Thank you for your interest in helping the Berkshire Immigrant Center! It is truly heart-warming that so many in our community have a desire to support the Center’s work and our amazing foreign born population.
Ours is a small staff whose priorities (in order) are 1. to help clients navigate complex immigration laws, reunite with family, and achieve the most permanent status in the US possible, 2. provide limited education/information and technical assistance about newcomers and immigration laws to various groups in the community and 3. direct immigrants to resources that will assist their transition to a new community and culture.
Please note that due to our concentration on providing specialized direct service to clients as well as a small staff, our volunteer program is fairly small. We do our best to match our needs with the generosity of the community when we can, but there are times that we don’t have any openings that align with a volunteer’s interests or skill sets. A long term goal of the Center is to continue to grow its programming and therefore be able to provide more opportunities for community involvement in the future.
We ask that you please read this page in its entirety and, if interested in learning more, fill out the forms found at the bottom of the page. If you still have questions after reading this, please email volunteer@berkshireic.com.
Volunteers are regularly involved at the immigrant center in the following ways:
- Acting as interns and providing office support through clerical work such as typing, filing and data entry.
- Organizing independent fundraising events like tag sales, movie nights, band concerts, dinners, and sports competitions to benefit BIC.
- Translating documents and client communication remotely (mostly Spanish to English).
- Assisting to staff quarterly workshops, (or donating food/supplies for them.)
- Cleaning or helping to improve the Center’s physical appearance.
- Tabling at social service fairs on behalf of BIC or, conducting outreach for us.
Other opportunities are on an infrequent, case-by-case basis:
- Helping clients to prepare for naturalization exams, transporting them to appointments or accompanying them to access community resources.
- Translating or interpreting for clients, especially in less common languages.
- Student Internships/work-study programs.
- Assisting clients in picking up furniture or assisting BIC in picking up donations for our tag sales.
- Executing special projects independently as needed.
- Researching and assistance in applying for grants.
- Creating BIC materials (Graphic design/marketing.)
Finally, we receive many more requests for public presentations about BIC than we can answer. It is our dream to have volunteers comfortable with speaking in public to help spread the word of what we do. This would require a commitment of multiple hours over at least 6 months and the ability to set up and execute at least 4 presentations on behalf of the center.
To determine whether volunteering will be a good fit for both of us, we ask you to be as specific as possible about what you hope to contribute. Our office is open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Please be specific about the times you are available, i.e. days and hours of the week; weekly, monthly, etc.; and how long a commitment you can make. We ask for a minimum two to three months. If you have an idea for a specific project that would benefit the Center, please mention that as well.
All volunteers share a commitment to improving the lives of immigrants who live in Berkshire County and to accomplish that we require a level of professionalism that includes responsible attendance and confidentiality.
If you are interested, please complete the BIC Volunteer Application form and Confidentiality and Conflict of Interest Agreement below and return them, preferably by email, to volunteer@berkshireic.com. You may also mail the completed forms to Berkshire Immigrant Center, St. Stephen’s Church, 67 East St., Pittsfield MA 01201.
Once we receive you application, we will add your name to our database and call upon you when a suitable opportunity arises. You may also receive emails about current needs and are welcome to check in with us every few months for new or special volunteer opportunities/ideas of your own.
Thank you so much for your interest and support of the Center!
Please email any questions to volunteer@berkshireic.com.
