Service Learning Community Partners

Our service learning partners contribute to our community in many different ways. Below please find an alphabetic list of all of our community partners, along with a description of the work that they do and contact information.

Fall 2024 Partners

15 LOVE

Website: www.15love.org
Contact: Amber Marino, (518) 438-2039
Address: 85 Washington Ave., Albany, NY 12206

15-LOVE operates independently in NY’s Capital Region, and is a member of the USTA Foundation’s National Junior Tennis & Learning (NJTL) network. 15-LOVE is focused upon the whole child, striving to make an impact that lasts a lifetime. It is a program of prevention.

We operate throughout the Capital Region, with special emphasis on the inner cities of Albany, Troy, Schenectady and Rensselaer. The program runs year-round, impacting more than 50,000 youth and their families throughout our history.

OUR MISSION
To reach out in a loving, caring way to youth of the Capital Region, using tennis as the medium, especially those in the inner cities. Within the overall mission, the following seven themes are emphasized: Stress education, Promote good health (both emotional and physical), Instill positive values, Foster multi-cultural relationships, Encourage good sportsmanship, Support families, Give back in the community

Albany International Center / Dual Language Program Parent-Teacher Association (AIC/DLP - PTA)

Website: http://aicdlppta.memberhub.com
Contact: Erin Waterhouse, presidentaiapta@gmail.com
Address: 50 Lark St, Albany, NY 12210

The AIC/DLP is a unique school within the Albany Public School district. It houses a K-11 program for newcomers to the US. It is also the home to the dual-language preK–5 program which alternates the language of instruction between English and Spanish weekly; students in this program come from Spanish-speaking and English-speaking families.

The AIC/DLP Parent Teacher Association (PTA) works to support school activities and create opportunities for community-building across the school and with school families. Volunteering with the PTA will provide you with a look behind the scenes at a culturally, linguistically and socioeconomically diverse school.

As a volunteer with the PTA you can expect to attend monthly PTA meetings, either listening to the conversation and developing ideas, or supervising some of the children of those attending the meetings. We will also invite you to subcommittee meetings to help organize various events or to discuss school and community safety. Most meetings are held in the evenings. We love help with making flyers, sharing information on our Facebook page and coming up with activities in conjunction with our events.

While speaking multiple languages is not required, it is helpful. The most common languages spoken at our school include: Spanish, Arabic, Pashto, Farsi and Bengali.

Albany Police Athletic League (PAL), Inc.

Website: www.albanypal.org
Contact: afterschoolclub@albanypal.org; (518) 435-0392
Address: 844 Madison Ave., Albany, NY 12208

The Albany Police Athletic League (PAL), Inc. builds partnerships among youth, police and the community through collaborative programs designed to encourage and develop good citizenship and improve the quality of life in Albany, New York.

Albany PAL is seeking help from students with our afterschool and athletic enrichment programming. We are looking for motivated students who are positive, energetic and compassionate; have the ability to work with diverse populations, are flexible and adapt to priority changes; are reliable and committed; pay attention to detail; enjoy learning new things; strive to produce high quality work; conduct themselves in a professional manner and are very responsible and organized.

Majors/backgrounds which would best fit our volunteers include: education/childhood education; behavioral & social science; social work; healthcare; public health; business administration & management; public policy; and communications. We are open to others joining who may be interested in volunteering at a non-profit organization. The afterschool program structure is 10 months (September‐June) and vacations coincide with the Albany City School Calendar.

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Albany

Website: www.ccrcda.org/agencies-and-programs/catholic-charities-tri-county-services/
Contact: Salley Zgolinski, Director of Community Services, szgolinski@ccalbany.org, (518) 512-3577
Address: 201 Academy Street, Rensselaer, NY 12144 (Mailing Address: PO Box 28, Rensselaer, NY 12144)

Catholic Charities Tri-County Services provides basic needs to community members in Rensselaer, Albany and Schenectady County. Our services include daycare, after-school programs, summer camps, food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency assistance, free tax preparation assistance, and services to the senior population in Schenectady County. Our service to over 16,000 people in our local communities is critical to assisting individuals to meet their basic needs such as food and stable housing.

