Volunteer
for Health
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Volunteer Opportunities
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Volunteer Application Form
In
1979, a committed group of volunteers from the Boyle McCauley
neighbourhood sat down with some health professionals and
took the first steps toward developing a community-based
health facility—a facility that could meet the neighbourhood’s
broad-based health needs. The volunteers believed health
is more than medical treatment so they created a centre
committed to addressing a variety of health needs, including
housing, poverty, isolation, and culture.
From
that first vision shared by a group of volunteers, the health
centre has grown and now employs over sixty people. In addition,
a similar number of volunteers provide service and support
to the staff. Whether it’s a dentist, foot care volunteer,
board member or community resident willing to shop and prepare
food for specific programs, volunteers are significant in
the work of the centre.
Volunteer for Your Health
Chronic
problems, like poverty, poor nutrition, unsafe housing and
lack of prenatal care, harm our health. Here at the centre,
we work to eliminate that harm. Our work goes behind the
care and dignity we provide for those in need. We also work
with community residents to create a healthier neighbourhood.
We advocate for health by working to address the underlying
social issues.
The
centre does not charge for most services. A person can walk
in without an appointment. Laboratory and x-ray services
are available on Site. Community nursing staff also go into
people’s homes to provide support and care. Many of
the centre’s services take place in the community,
outside the walls of the health centre.
As
a volunteer you may want to work behind the scenes. You
may want to join the board of directors, help with administrative
duties or work directly with the people helping the health
centre deliver its programs and services.
Benefits
of Volunteering
While
there is no hard research to prove that volunteering extends
life expectancy, there are certainly indications that it
enhances personal wellbeing. In fact, we like to think of
volunteering as one of the best health promotion initiatives
we offer.
Volunteers
have told us that volunteering at the health centre has
benefited them in the following ways:
- “I
feel better about myself when I volunteer. I feel like
I am supported.”
- “Volunteering
provides me with an opportunity to give back to the community.”
-
"I have gained valuable experience to further my
career. What I have learned and the contact I have made,
helped me to find a position that allowed me to use my
skills.”
- “Volunteering
has provided me with an opportunity to make friends. I
have made friends with the staff, other volunteers and
community members who come to the Health centre.”
The
Boyle McCauley Health Center is only one neighbourhood volunteer
opportunity. Volunteers also work outside the centre, making
our streets safer, developing safer housing, staffing food
banks, managing a local loan fund, and many other initiatives
that strengthen the community.
See
Volunteer Opportunities
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Volunteer Application Form |
