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As we reflect during this National Volunteer Month, we at Compass are in awe of all that we have accomplished together. This past year has been a time of tremendous change and adjustment for all of us but especially for the homeless and at-risk families Compass serves. As we adapted and increased our services to meeting the growing needs of our families, Compass volunteers have stepped up to the plate asking, “How can we help?”, “What can we do?”, to provide support for families impacted by this crisis.
Last year, 568 volunteers committed over 10,000 hours of service. These amazing volunteers have dedicated their time, skills and talents in many ways to support our families. Compass families were immediately impacted at the beginning of shelter-in-place with loss of employment and access to basic necessities and hygiene products. We immediately pivoted our services to meet our families’ growing needs and volunteers were essential in this effort — sewing handmade masks for parents and children, delivering meals and essential items to families at our Compass Family Shelter and transitional housing facility, Compass Clara House, as well as to families throughout the Bay, and doing so much more.
Many Compass children were struggling with distance learning. Compass volunteers enabled the creation of our Homework Helpers Initiative, where dozens of volunteers meet one-on-one with Compass kids weekly over Zoom to provide extra educational support.
Compass volunteers are also onsite at our 37 Grove Services Hub sorting and organizing donated goods and creating custom resource boxes for families filled with new and gently used clothes, toys, household goods and more.
Volunteers also provide support remotely through our Landlord Outreach Project where volunteers connect with local landlords to help increase our ability to find new and affordable housing for unhoused families and through our Community Resource Mapping Project where volunteers research and compile information on local resources for families.
Without our volunteers, we would be missing vital resources to deliver on our mission to help homeless and at-risk families achieve housing stability, economic self-sufficiency, and well-being. The patience, creativity, energy, and enthusiasm of our volunteer community donating their time, energy, skills and talents to serve our Compass family — especially during a global pandemic — is truly humbling and fills us with gratitude not just during National Volunteer Month, but all day, every day.
Thank you to all our volunteers for everything you do to serve Compass families!