Volunteer for Circles

There are countless ways to get involved with Circles Washtenaw County! We need volunteers for many areas. If you would like to be a part of our vision to empower families and can volunteer your time and talents, please take a minute to complete the form below.

Volunteer for Circles

Circles Volunteer Signup and Scheduling

Circles Washtenaw County is a comprehensive 18-month program designed to lift low-income families out of poverty by bringing people together throughout the community. Sound interesting? There are a lot of ways you can get involved. In addition to becoming an Ally, you can volunteer to help out at one of the program’s Tuesday-night meetings by providing a meal, becoming a greeter, donating much-needed supplies, offering your expertise or simply giving someone a ride.

What choices would you make if you had little time and little money to spare?

Circles helps end poverty. Join us to find out how!

What:	Circles New Volunteer Orientation!
When:	Wednesday, April 14th; May 12th from 5:30-6:30pm (Second Wednesdays of Each Month)
Where:	Virtual: Zoom Link
RSVP:	Suzanne: suzanne@friendsindeedmi.org or call 734-340-9042

At our Volunteer Information Session you will:

Learn about local poverty and how it affects our community
Meet Allies and participants to hear how Circles has impacted them personally
Find out how YOU can best use your time & talents in the Circles program

Circles is a relationship-based program designed to break the cycle of poverty permanently. It matches low-income people with two middle-income partners. These new friends (Allies) help broaden their social network, giving access to people and resources they might never have if they only relate to their neighbors in poverty.

Circle Allies are members of the community who want to create a supportive, befriending relationship with a low-income individual (aka Circle Leader) or family enrolled in the program. The Circle Allies support and learn from the Circle Leader as they work together toward accomplishing the Leader’s plan.

So what does a Circle Ally do?

Two-to-three Circle Allies are paired with a Circle Leader for 18 months, during which time an Ally will likely commit to 4-10 hours a month. In addition to attending a monthly goal meeting with their Circle Leader, an Ally may participate in a “Big View” meeting with other Circle Leaders and Allies and/or attend one or more of the weekly dinner meetings. As part of this relationship, a Circle Ally might critique a resume, network on behalf of the Circle Leader, provide a listening ear and/or simply provide direction and encouragement.

Interested?

Come to an orientation! Upcoming dates can be found under the Upcoming Orientations tab above.
Read about Pete’s journey as an Ally in his weekly Journal Entries.
Check out the Find Out More About Becoming an Ally video below.

You can also fill out a Volunteer Application or contact the coordinator for more details: Suzanne@FriendsInDeedMI.org.

If you enjoy organizing events and coordinating volunteers, join our Community & Hospitality Team! This team makes sure our weekly meetings and meals run smoothly. Team members plan our weekly meals, schedule groups to prepare and serve food, and make sure there are volunteers to greet people at the door and make everyone feel welcome.

If this kind of work appeals to you, please be sure to check Community & Hospitality Team on your Volunteer Application or contact our Coach: Bonita@FriendsInDeedMI.org.

Signup to Volunteer at a Meeting

We need volunteers at each Circles meeting to greet participants, provide transportation and/or sign up their group to prepare and serve a meal! You can sign up for a particular meeting date on our Circles Signup Page.

For answers to your Frequently Asked Questions about volunteering your group for a Circles meal, click here FAQ.

If you like working with school-age kids, the Children’s Program may be for you. As a volunteer, you will volunteer two hours an evening on a regular basis to provide tutoring and homework help.

Interested?

Fill out a Volunteer Application or contact the Circles Coordinator for more details: Suzanne@FriendsInDeedMI.org.

We have several resource teams designed to help shape the program:

join the Recruitment Team and recruit others to work with us
join the Jobs and Education Team and help identify career and education resources
help fund the program as a member of the Fundraising Team
help bring about change in our community by joining the Advocacy & Awareness Team.

Interested?

Fill out a Volunteer Application and indicate your interest or contact the coordinator for more details: Suzanne@FriendsInDeedMI.org.

Become A Circles Ally

A Circles Ally is a middle- to high-income volunteer who wants to reach across socio-economic lines to make new friendships and work together to build community. Read Pete’s journal below to get a better idea about what it’s like to be a Circles Ally/

Pete (An Ally’s Journal)

Pete is an Ally for a different Leader from DeAnna.

March 19th Journal Entry

We start, as always, with supper. As leaders and allies arrive at St. Lukes I sign in with our volunteer greeters, collect my name tag, and drift into the gym. Along the way I stop and greet new friends and acquaintances. Attention is being called for, and our dinner hosts, this week
the Dexter Rotary, are recognized. After saying grace together I find my co-allies and sit down with them, catching up on what has happened in the past week. Late last week they shared a women’s night out at the gym with one of our leaders, something the three of them agreed to
try at our last meeting. I am glad that they the opportunity.

As everyone lines up for dinner we keep an eye out for our leaders and the kids. They arrive as we start our meal and squeeze in with us. Conversation is focused on the kids’ progress and and events of the week. A family budgeting suggestion from last week’s match session is
brought up and it seems that, one week in, it may be doable. Dinner is over too quickly, and after clean-up everyone in cohort two heads to the east wing for a finance presentation by Latania Fair.

“Who has done their homework from two weeks ago?” The question from Ms. Fair causes some uncomfortable murmuring, but I’m relieved to say our team has completed the document. The ensuing discussion ranges over how decisions about spending are made, and
how different approaches to money and budgets are very much tied into our early family experiences. Just before eight we head out to the lobby for weekly “appreciations”. The kids are yawning as both Leaders and Allies express thanks for the community that is being built
here, before we all head home on this brisk March evening.

March 26th Journal Entry

Six types of chili, fixings galore, and topped-off with freshly baked cinnamon rolls! What a great meal our Circles companions provided for us this early spring evening. Our own Circle sat together sharing notes on the chili and news of the week. Our Leaders had several “new and goods” to share his week, and the mood around our table was upbeat.

Following announcements we broke into match sessions. After several months of meeting I feel like we are just getting to know our Leaders well enough to talk seriously about money. A couple of weeks ago we had a discussion about what money generally represents to each of us. On the one hand, some of us felt that having enough money offered us freedom, that is freedom to make choices about the direction we might to take in life. On the other hand, some of us felt that money mainly offered security, or freedom from worry and want. Of course these two financial philosophies often exist side by side, but in the case of our Circle, one of our Leaders feels strongly about the freedom money represents, while the other leans much more toward money representing security. Our job as Allies, it seems, will be in part to help our Leaders balance these approaches.

To that end I think we took some small steps this evening. Our skill sets as Allies are pretty diverse, and we were able to offer some concrete actions that might be taken along with hands-on support for those actions. To the partner that wants to make choices which involve big changes we have suggested dividing that change into smaller, more manageable pieces, and were able to offer some technical support for a plan. For the partner who prefers security we proposed that the next piece of the “big change” plan might only advance when the family had reached a given, mutually agreed-upon, security milestone. It’s just a rough draft of an idea, but I look forward to the opportunity work with our leaders to begin tackling those devilish details.

Peter Smith