United University Church offers numerous ways to get involved within our church community, on the USC Campus and in the greater surrounding community. Most of these activities are listed below along with their respective contacts. If you see something missing from our list, know of a different way you can help out, or have ideas for additional volunteer opportunities, please contact the church office. Want to roll up your sleeves and get to work? Join us!

Help Out at UUC!

Church Programs
UUC has a number of Bible studies, discussions and events that happen throughout the month. Our primary programs are Bread and the Word and the Urban Community Initiative, on alternating Wednesday from 6-8pm. Putting together the discussions, liturgies, and meals that go into each of these programs takes a lot of work. Let us know if you'd like to help in the planning and preparation of these wonderful programs! Please contact Katherine Schofield or the church office.

Nurture Ministries
We are called to care for one another. UUC Nurture Ministries helps to coordinate activities that do just that. Want to visit with or write to our shut-in church members? Can you cook or bring food for our First Sunday Brunch or after-service social hour? Are there other contributions you would like to make? Please contact Susan Stouffer or the church office.

Opportunidad
We collect food donations at every Sunday service and on the second Sunday of each month, package the food "assembly-line-style" into handy sack lunches, which are then distributed at Opportunidad. To help out, bring food with you to the service, or stay after the service on the second Sunday of the month to help pack! Specifically we are looking for individual serving canned meats (e.g. vienna sausages, tuna), chips or other wrapped snacks, and canned fruit.

The Peace Center
The UUC Peace Center organizes programs throughout the year that promote compassion and peace-building in our local community. And we can always use volunteers! Whether you'd like to tutor our Peace Kids after school or help out with Peace Camp in the summer we have opportunities to meet your interests and schedule. Please contact Peace Center Director Susan Stouffer at stouffer@usc.edu or (213) 748-0209 x13.

Volunteer on Campus!
There are dozens of community service organizations at USC. A complete listing can be found here. To get you started here are a few excellent student groups.

A Community Place is a student organization at USC that serves the homeless, working poor, seniors and children in the neighborhood by providing healthy bag lunches, bus tokens for appointments, referrals to jobs, health centers, shelters, and food or clothing distributors. ACP seeks to raise awareness about poverty, hunger, and homelessness in the USC neighborhood. ACP meets Thursdays in URC 103 from 5-6 to pack lunches. ACP is open to the community Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 11-1, 48 weeks a year and is located in St. Mark's Lutheran Church across the street from University Gate 6. For more information, visit the United Ministries website, call (213) 740-2667 or email acommunityplace@gmail.com.

Creating Just Communities is a student organization that works to create social change in our communities. We realize that this begins by critically examining issues and getting information from the most appropriate sources so that we can create more just local and global communities.

Joint Education Project Each year over 2,000 USC students enroll in one of several JEP courses that combine academic coursework with hands-on experience in neighborhoods surrounding the university. Students may also participate as volunteers on a non-credit basis.

Alternative Spring Break With sponsorship from the USC Philanthropy Fund, the USC Volunteer Center organizes at least six Alternative Spring Break (ASB) trips each year. These service-learning opportunities enable students to spend their spring breaks volunteering at one of the following sites: Death Valley, Monterey Bay, Navajo Nation (Utah), San Juan Islands (Washington), Guatemala and Isla Mujeres (Quintana Roo, Mexico). Students work to improve education, homelessness, environmental problems and other issues.

Ansar Service Partnership is a USC community service organization whose focus is to engage students of all backgrounds in service projects to improve the social and physical environment within greater Los Angeles.

Los Angeles Community Impact is a University of Southern California student organization that strengthens non-profits and small businesses in the Los Angeles area by addressing their business-related challenges. Grounded on a powerful service-learning concept, LACI both improves the Los Angeles community through consulting and fosters the personal and professional growth of the next generation of business leaders.

Teach for Los Angeles is a group of students at USC who help the local community through a free tutoring program. Teach4 LA offers tutoring to students in the subjects of math, reading, writing, and college prep to get extra help outside of the classroom.

USC Habitat for Humanity The mission of Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) is to eradicate sub-standard housing by providing simple, decent, and affordable shelter for families and individuals.

Help Out in the Community!

Los Angeles Regional Food Bank solicits, receives, stores and distributes donated food and grocery products to more than 1,000 charities that provide food to over 400,000 people each week. These include soup kitchens, food pantries, child care centers, senior centers and battered women's shelters. Volunteers are needed to sort, clean and repackage food, to help with food drives and special events, They also work in The Kids Café for needy children and The Brown Bag program for low income seniors, disabled and infirm people. Many of the departments use interns for charity relations, event planning, product donations, marketing, public relations and nutrition education. Also experts in the food, banking, legal and other industries are needed. For more information call 323-234-3030.

Downtown Women's Center advocates for ending homelessness for women, provides permanent supportive housing and a safe and healthy community. Services on a drop-in basis include three meals daily, bathrooms and showers, day beds, laundry, mailing address, fresh change of clothes. Volunteers help serve lunch, prepare meals, plan birthday parties and help with donation drives. For more information call 213-680-0600.

People Assisting the Homeless (PATH) provides services that include street outreach, individual case management, healthcare, job readiness support, mental health assistance, drug rehabilitation, transitional and long-term housing. Volunteers help our homeless and/or low income clients by performing receptionists duties, conducting intake, helping with job searching, assisting with administrative and fundraising projects and helping buy, cook and serve food to residents. For more information call 323-644-2207.

LAC+USC Medical Center Most patients are economically disadvantaged. Volunteers, age 14 and up, are "friendly visitors" to patients, work in the outpatient clinic, the gift shop, read to pediatric patients, play with children in child care. Specialized volunteer opportunities are available for both teen and college students who are interested in pursuing early childhood or medical careers. For more information call 323-226-6941.

Children's Bureau of Southern California gives children and families a chance to lead healthy and productive lives together. Through its community-based W.M. Keck Oakwood Family Center, Children's Bureau is able to provide diverse specialized and comprehensive services that help ensure children will become caring and productive adults. With a strong emphasis on the development of parenting skills, the Family Center offers programs that strengthen families, as well as the community. Volunteers are needed to help in various programs, to assist or teach programs for the children or parents. For more information call 213-342-0100.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater LA and the Inland Empire serves boys and girls 7 to 14 years of age in the greater L.A. area and provides these children with a positive role model who is referred to as a Big Brother or Big Sister. Bigs and Littles share one-to-one friendships, meeting twice a month for approx. 4-5 hours a meeting. Fly a kite, wash your car, go to a ballgame, visit the museum or just hang out and talk. You can introduce a child to a whole new universe and all you have to do is have fun! Bigs must be 18 years or older and have a reliable form of transportation. For more information call 213-481-3611.

For more volunteering options check out this website or contact our church office.