Hands On Miami
| Founded | 1993 |
|---|---|
| Type | Community Service Organization |
| Location | |
Area served |
Liberty City Overtown Little Havana Allapattah Kendall Miami Gardens |
| Method | Volunteering, Community Service, and Civic Engagement |
Volunteers | approximately 29,000 annually |
| Slogan | Transforming Communities. Engaging Volunteers. Strengthening Nonprofits. |
| Website | http://www.handsonmiami.org |
Hands On Miami (HOM) (1993-2011, 2013–present) is a volunteer service organization in Miami, Florida. The organization was founded in 1993 by people who wanted to make volunteering easy in Miami-Dade County. Since 1993, Hands On Miami has grown to include six (6) unique service programs that reach more than 29,000 volunteers with over 1,153 projects on an annual basis.
Programs
Flexible Program
The Flexible Program was Hands On Miami’s flagship volunteer program. The program is called “Flexible” because it accommodates the schedule of working individuals and students. Most projects take place during the weekday evening hours or weekend mornings and last roughly 2 hours.
Volunteers provide service to over 50 different non-profit agencies, serving their clients directly—working on various impact areas such as: children, animals, homelessness, environment, health and wellness, and community enrichment.
All 75+ recurring projects are managed and led by Volunteer Leaders (VLs) who have attended three or more projects and have gone through an additional training and background check.
Getting started as a volunteer is easy. After completing a quick, 10-minute online orientation, volunteers can sign up for projects, all of which are posted on Hands On Miami's online calendar.
Community Bridges
Community Bridges projects are organized to enable at least 100 people to volunteer together, with one or two projects offered per month.
Community Bridges projects offer diverse service opportunities. In the past year alone, Community Bridges volunteers have participated in projects such as: the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, renovating a homeless shelter, painting murals at a daycare center, park and beach clean ups, creating a library for farm workers in Florida City, and collecting Thanksgiving food and holiday gifts for people who would not have been able to celebrate the holidays without the support and service of strangers.
Corporate Services
Hands On Miami works with corporations to provide ways for businesses and their employees to become active in their community and to give back. Through the Corporate Responsibility Program, Hands On Miami organizes volunteer projects of 15 volunteers to more than 400 volunteers in focus areas like education, technology, health, or nutrition.
Youth Volunteer Corps
Hands On Miami’s Youth Volunteer Corps (YVC) is a youth-volunteering program offered only to teenagers ages 13 and older who are residents of Miami-Dade County. Each month, the YVC organizes and manages various direct-service projects with service organizations throughout Miami-Dade County, from Homestead to North Miami. They offer a diverse range of monthly projects, from serving food at the Miami Rescue Mission to working with senior citizens and painting school murals.
The YVC also operates the Starbuck's Philanthropy Committee. Through the support of Starbuck's Coffee, the Starbuck's Philanthropy Committee is operated by YVC members and annually grants $15,000 to volunteer projects in Miami-Dade County created by individuals between the ages of 6 and 24.
Center on Nonprofit Effectiveness (C-ONE)
The Center on Nonprofit Effectiveness (C-ONE) links nonprofits in Miami-Dade County with resources they need to succeed: from management information to tools, training, and customized services.
C-ONE helps business volunteers use their talents to strengthen local nonprofits.
C-ONE helps business volunteers serve as effective nonprofit board members through Effective Board Leadership Training, Customized Board Facilitation, Board Match, and Corporate Sponsorships. Effective Board Leadership Training teaches board essentials in a 3-evening executive format. Customized Board Facilitation is an on-site training and orientation. Board Match introduces volunteers to nonprofits seeking board members. Corporate Partnership allows companies to host Board Match events and develop employee leadership.
C-ONE also links business volunteers with nonprofits as trainers and expert advisors. Through trainings, seasoned business leaders offer training and technical assistance to nonprofits in Miami-Dade County. Additionally, Q & A provides an opportunity for experts to field questions from nonprofits leaders and share tips and suggestions in operating their organizations. Firms write articles and share technical information as part of C-ONE’s Industry Partners program.
C-ONE also strives to build capacity of nonprofits to utilize volunteers effectively through the Florida Volunteer Certification Program, Peer Learning, and non-profit training.
Annual Days of Service
Hands On Miami organizes four large scale days of service every year.
Hands On Miami Day
Hands On Miami Day, which is held in October, is Hands On Miami's annual fundraiser and day of service. Each year, the organization hosts more than 2,000 volunteers over more than 15 sites across the county. Every service opportunity provided by Hands On Miami is free-of-charge to volunteers. In order to ensure that Hands On Miami can continue to provide more than 1,000 service project opportunities each year, the organization asks each volunteer to give a donation for service on Hands On Miami Day.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service
In January, Hands On Miami organizes a large impact service project to celebrate the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service. Each year, the organization welcomes more than 600 volunteers to help make an impact in an under-served Miami community for the day. Past project locations have included the Liberty Square Apartments, Towne Park Village, and Allapattah Middle School. In 2011, Hands On Miami will celebrate the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service at Miami Northwestern Senior High School, Holmes Elementary School, and the Dr. Martin Luther King Early Childhood Education Center in Liberty City.
Global Youth Service Day
During the third week of April, Hands On Miami hosts a project for Global Youth Service Day. With the aim of engaging the youth of Miami-Dade County, Hands On Miami facilitates a large-impact service project for several hundred volunteers, which is organized by Hands On Miami's Youth Volunteer Corps. Past projects have included Vizcaya and the Miami River Commission.
Service Juris
Service Juris seeks to engage Miami's legal community in a large impact service project during the third week of May. Past projects have engaged hundreds of volunteers at Citrus Grove Elementary School, the Miami-Dade Juvenile Justice Center, Wings for Life, and Toussaint L'Ouverture Elementary School.
AmeriCorps
Hands On Miami currently serves as a host site for AmeriCorps National Direct and VISTA's.
Annual Impact in Miami-Dade County
Annually, Hands On Miami Volunteers:
- Complete 1,150+ service projects.
- Engage nearly 30,000 volunteers.
- Complete more than 115,000 hours of service to Miami-Dade County.
- Partner with 78 non-profit agencies.
- Give companionship to 1,250+ seniors.
- Serve 700+ people with disabilities.
- Serve 13,500+ children under the age of 18.
- Care for 1,800+ animals.
- Plant 12,000+ trees.
- Care for 1,700+ nursing home patients and individuals living with HIV/AIDS.