We welcome students to assist at our food pantries located in Troy, Rensselaer and Albany. All programs operate Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Chess Club of Albany International Academy

Website: www.albanyacademies.org/list-detail?pk=104732
Contact: Mr. P. Faizy, pfaizy@albany.k12.ny.us
Address: 50 Lark St. Albany, NY

The Albany Academies stand as the first and only independent, preparatory, Pre-K through post-graduate school in New York’s Capital Region. The Academies offer an innovative model of education, with co-educational learning in the Lower and Upper Schools and single-sex learning in the Middle School. The Academies’ curriculum is designed to develop diligent students of high character who become curious, critical thinkers. The chess program is designed for chess players of all levels - novice and experienced. Instruction focuses on the fundamentals of chess to build skill level and love of the game. Chess will take place in the Buttery on the AA campus.

Hive of Hope

Website: www.hivealbany.org
Contact: Christina Paddon at (518) 650-8951 or hiveofhope@hivealbany.org
Address: 161 Central Avenue, Albany NY 12206

Hive of Hope is the place to go for sober entertainment in the Capital Region. It is a safe haven for those committed to living their best life in sobriety. Through fellowship, recreation, exercise, nutrition, and service, those in recovery live more fulfilled lives and help one another overcome addiction. Our state of the art community center, known as The Hive, is equipped with a gym, cafe and recreational room. Our mission is to replace the need to use with the desire to contribute.

This is a great placement for students who embrace sobriety or are sober-curious. Students who volunteer with us may assist with member and volunteer intake, cafe operations, event planning, data entry, volunteering with us in the community and assistance at in house activities.

Hope 7 Community Center

Website: www.hopeseven.com
Contact: Melissa Robinson, hope7.melissa@gmail.com, (518) 272-8029
Address: 596 Pawling Ave., Troy, NY 12180

There are two positions to choose from:

Hope 7 has a NYS licensed after school programs at our main office at 596 Pawling Avenue, and runs Monday thru Friday, 2:15 to 6:00 p.m. Opportunities are available to work with children individually or in groups for various activities supervised by our staff.
Hope 7 has a Food Pantry which serves an average of 198 families per month. The Pantry is open: Monday thru Friday, 9:30 - 11:45 a.m.; Thursday evenings from 5 to 7 p.m.; and the last Saturday of every month from 9:30 to 11:45 a.m. Opportunities are available to assist with deliveries, stocking shelves and serve clients.

Lansingburgh Boys and Girls Club

Website: www.lansingburghboysandgirlsclub.com
Contact: Tim Pratt, lansingburghbgc2@gmail.com, (518) 235-4143
Address: 501 4th Avenue, Troy, NY 12182

The Lansingburgh Boys & Girls Club provides a healthy environment of social, educational and recreational programs for boys and girls ages 6 – 18. The Club is open to general members Monday – Friday from 2 – 6 p.m. with the possibility of evening hours during the winter months. Our School Age Child Care program is licensed by New York State and is available for youngsters in grade K – 6. Program highlights include games room and gym activities, arts and crafts, computer lab, homework program and snacks.

Literacy Volunteers of Rensselaer County

Website: www.lvorc.org/
Contact: Nancy Benz at (518) 244-4650 or litvoldirector@aol.com
Address: 71 1st Street, Troy, NY 12180 (Mailing address: 65 1st Street, Troy, NY 12180)

Literacy Volunteers of Rensselaer County plays an important role in our community by offering English, math, financial, and computer literacy instruction to approximately 200 adult learners each year. Through a cadre of trained volunteer tutors, we provide one-to-one and small group tutoring to Capital Region residents with low literacy levels – including English language learners (non-native speakers). Our confidential services are provided free of charge to students.

