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Community Service Opportunities for Majors In: The College of Health and Human Development
"Through experiences in and out of the classroom students develop the habit of intellectual inquiry, prepare for challenging
professions, strengthen relationships to their communities and contribute productively to society."
-CSUF Mission Statement
There is no question that our faculty, staff, and students are actively involved in the Orange County community. The Volunteer and Service Center (VSC) also recognizes the wealth of volunteerism and service in the community. In order to enhance the wealth of the students, the VSC promotes additional community partnerships to build your leadership skills.
It is our civic duty to shift the focus and internal concerns from ourselves and apply our unique individual resources by exploring the creation of knowledge with others. Community-based learning is a commitment by the students and faculty, academic programs and institutions to put our knowledge, skills and values to work to identify and address problems that are important to our entire society.
Research shows that there are positive outcomes by participating in activities such as volunteerism and community service. It shows significant positive effects on academic performance (GPA, writing skills, and critical thinking skills), values (commitment to activism and to promoting racial understanding), self-efficacy, leadership (leadership activities, interpersonal skills), awareness of the world, career goals, and decisions to integrate service into life after college.
An excellent way to complement the academic learning process is through hands-on experience. An ideal way to get this experience is through community service and volunteerism. This involves applying your energy, skills, enthusiasm, and desire to make a difference in your world! The following are just a few examples of how you can get involved in a service project related to your major or career interests:
- HEALTH SCIENCE OR NURSING
Volunteer with the Department of Public Health; become trained as a peer educator at the Health Center in areas such as nutrition, alcohol and drug abuse, sexual health and reproduction, and others; help a health-related non-profit design an educational outreach program or advertising campaign; present workshops in shelters, hospitals, schools, and drug rehabilitation clinics on health issues; organize a “smoke-out” at CSUF for the American Lung Association; volunteer at Planned Parenthood; help a school district create health curricula; develop educational videos; volunteer at a poison control hotline; help with Special Olympic; participate in walk-a-thons, bike-a-thons, and other health-related fund-raisers. - CHILD AND ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT OR HUMAN SERVICES
Volunteer at day care centers, schools, hospitals for children, and shelters; work with a learning center or children’s museum; volunteer with a family assistance program; volunteer at a family planning agency; help out at a family emergency shelter; work in a shelter for battered women and their children; become a trained counselor for a hotline, such as a child abuse prevention hotline or a parenting hotline; be a birthing coach for mothers; volunteer at an organization that places foster children or at a children’s home; organize family activities for your church or synagogue; teach parenting skills to young mothers; volunteer in youth transitional housing programs; lobby on behalf of family issues and rights, such as parenting rights of gay and lesbian couples, single parents, children’s rights, and other human services. - KINESIOLOGY
Teach sport skills clinics in community centers; coach for a teen or children’s sports league; be a referee or umpire for a teen or children’s sports league; spend a summer as a counselor in a summer camp for children living in poverty; teach aerobics, calisthenics, or general fitness in shelters, hospitals, drug rehabilitation centers, or nursing homes; give presentations in schools on the importance of being physically fit; help with the Special Olympics.
There are many ways for you to become involved in community service and gain hands-on experience associated with your major. The following are just a few examples of agencies with service opportunities related to the majors in your college.
- Turning Point Center For Families
- Santa Ana (714) 834-8111
- Turning Point Center for families is dedicated to providing quality mental health services accessible to all community members, as well as, supervised training for graduate students of psychology.
- Orange County Probation Department
- Santa Ana (714) 569-2000,
- Department fights crime in Orange County by supervising adult and juvenile criminal offenders on probation; volunteers are needed to mentor juvenile probationers, tutor, and get involved with youth in a correctional institute.
- Women Helping Women
- Costa Mesa (949) 631-2333
- Women Helping Women empowers needy and abused women to continue forward to economic self-sufficiency and life without violence. The organization is completely volunteer driven.
- YMCA of Orange County
- Tustin (714) 549-9622
- Provides a safe and nurturing environment for abused children in foster care to make a difference in a child’s life by assuming a mentoring role.
- Anaheim Achieves Americorps Program
- Anaheim (714) 635-9622
- Anaheim Achieves is an-after school educational and enrichment program targeting 2,000 children, grades 1-6, located in the Anaheim City and Magnolia School Districts. There are 16 school sites to choose from. Volunteer to be an Academic Mentor/ Tutor.
- O.C. Volunteer Opportunities
- Santa Ana (714) 834-7440
- Opportunities to fulfill internship requirements in public administration, political science, law, business, social work, human services, communication, etc. Volunteer to be a mentor, assist in library and literacy programs, etc.
- Volunteer Center of Greater O.C.
- Santa Ana (714) 953-5757 ext. 106
- Purpose of agency is to offer resources and manpower to nonprofit community as well as help place volunteers into the community. Become a proactive leader in helping to solve community issues.
- O.C. Child Abuse Prevention Center
- Orange (714) 543-4333
- Become a volunteer. Help reconstruct broken up families by teaching parenting, discipline techniques, and budgeting.
- Blind Children’s Learning Center
- Santa Ana (714) 573-8888
- Provides instruction for the blind and visually impaired children, birth to 21 years. Classroom volunteers assist the teacher in the classroom.
