I stayed there almost 30 years ago,they haven't changed a bit for the better I,m reading does yaz…read morethe half ass lacky in charge every talk about how father snake(bill) bought an employee a car? or use donations to take vacation trips? employees would load up their car,s with donations and that shit hole in brockton main spring is a dump now

Staff constantly sleeps on the job and blocks our fire exits with trash barrels and brooms. I just…read moregot in trouble because I went outside to dig my dog's bowl out of 2 feet of snow in a blizzard and didn't take him with me. He's a short hair and it's animal abuse to take him out there right now. Believe me when I say these people are awful and they don't give a crap about us.

When you're in a tough spot this place makes you feel at home and will help you out even after…read moreleaving. they may have "rules" , but it's for your own safety and your child's safety as well.

Honestly i visit here once trying move in but i felt a very uneasy environment, There was so many…read morerules with very limited "freedom" made me feel comfortable at my previous location. I felt a very racist energy as a black women there wasn't rarely anyone i can relate to. There's this one Spanish girl who seems to control everything made me feel like i was getting judged. i felt like they were holding the shelter over my head as in if i don't do this or that then i get kicked out. I was getting weird looks by some of the staff members as if this wasn't my place to be. i felt really judged although you don't pay rent they made it seem like you owe them. If you like feeling judged and out of place and spoken down upon & have no other choice this is your place....

There are a lot of places you can choose to volunteer with in the Boston area. There's various…read morewebsites that will put you in touch with finding the organization just right for you. I was looking for something to do for the holidays and stumbled across Little Brothers. During the holiday season there's an incredible outpouring of help so you've got to get in on the holiday volunteer work a few weeks in advance. While there's never a shortage of soup kitchens and shelters that need people Little Brothers does something a bit different. First of all they primarily only do work with the elderly. During the Thanksgiving holiday I decided I'd help out to bring meals for the elderly. When I got to their event location at Northeastern I sat through a quick orientation. I learned that their motto is "flowers before food". You're not just providing a hot meal to an elder you're sitting with them for a while and talking to someone who might not have anyone visiting them during the holidays. Sure the food is good but I got the sense that the socializing with them was just as important. After I finished people were lined up according to which neighborhood they wanted an elder from and someone provided me a name and a map. The Little Brothers coordinators were also excellent with providing exact directions to where I needed to go and understanding that I didn't have a car so the location had to be T accessible. My Thanksgivings was a bust as my elder had surprisingly went out for Thanksgiving. But I tried again during Christmas and gave a bit of my time to a very nice old Russian couple who couldn't go anywhere for the holidays. It was a pleasure having some tea and a chat with people who were very happy and grateful for some company. Do note that Little Brothers does have need for volunteers year round and not just the holidays but if you're in need of something different than the clique homeless soup kitchen then consider helping out here. You can do what I call 'Adopt an elder' where you make a yearly commitment to spend I think 2 hours a week with an elder. You can also volunteer to chauffeur a group of people to a community event and drive them back to their home at the end. There's many different ways you can help the elderly and Little Brothers is an organization that really cares about the work they do.

I have to thank my cousin Brad for introducing me to Little Brothers - Friends of the Elderly…read more Their staff and volunteers are wonderful and super-organized. I've been serving holiday meals and gifts to their 'extended family' who stay at there homes either because they may have no family with whom to share holidays or are unable to leave their homes or choose to stay at home. I have met, visited and re-visited several elders in Boston and always gain a lot from them at each visit. It is a lot of fun to do these visits and stay in touch with them. Michelle gives an excellent description of the services offered by Little Brothers - Friends of the Elderly and they have a very dynamic and informative web site. Check it out and have a great year ahead!

My company has a strong relationship with this shelter and our principals and colleagues can be…read morefound many times a year volunteering here and helping out any way we can. Homelessness is a huge and growing issue in this country and especially in Massachusetts. Homelessness is up 9% alone in Boston! The number of homeless families is the fastest growing section and this includes women and children. For over 22 years the Friends have built and provided innovative programs that help people achieve self-sufficiency and permanent housing. The Friends offers real solutions to the causes of homelessness, including: - unemployment - addiction - mental illness - disease - unaffordable housing Give them a w/e of your time; monetary support; whatever you can do.

One of the most enjoyable volunteering experiences I have ever had. Split into teams of picking the…read morebooks, verifying choices, sorting through donated books, packaging for mail, etc, you work independently to respond to an inmates letter with the books they request (genre, topic, author, etc!). Picking was my job today which was so fun the 4 hrs they were open didn't feel like anything. I blinked and it was done. It was fun, interactive, stimulating g, and rewarding. Seeing people's personalities sign through their letters and being on a personal shopper mission to get what they want and need was fantastic. There is also the Adams' tombs that they can bring you to see which tickled the historic bug in my brain! This group does such important and beloved work, can't wait to be back!

Want to feel like you have a pen pal in Prison, but don't want the commitment of actually writing…read moreback to them and the a potential ex-con coming to meet you in person once they get released? Go volunteer at The Prison Book Program. The Prison Book Program started in the back of a bookstore in Cambridge, MA when the owners saw a need not being met. Prisoners from all over the country write to The Prison Book Program and request reading materials that The Prison Book Program packs up and mails to them at their jail. The Prison Book Program is completely run by volunteers and all books and supplies are donated, as well as the space that the work is done in (thanks First Parish). It is impressive to see the vast hodpodge of books that the Program has to give out and it is surprising that the most frequently requested book is The Dictionary. Volunteering is really fun. You pick a letter from a prisoner asking for books, you fill their book order (hmmm....he is asking for something to do with hunting, the outdoors, manly men, or film; let me give him this book on the Oscars, it's the closest thing here) package up the books, address them, and imagine the smile that comes over the prisoner's face (once they have stopped trying to make the tape and envelope into a shank) when they read the book. It is humbling to read some of the letters from the prisoners. You can tell that some are extremely grateful, while others are annoyed that they did not get the specific book that they asked for the first time around (in a place that runs on donations, you can only imagine how hard it is to fill even the simplest request). Some letters are extremely eloquent, and others are hard to decipher. Either way, you do some work, read some titles of books you had forgotten you read (hey there, Their Eyes Were Watching God), meet some new people, and feel good when you leave. Drop in to help out on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:30pm until 9pm and once a month on Saturday (email to confirm the actual Saturday date).