We have a number of opportunities for students at both our Troy and Albany locations. At either location we could use students who can help with: intake of our adult students, sorting out the resource rooms, providing programs to low level readers, and/or English Language Learners (ELL), grant writing, coordinating special events.

We will also have a special five-week program providing Health Literacy to intermediate ELL students at Albany and Rensselaer County libraries.

New York State Military Museum – Veteran Oral History Project

Website: http://museum.dmna.ny.gov/
Contact: Jim Gandy, jgandy@nysmm.org
Address: 61 Lake Ave., Saratoga Springs, NY 12866

Participants in the service learning program can perform all of their work at home transcribing veteran oral histories.

How this program works:

Contact Jim Gandy at jgandy@nysmm.org and express an interest in this program.
Jim will email you a set of instructions, a sample of what the finished product should look like and a catalog record of a veteran. You will also be sent a link to the oral history on YouTube.
You simply record exactly what is said, and by whom, in the interview into a Microsoft Word document or similar; PDFs are not accepted.
Once you are done, you will be sent instructions to email the finished Word document to the Museum.

New York State Museum

Website: www.nysm.nysed.gov/
Contact: Kathryn Weller at kathryn.weller@nysed.gov or (518) 486-3600
NOTE: Please include "Service Learning" in the email subject, otherwise it may not be received
Address: 222 Madison Ave, Albany, NY 12230

The New York State Museum hosts school-aged children in our after-school program. When working with the after school program, Hudson Valley students serve as mentors to students in the program and assist students with their homework. The program runs weekdays from 2:30 to 6 p.m. We are happy to find a schedule for volunteering that works with your schedule!

Noteworthy Resources (NWR)

Website: www.nwralbany.org
Contact: Meaghan Hurley, Volunteer Coordinator, info.nwralbany@gmail.com
Address: 930 Broadway Suite 1, Albany NY 12207

NWR’s mission is to empower communities and make supportive holistic resources accessible through educational workshops, community events, support groups, and skateboarding. We implement mental, emotional, and social support in fun, sober, and creative ways.

We host many community events, mental health meet-ups and programs each month. We are seeking community helpers to volunteer at our events/programs! One of our main volunteer opportunities at NWR is working at the front desk to check-in our guests. We are open Noon - 8:30 p.m., 7 days a week (except for holidays). The first Saturday of each month is a skate meet-up with increased opportunities to help with informational tables, raffles and more.

Volunteers will build community connections, communication skills, nonprofit leadership and organizational strategies, as well as putting your experience with us on your resume!

Motivated and committed students are welcome to propose their own workshop or support group (subject to approval). There will also be opportunities to work with You Are Worthy and Goddesses of Giffen school based programs.

Refugee & Immigrant Support Services of Emmaus, Inc.

Website: www.risse-albany.org/
Contact: Ann Krischer, (518) 621-2982‬
Address: 240 West Lawrence Street, Albany, NY 12208

Our clients represent 90+ countries and 42+ Languages. We provide a wide range of programs for newcomers and their families including: classes for all ages, immigration and employment support, after school programming, and legal assistance.

St. Coleman’s Home

Website: www.stcolmans.com
Contact: Sandy Sasso, Behaviorist and Teacher, (518) 273-4911 ext. 211, sasso9341@gmail.com
Address: 11 Haswell Rd, Watervliet, NY 12189

St. Colman's recognizes that each child is an individual with their own strengths and that all children need to succeed. St. Colman's respects the individual needs of children, fostering a caring and therapeutic environment, and emphasizes the social, emotional, physical, and intellectual development of each child. St Coleman’s operates three programs, an Autism residential program, an Autism Day program and an ED (emotionally disturbed) program.

The school is open from 8 a.m. - 3 p.m. every day. Students arrive by bus at 8:15 a.m. They follow a school schedule and are off on holidays and potential snow storms (they will contact volunteers by phone to let them know).

