Boston
LIFT-Cambridge
c/o The Cambridge Multi-Service Center
19 Brookline Street
Cambridge, MA 02139
Phone: (617) 349-6342
Fax: (617) 349-6333
LIFT-Somerville
c/o The Family Center
366 Somerville Avenue
Somerville, MA 02143
Phone: (617) 591-9400
Fax: (617) 591-9411
Interested in volunteering?
BOSTON VOLUNTEERS
LIFT-Boston recruits volunteers from Harvard University at LIFT-Cambridge and from Tufts University at LIFT-Somerville. Volunteers come from a variety of gender, racial, ethnic, religious, and socioeconomic backgrounds, as well as a broad range of academic majors including Sociology, Social Studies, Chemistry and Physics, Neurobiology, International Relations, Spanish, and Community Health.
Volunteers are required to donate four to 10 hours per week to client service. LIFT-Cambridge and LIFT-Somerville also provide additional leadership opportunities through its Student Director teams and volunteer leadership teams. Specific areas for responsibility include managerial roles in public relations, event planning, volunteer recruitment, resource development, advocacy, and community partnerships.
Members of leadership teams have the opportunity to:
- Organize and execute LIFT-Boston’s ongoing outreach events, including National Day of Service and Remembrance on September 11, campus-wide poster displays for Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, end-of-year holiday appreciation dinner for clients, volunteers and community members, and “Faces of Cambridge,” LIFT-Cambridge’s annual community-wide photography exhibition showcasing the diverse spectrum of Cambridge residents.
- Coordinate press strategies and media outreach as part of the PR leadership team, including drafting press releases, contacting media about upcoming events, and disseminating updates to the LIFT-Boston regional network via email and social media.
In 2009, four LIFT-Cambridge volunteers were selected to participate in the prestigious Clinton Global Initiative University in Austin, TX. Harvard University students worked closely with community partners to develop a “Commitment to Action” to improve mental health referral services in the LIFT office and throughout the Cambridge community. Read press coverage here.
Fix this sentence. Need some more specifics about the responsibilities of SDs, 2nd tier leadership positions, and maybe a paragraph about Summer Directors
VOLUNTEERS
Liz Powers age: 22
Location: Boston
Affiliation: Harvard University
LIFT-Cambridge volunteer Liz Powers was hooked on serving people in her community from the first time she volunteered as a freshman with a local homeless shelter. She became deeply invested in the needs of the people seeking refuge there and wanted to develop more meaningful, impactful relationships with them beyond serving breakfast a few hours a week. After seeking out other programs, a professor recommended that she contact LIFT-Cambridge and she dove into volunteering immediately. Three years later, diploma in hand, Liz is continuing to serve LIFT clients and the greater Cambridge community.
Chris Whitney
Location: Boston
Affiliation: Vassar College
Chris Whitney first contacted LIFT on the advice of his friend, former LIFT-Cambridge Summer Director Hari Ramesh. Chris, a Vassar College sociology major, had "an interest in what makes people poor and what people who have more resources can do and do about poverty." He wanted to take his coursework in social welfare policy and education and apply it outside the classroom, and Hari’s account of his work with LIFT seemed to offer that opportunity. The former camp counselor and mentor for high school students in the Poughkeepsie community near Vassar was also intrigued by the opportunity to work with adult clients, saying, "Most college students only get to work with kids." Knowing he would make strong connections with experienced social workers at the Cambridge Multi-Service Center clinched his decision and soon Chris was headed to Cambridge to begin volunteering.
Swati Shah
Location: Boston
Affiliation: Tufts University
Swati Shah came to LIFT through a different avenue than most volunteers. Two years of working as an intern with a large banking firm gave Swati, an Economics and Community Health major, professional experience, but the opportunity to do something more hands-on was what attracted her to LIFT. "With LIFT, you feel a sense of your own power. There is no hierarchy because everyone is working toward the same goal. You become a leader, you’re making a difference, and you’re making a change that you can actually see." The Tufts University sophomore landed the position of Summer Director in the LIFT-Somerville Local Office and set to work bringing about that change.
