Volunteering

A big part of independence is volunteering.  Volunteering helps with self-confidence and future employment as a person works on independent living.  Many people think volunteering is just helping out at a food pantry or soup kitchen. Volunteering is so much more. There are so many other ways to volunteer. How do you find ways to volunteer? Go to your county, city or town website, a hospital website, school district website or nonprofit website and see if there are any volunteer possibilities. One thing I love to do is join local and state boards of directors and committees for nonprofit agencies. When I do that, I volunteer my time to help people and make sure their needs are being met. Even if you simply attend a board or committee meeting as a citizen to talk about a concern is volunteering your time. You are advocating for people they serve who may not have a voice for themselves.

For me, volunteering on boards and committees via the computer is a great way to work on independence if I am dealing with health issues and am unable to hold a paying job.