New Project! Fun With Toddlers (4th Saturday of every month)

Join us for a fun filled afternoon spent with the children ages 2 through 5 at the Sydney M. Irmas Transitional Living Facility in North Hollywood. Once a month L.A. Works will visit the facility with their volunteers to engage the toddlers in arts and crafts and educational activities. Our goal is to help the children build the basic skills that they will need in order to become successful students. As volunteers, you'll be briefed and assist in carrying out the afternoon's activity. It will typically include a main project, followed by some free time with the children to play games, read stories, etc. If any advance preparation is needed on your part, you'll be emailed with specific project details.

All upbeat and outgoing volunteers are welcome to sign up, but all volunteers must be at least 18 years of age.

LA Family Housing's Sydney M Irmas Transitional Living Center, provides safe and secure housing for clients who come from temporary and emergency shelters, and require additional time to achieve sufficient independence to secure permanent housing. The center provide services to families with both small children and teens, and programs include life skills for youth, sports for children and youth, arts and crafts for children and youth, baby and child care, mother and toddler yoga. The Sydney M. Irmas Transitional Living Center is the only facility in the Valley that accepts and provides long-term shelter to toddlers and their families. LA Family Housing has 20 facilities serving over 7,300 people annually in eight different regions of Los Angeles.

Click here to sign up!

In Loving Memory - Helga Hung (1974-2006)

It is with great sorrow that we share with you the news that Helga Hung, a loving and devoted L.A. Works Project Leader has passed away. Helga had been leading regular projects for us each month with one of our agency partners, Reading to Kids, and died on January 14, 2006, in a car accident while returning from leading her monthly reading club.

Many of you know Helga through her participation in L.A. Works Day. She was a leader at the Magnolia School in 2004, and a task captain at the Ann Street School for L.A. Works Day 2005. She is remembered fondly by those who worked with her on those occasions. In leading her first L.A. Works Day she humbly had remarked that "I didn't realize it was going to be this hard!" but impressed her co-volunteers with the precision of her planning -- supplies layed out perfectly, buckets ready to go, and a smile that could light up a room.

Helga had a passion for kids, and led many projects that impacted their lives. In addition to her deep commitment to Reading to Kids (where she led an extraordinary 38 sessions), she also led L.A. Works projects at Shelter First at the Ford Hotel, and most recently planned and coordinated a wonderful and raucous Christmas Party with her friend and co-leader Sherly Lam for the teens at Angel's Flight.

Helga has touched the lives of so many kids in Los Angeles, and in doing so, touched the hearts of the many L.A. Works volunteers who have been inspired by her. Her many friends at Reading to Kids have created a tribute page to her memory. We encourage you to visit.

All of us here at L.A. Works will miss Helga and send our prayers and thoughts to her family. She lives on in our hearts and her smile will never leave us.

Become a facilitator for new Dream Saver program

Every child has a dream. Some hope to become doctors and teachers. Others want to own a business or even become President of the United States. Whatever their dream is, making it come true depends on setting goals, developing a plan and working hard.

The Dream Saver Program introduces kids, aged 8 – 11, to some of the life skills and knowledge they will need to succeed in life. Created by Ameriquest Soaring Dreams, in partnership with FranklinCovey, Dream Saver helps young children learn about the information and tools they need to set goals and develop a plan for their future.

Using workbooks, role-playing and other fun activities, Dream Saver kids experience how the choices they make can have an impact on their lives.

L.A. Works is looking for volunteers who will train to be facilitators of this program. Ideal facilitators will be people who enjoy working with kids, are comfortable as public speakers and are not afraid to have fun in a learning environment. Facilitators will be paired up to work together in presenting this program — so if you have a friend or co-worker you enjoy working with, both of you should sign up to attend! If you don't have a partner, don't worry — we will pair you up with another facilitator at the training!

The one-day training will take place on Saturday, March 25 from 8:30 – 3:30. Facilitators will receive professional instruction, curriculum, and all the supplies needed to bring this fun and informative program to at-risk kids in after school programs in Los Angeles County.

Facilitators must attend this one-time training, and then agree to lead two to four Dream Saver sessions over the course of 2006. L.A. Works will schedule these sessions on various dates and locations throughout Los Angeles and will work with facilitators to meet their availability and schedule.

