Want to get involved in serving our local community or mission outreach? Here are some organizations that we often partner with. Click on the links for details and contact info.
Ministry Partners
Black Mountain Children’s Home
Black Mountain Home for Children, Youth & Families has been caring for abandoned, abused, neglected, and orphaned children in Western North Carolina for more than a century. Begun by Presbyterian minister Robert Perry Smith in 1904 as Mountain Orphanage, the Home began its ministry taking in children whose parents had died or disappeared. Today, BMH serves youth from birth through college graduation through family foster care, residential care, transitional living, and independent living.
Volunteer – You can volunteer at the children’s home in a variety of ways as an individual or as part of a group. Just a few ideas include:
- Become a Church/Community Liaison and share information about the Home in your sphere of influence.
- Become a weekly or monthly volunteer helping in areas like administration, tutoring, or at the new thrift store.
- Tackle fixer-upper type project such as carpentry, plumbing, painting, or other construction-related tasks.
- Help with our extensive grounds and gardens that need weeding, mulching, and mowing.
- Coordinate a volunteer team coming out to work on a specific project or at one of our special events.
If you’d like to get involved, please contact Program Director Jimmy Harmon at 828-686-3451 x136 or jharmon@blackmountainhome.org.
Bounty & Soul
Bounty & Soul connects people to food, education and each other. Through our five weekly free, fresh produce markets located in Black Mountain and Swannanoa, families and individuals of all walks of life have an opportunity to learn about healthy eating and nutrition, observe live cooking demonstrations, participate in free yoga and Zumba classes and more! Flexible service-learning and volunteer opportunities for students including but not limited to:
- Produce sorting
- Market assistance
- Helping with children’s programming
- Heading up healthy cooking demonstrations
- Internships
Join the movement and get involved today by contacting our Director of Community Engagement, Karla Gardner at karla@bountyandsoul.org.
United Way
Homework Diners at Owen Middle
Homework Diners are a dynamic, comprehensive strategy that surrounds students and their families with a continuum of coordinated supports including, tutoring, opportunities to build parent-teacher relationships, a free and nutritious meal, connections to community resources and workforce readiness. Homework Diners take place at four area middle schools, Asheville, Enka, Erwin and Owen.
We need you!
Over 40 volunteers support Homework Diners each week by welcoming families at registration, serving meals and providing tutoring support. Get involved in two ways:
- Individual Tutoring: These volunteers will float around and work with students and their families to help them understand and complete their homework. We have a special need for math tutors and those who can commit to coming long-term (weekly for 4 months), but welcome anyone interested in helping students tackle academic challenges, even on a one-time basis! To sign up please click here.
- Volunteering as a Group: Volunteering is a great chance for team-building with a group and Homework Diners are a perfect fit. Groups would adopt a night and take on the responsibility of recruiting the volunteers needed to fill the meal serving and registration volunteer slots, this is 8-10 people. If you are interested in volunteering as a group, please fill out this form.
For additional questions about Homework Diners, please contact Sarah Roth, sarah.roth@unitedwayabc.org.
Get involved at Owen Middle in other ways
Whether it’s helping out as a 1:1 tutor in a classroom or getting a group together to help weed, rake, mulch and the like, Owen Middle is always looking for committed volunteers. These opportunities are always changing, so for more information on how to get involved at Owen Middle please contact Erika Goffin, erika.goffin@unitedwayabc.org.
Hands On Asheville-Buncombe
The volunteer center of United Way, Hands On Asheville-Buncombe, makes it easy to get involved in meaningful volunteer opportunities with local nonprofit organizations and schools. We work with 70+ local organizations to better help residents living in Asheville and Buncombe County find and access opportunities to engage and give back individually or as a team. We understand that your lives are busy so we’ve made it easy for you to find a project you’re interested in and are able to commit to, whether that’s an afternoon or ongoing from week to week. You can get involved on an individual basis or find group opportunities to plug into.
For additional questions on volunteering in Asheville and Buncombe County, please contact Erika Goffin, erika.goffin@unitedwayabc.org.
YMCA
As Y staff and volunteers, we model our values and voice to communicate in a way that is determined, nurturing, genuine, hopeful, and welcoming. Our behavior reflects the Christian principles of caring, honesty, respect, and responsibility. These values guide our interactions, our programs and our decision-making.
The YMCA of WNC’s after-school programs serve students at elementary and middle schools and seek dedicated volunteers to serve youth through engagement, mentoring, and tutoring. Gain valuable experience while positively influencing the lives of local youth.
Go to ymcawnc.org/volunteers and search for afterschool opportunities. For questions or concerns, contact Heather Deifell at hdeifell@ymcawnc.org.
Young Life
Young Life is a world-class ministry for adolescents. Our staff and volunteers enter the world of kids, focusing on what matters to them — fun, adventure, friendship and a sense of significance. In doing so, we earn the privilege of talking to them about something that we think matters most of all — the truth about Jesus Christ.
- Our goal is to plug kids into the church for life.
- All of our staff and volunteers are active members of a church community.
- Young Life is non-denominational.
- We have something to offer believing kids too — the opportunity to join with folks who want to impact their school for Christ.