Student volunteers can choose a specific program to work with, or they can spend time across all programs; they can spend some time shadowing social workers or physical therapists. Most volunteers enjoy helping students with their classwork, chatting at lunch with them, playing a board game or uno, building social skills, playing along during gym activities, making projects or joining stem activities during our vocational classes, helping our students with school to work program, singing, dancing along with our monthly dance parties or our Just Dance activities. HVCC students would become positive role models. Anyone who wants to bring an idea for a project, game, or activity to a classroom is welcomed.

Students can complete volunteer hours when the school is open.

Senior Projects of Ravena

Website: www.nyconnects.ny.gov/providers/senior-projects-of-ravena-sofaalbaap9
Contact: Terri Albano, (518) 756-8593
Address: 9 Bruno Blvd, Ravena, NY 12143

The Senior Projects of Ravena offer the following programs to residents of Ravena: congregate dining, meals on wheels, transportation, and a senior center.

The Sunnyside Child Development Center

Contact: Kimberly Piser, (518) 274-5986, kimp@ccalbany.org
Address: 9th Street and Ingalls Ave., Troy, NY
Mailing address: P.O. Box 1410, Troy, NY 12181

The Sunnyside Child Development Center, a program of Catholic Charities of the Albany Diocese, is contracted by the Office of Children and Family Services to operate an Advantage Afterschool Program for Troy City School District’s elementary school students, kindergarten – 5th grade. We are looking for young people who want gain experience or have experience in early childhood education and have knowledge in math, science, and/or literacy to volunteer as tutors/homework assistants for our program students Monday – Friday from 2:30 – 5 p.m. There are also opportunities to work with the students in our computer, art and recreation rooms.

Unity House of Troy

Website: www.unityhouseny.org/about/
Contact: Chris Frawley, (518) 274-2607 ext. 4139, cfrawley@unityhouseny.org
Address: 2431 Sixth Avenue, Troy, NY 12180

We are a Rensselaer County-based human service agency that provides a wide range of services to meet the otherwise unmet needs of people in our community who are hurting and struggling. We assist those who are living in poverty, adults living with mental illness or HIV/AIDS, victims of domestic violence, and children with developmental delays. We work to achieve social justice in our community and to create a better understanding of those we serve.

Volunteers at the Unity House can expect to contribute to the mission of Unity House by working in the Food Pantry (9 a.m. - Noon and 1 – 3:30 p.m.), the Restyle store (open weekdays 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.) or supporting the Holiday program (starting in November) which coordinates Thanksgiving Baskets and Toy drive. In addition, students can observe the work of case managers with the clients at Unity House.

In addition to registering though HVCC, students must complete a General Volunteer Application, a background check form and a Volunteer Release and Waiver before attending the mandatory orientation at Unity House. These forms should be submitted ahead of time to Paul Charbel at p.charbel@gregorybgallagher.comwho will send them on to Unity House . The three-hour orientation counts towards your service hours. Please register for the opportunity in advance so that the service learning coordinator can work with Unity House to choose a time that works for all students.

U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants – USCRI

Website: http://refugees.org/uscri-albany/
Contact: Sara Weinman, (518) 459-1790, sweinman@uscrimail.org
Address: 99 Pine St #101, Albany, NY 12207

The USCRI Albany field office has been welcoming newcomers to Albany, New York since 2005. Refugees resettled in Albany come primarily from Afghanistan, Burma, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, and Syria. Newly arrived refugees receive a comprehensive set of services including housing placement, cultural orientation, school enrollment, coordination of initial health appointments, referrals to ESL classes, and employment preparation and placement.

The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI), established in 1911, is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit international organization dedicated to addressing the needs and rights of refugees and immigrants. USCRI, working with its affiliates, provides legal services, social, and health services to refugees, unaccompanied migrating children, trafficking survivors, and other immigrants in all 50 states, El Salvador, Honduras, Kenya, and Mexico. USCRI advocates for the rights of refugees and immigrants both nationally and globally, helping to drive policies, practices and law.

Center for Service Learning

servicelearning@gregorybgallagher.com