Volunteer with Us
Volunteering at the Niagara Folk Arts Multicultural Centre is an opportunity to learn about other cultures, share your own culture and meet new people.
There are several opportunities to volunteer with our Centre and we hope that you choose us on your journey to becoming a volunteer!
Join the Volunteer Team at Niagara Folk Arts Multicultural Centre
If you are interested in volunteering with our Centre, are at least 18 years old and have a minimum LINC Level 5 (Not applicable to native English speakers), please review the following list of current opportunities or email our Volunteer Coordinator at volunteer@folk-arts.ca to find out more:
- Art Hub Facilitators (Visual artists of all media needed to lead sessions to help newcomers to learn to make art)
- Bingo Volunteers (Wednesdays from 11:30am-1:30pm and Saturdays 3:30pm-5:30pm to assist with fundraising)
- Chit-chat Volunteers (Weekly commitment to help newcomers practice English in a small-group setting)
- 1:1 English Matches with Newcomers Learning English (One-on-one and small-group matches to learn conversational English)
- Interpreters (Ongoing calls for Arabic, Spanish, Ukrainian, Mandarin, Russian, Dari, Urdu, Hungarian, French or Turkish speakers)
- Special Event Volunteers (Ongoing call for supporting various special events at our Centre or in the community - Please note that the season we need volunteers most for our special events is the month of May and the August long-weekend)
- Way-finders (Greeter role to welcome community members into the Centre - This is a great role for a low-level English learner or a very new newcomer)
- Career Guide (Professional mentor role to support newcomers looking to gain direction for where they want to take their career)
If you are specifically interested in becoming a volunteer career guide, please share some more about your professional experiences with us by Applying to be a Career Guide.
If you are interested in completing a student co-op placement or community internship at our Centre, please tell us more about you and your co-op placement requirements and goals by Applying to Be a Co-op Student.
If you are under 18 years old and need to complete your community service hours, please email our Volunteer Coordinator at volunteer@folk-arts.ca to find out more. Please note that our volunteer opportunities for youth younger than 18 are limited. The most volunteer opportunities we have open for youth are during the month of May.
Eligibility Requirements
- We have no immigration-status eligibility requirements to volunteer with our Centre. The majority of our volunteer roles require a certain level of English, we usually ask applicants to please have a minimum Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) Level 5.
- If you are a newcomer who has not had a language assessment done in Canada or have been assessed at a LINC Level 3 or 4, please email our Volunteer Coordinator directly at volunteer@folk-arts.ca to explore your options for volunteering.
- Please note that some volunteer roles do require a vulnerable sector police check; we are happy to assist you in obtaining this check if needed.
- There is mandatory training that must be completed by all volunteers. The training is a mix of synchronous and asynchronous online learning. The training to become a volunteer with Niagara Folk Arts Multicultural Centre takes about 5 hours.
- Niagara Folk Arts Multicultural Centre uses Better Impact to track all volunteer engagement. New volunteers must be prepared to learn to use the app for basic functions such as tracking their hours.
Volunteer Program - Years in Review
Contact a Team Member
If you have any questions about volunteering at our Centre, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator.
Resources
Choosing a new home, moving there, and finding a job can be challenging for newcomers to Canada. In Niagara Canada there is plenty of support to help you make this experience as easy as possible. There is help when you are planning to arrive and when you are ready to make your home here.
The Value of Volunteering Wheel illustrates the many benefits of volunteering to building confidence, competence, connections, and community. It also serves as a portal to research that examines the social and economic value to organizations, neighbourhoods, businesses, society-at-large and to volunteers themselves.
Our Mission
We celebrate and promote cultural, social and economic inclusion and well-being of all immigrants and newcomers.
Our Vision
We are a gateway to equitable, respectful and welcoming communities for immigrants and newcomers in Niagara.
