Volunteer through STM's Solidarity in the City Program
In the inaugural year of our "Solidarity in the City" program, students are invited to spend at least an hour per
week serving our neighbors in New Haven. Some of the ways we will do this is by feeding the hungry and
food insecure, planting trees in a New Haven neighborhood, by visiting the sick and homebound, building
relationships with students, and more. This regular commitment to serve comes with built in time for fellowship
and reflection as we continue to grow and be challenged by what we see and learn. Below are some of the
community organizations available in this program or to pursue volunteer opportunities on your own.
Click the following link to apply and to learn more information.
STM WEDNESDAY SOUP KITCHEN
Each week, STM’s Wednesday Soup Kitchen serves lunch to hundreds of guests. Students are invited to choose an hour between 9am and 1pm to join with community members to prepare, serve and welcome our soup kitchen guests. The soup kitchen is open from October through April each year.
TUESDAY FOOD PICK-UP
Every Tuesday, students are invited to picking up food for the Wednesday Soup Kitchen from Yale's dining halls. Food pick-up takes place every week from October through April each year.
SUNRISE CAFÉ
Sunrise Café has been serving breakfast without charge to New Haven’s homeless and hungry since 2015. Each weekday morning, the Café welcomes guests with white tablecloths, flowers and a rotating menu of fresh, warm, nutritious home-cooked food to the undercroft of St. Paul and St. James, near Wooster Square and three blocks south of the New Haven Green. Your generosity opens our doors…Sunrise provides a unique opportunity to bridge New Haven’s inequalities that separate us from one another. Volunteers come once and become regulars. Guests and volunteers become friends and greet one another on the street.
DOWNTOWN EVENING SOUP KITCHEN
Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen (DESK) is powered by a corps of dedicated volunteers who prepare food, set up the dining room, serve meals, clean up, operate their weekly pantry, stock our shelves, transport donations and assist with a variety of administrative tasks and fundraising efforts. Students are invited to serve dinner each Sundays from 5-6pm.
CONNECTICUT HOSPICE
Connecticut Hospice is a palliative care and hospice care provider. Volunteers interact with patients and family members of all ages – infants, children, young adults and the elderly. Opportunities to make a difference as a volunteer continually arise.
TUTORING AT ST. MARTIN DE PORRES ACADEMY
Students are invited to volunteer at St. Martin de Porres, a school for underserved students in greater New Haven. Volunteers meet with students weekly after-school from 2-6pm Monday-Thursday (times vary) to work as tutors, mentors, club leaders and coaches each semester.
CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES STUDENT AMBASSADORS
The Catholic Relief Services (CRS) student ambassador program engages college students in tangible acts of solidarity to build a more just and peaceful world. Yale has partnered with Albertus Magnus creating a chapter of student leaders who are trained to mobilize their peers and bring to life the mission of global solidarity on their campuses. Ambassadors organize awareness campaigns, prayer services, candlelight vigils, faith sharing groups, legislative advocacy and fundraising for global emergencies as well as participate in CRS programs such as CRS Rice Bowl, CRS Fair Trade and CRS Helping Hands.
REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT PROJECT
STM partners with integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services (IRIS) to support refugees who are resettled in Connecticut. Students can assist in tutoring (English as a Second Language), providing cultural integration and setting up new homes. In 2016, STM sponsored a Muslim family from Syria and in 2021 a family from Afghanistan.
HAVEN FREE CLINIC
The HAVEN Free Clinic is a student-run primary care clinic that partners with Yale University to provide the New Haven community access to high-quality care free of charge. Students in the medical field as well as bilingual students looking to serve as translators can volunteer on Saturday mornings.