Click here for more info and to sign up!

New Volunteer Project added to our Calendar

Activities with Teens (Children of the Night)
Van Nuys

Children of the Night is a private, non-profit organization founded in 1979, dedicated to assisting children between the ages of 11 and 17 who are forced to prostitute on the streets for food and a place to sleep. Residents follow a highly structured program that includes attending an on-site school where they study a curriculum individually tailored to their specific needs so they can reach age- appropriate grade levels in all subjects before leaving.

With the help of caseworkers, each youngster formulates a "life plan" and attends independent living classes, as well as participating in sports and recreational activities plus evening workshops in crafts, yoga, 12-step meetings, poetry, AIDS education, and more.

LA Works has the exciting opportunity to lead fun and enriching evening workshops for 12-15 of these teens. The Project Leader will have a planned activity for each session, and volunteers are needed to help facilitate. Please come join us in this unique volunteer opportunity!

This project will take place on the 3rd Thursday of every month starting January 19.

Click here to sign-up

Disaster Response Exercise

Help L.A. prepare for a terrorist attack!

Feb 2

7:00 am - Noon
Two Locations:
Glendale
Long Beach

How would Los Angeles cope with a major county-wide catastrophe? L.A. needs hundreds of volunteers to role-play as disaster victims to help train county first responders (doctors, nurses, fire and police personnel, paramedics and other health professionals) in a major simulation of a bio terrorist attack. Drills will take place on Thursday, February 2nd from 7:00 am SHARP to noon in both Glendale and Long Beach.

There are no age restrictions for this volunteer opportunity so feel free to sign-up your entire family! This event is being coordinated with the Volunteer Center of Los Angeles.

To sign-up:

For this special event there is a two step process to volunteer:

1) Click on the Have Agency Contact Me button. (This will notify the Volunteer Center that you are potentially interested in volunteering).

2) You will get an email with an Internet Link instructing you where you MUST go to complete your sign-up online. Be SURE to read this email and follow the directions to complete your sign up for this event.

Click here to be taken to the L.A. Works website and the referral link.

Thanks for your support in helping to keep our county safe!

You're Invited! Please join us on January 29

Please join us on January 29 at the Los Angeles River Center & Gardens to celebrate the New Year and to honor the L.A. Works volunteers who are this year's recipients of the President's Volunteer Service Award.

This is our chance to recognize and thank the individuals who have demonstrated a sustained committment to voluneer service during the last twelve months. The award is issued by the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation, to recognize the valuable contributions volunteers make to our Nation.

We'll also be recognizing our outstanding project leaders, and volunteers who have made special contributions during the last year.

Bring friends and family to make new friends, reconnect with old friends, and learn more about L.A. Works and our plans for 2006.

There will be cake, light snacks and a special prize -- if you've volunteered with L.A. Works during 2005 you'll be eligible to win an Apple Ipod Nano! Drawing will be at 3:30 pm (you must be present to win).

We hope to see as many of our volunteers and Project Leaders as possible, so we can personally thank you for the amazing job you've all done transforming Los Angeles in the past year.

Click here to RSVP. (log into your account, and click on SIGN ME UP).

Save the Date

Hot Project of the Week

Do you like bikes? We need more volunteers to help with this great project on January 14 from 10:00 - 3:00. This is a fun project for anyone who enjoys working with their hands:

Project Information:
Each month Bike Out gathers volunteers to repair, fix, and tune-up donated bikes. No experience is necessary, but experienced mechanics are more than welcome! Here's a chance to help others while learning bike maintenance yourself! Wear grubby clothes. Pizza will be served!

Bike Out's mission is to promote health and foster self-confidence in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth and their straight supporters through mountain bike expeditions. Teenagers have a hard time growing up. LGBT teens have the added pressure of growing up without social approval.

Some LGBT youth are harassed so severely they are forced out of their schools and sometimes their homes. Bike Out provides a safe place for young people to be themselves.

The bikes repaired by volunteers will help raise funds for Bike Out’s youth programming through the Recyclery.

To sign up for this project, click here.