This is an amazing resource for homeless and poor women in Boston. Rosie's is not only a shelter,…read morebut also runs classes, distributes clothing, cooks hot meals, and manages a food pantry. Many women in my community have lived at Rosie's place when faced with unstable or unsafe housing. I have been lucky enough to volunteer at Rosie's food pantry. This is a lean and efficient operation. When I was there, it was managed by an experienced, smart lady named Maria, who had worked there many years. A few days before Thanksgiving, the limited stock was heartbreaking. Though 60 women came through, there were only enough cans of tuna for about half of the women. Rosie's is always in need of donations and volunteers. Is tuna on sale-10 for $10? Buy 10 for Rosie's! Organize a toiletries drive at your place of work! Donate your kids' old books! You will be a hero! This is a great place to volunteer with friends and a great place to do something important that benefits your community.

I give shelter really big fat Zero not good at all toward myself. Since day one i got spoke down…read moretoo and totally disrespected behavior from them against me. The third I been there I was told three days in a row to wake up no sleeping in this place. Actually I was sitting in a room charging my phone I have been ill several times being on 5 different medicines and over three times explain to them that on a lot medication and have disability call narcolepsy in which brain control when go to sleep? So I'm under doctors care. I let plenty of time I have disability but since I don't look like a am a person disability they don't believe you. Other time I got bullied by the staff, men I never seen there working strangers come up me give orders like am a criminal then I address their violated behavior toward they don't like to be disrespectful like they show me some women claim she isa staff person come a word call suspended like she is Actually a judge. So mention I suggest you stay off social media you have across of public harassment. Now I'm planning to file a bullying complaint against this organization with Attorney General/Charities division for cruel and unusual punishment. Also, all this was said for humiliation and verbally. I got no formal notice written. JH my initials

If you're looking to work hard as a volunteer, the American Red Cross Food Pantry is the place…read more Especially on days when they're distributing food to clients. I was here on a Wednesday morning. Including the other group of volunteers (that my group didn't know) I'd say there were about 25 of us. So if you're looking for a big group activity, distribution day is your ticket. And for the the 4ish hours that we were there, I think we were busy about 98% of the time.. which for those frequent volunteers out there.. isn't always the case on site. Just a little background, the food pantry is in Roxbury. Easily reachable by T or tons of buses. From their website, it says their clients include "senior citizen immigrants, single parents, families in transition, low-income families, homeless individuals, and those living with HIV." Those that qualify can come in for groceries once a month if they meet the USDA guidelines. They must present an ID for each member of the household. Being curious, I checked the USDA website and interestingly enough, post college and pre - full time job I could have qualified for food assistance. Hmm.. We arrived around 8 AM and the day started off with packing "wet bags". Those coming in for food get a wet bag (veggies/salad/etc.), a dry bag (cereal/pasta/Slim Jims/etc), a can bag (more veggies/tomato sauce/etc), and a protein (that day it was beef and whole turkeys for families of 2 or more). Families with babies may also qualify for baby food but everyone pretty much gets the same thing. Later on, I was in the distributing line. Clients check in to the computer and then they come over with a laminated card stating how many family members they have. So of course, the more family members.. the more bags. It can get a bit hectic and it takes some coordination but you get the hang of it. After 12PM, is lock down. Things get put away and the place gets a good sweeping. It was a very interesting experience. The people walking in didn't seem like they needed "assistance". It was generally a diverse population with mostly minorities but they weren't dressed in a certain way, a few had cars, and one guy was listening to an iPod. One of the coordinators said that people would come in and say that they just lost their job earlier that week or this little bit of groceries is what gets them by. Many come every month without fail. In these difficult times, I can definitely see how a few days of groceries can make all the difference. Especially for a family. The coordinators said they saw a record number of people this Thanksgiving. We actually served 400 people that day (and that doesn't include the 1-9+ family members they were picking up food for). So as you can see, every hour of your time can make a world of difference. You can volunteer by yourself or with a group. OR you can run a food drive at your school or job. See the website for details and contacts.

Wow! I had a GREAT volunteer experience here. I went on a Wednesday morning from 8:30a-12 with…read moreBoston Cares. It's (the Red Cross Food Pantry) one of the most efficiently run, friendly, "helping" organizations I've seen. They get the people in and out QUICKLY, and with bags of NICE, QUALITY foods, not just some old beat up cans and a bag of beans. The Red Cross Staff is wonderful, and they will have something for you to do- be it helping to distribute bags of groceries, assisting with line control, packing bags, etc. They begin ON TIME, and end ON TIME If you need assistance, this is also a GREAT place to come. Not a lot of hassle, just basic stuff to be sure you need services, you're treated with friendliness and dignity, and as mentioned, you don't get crapola, you get GOOD, healthy food. In order to feed as many people as possible, you can only come once a month. 5 STARS! BRAVO, Red Cross!

I have donated to this organization for years and its one of the most organized non-profits in the…read morearea.