or experience with working with refugee populations needed!

This opportunity is on the second and fourth Saturday of each month from 9:30am-12:30pm at First Presbyterian Church.

Volunteer Requirements:

If you have any additional questions, please reach out to Peter Green, our Volunteer & Co-Sponsorship Manager, via email at pgreen@bridgerefugees.org. 

Help Bridge Refugees Welcome New Refugees to Knoxville

Are you looking for a fulfilling volunteer opportunity? Well, look no further! We are looking for Community Assistance Teams (CATs) to help us welcome arriving refugee families to Knoxville. Newly arriving refugee families are the main focus of this program, but there are opportunities to work with families that have already arrived in Knoxville and could use some additional help. 

A CAT is a group of 7-15 or more individuals that will partner with Bridge and partner with a refugee family. You will walk beside the family for six months, help welcome them to the community, and assist the family with their integration in Knoxville.

Some specific ways CATs assist families include the following:

· Apartment set-up

· Welcoming the family at the airport

· Preparing a culturally appropriate hot meal for the family’s arrival

· Purchasing culturally appropriate groceries to stock the refrigerator and cabinets

· Transportation to and from appointments

· Community orientation guides to help the family learn the culture and the
community

· ESL assistance

· Deliveries to the family

· In-kind donations of household goods

In addition to these practical needs above, arriving families need community. These families left everything and everyone they know, often coming to Knoxville not knowing anyone. CAT can offer a community to welcome these families to the area and build new relationships these families so desperately need.

If this sounds like something you would like to be part of, contact:

Peter Green

pgreen@bridgerefugees.org

Are you looking for a fulfilling and engaging volunteer experience? If so, join Bridge Refugee Services Knoxville in this new volunteer opportunity to serve as a mentor teaching soccer skills and leading discussions!

Group mentoring program that connects 6-10 youth with peers to work on soccer skills and life skills. Monthly theme and different topics each week to discuss study tips, budgeting, college prep, work on goals and much more. Curriculum is provided and the program coordinator will offer support.

Meetings occur weekly on Fridays from 6:00-7:30pm at the Emerald Youth Haslam-Sansom Ministry Complex Lonsdale (1740 Texas Ave, Knoxville, TN 37921). The program starts February 3, 2023 - May 26, 2023.

Requirements:

Population We Serve:

Foreign language skills or experience working with refugee populations and/or youth are not required, but encouraged. Volunteers can sign up to lead for a few weeks, months, or for the whole program.

If you have additional questions please reach out to Hannah Jones our Program Coordinator via email youthmentor@bridgerefugees.org