Volunteer
get involved + connect with refugees
The work of Artisans For Hope is primarily done by a group of dedicated volunteers.
Volunteer support continues to expand our programs and organization.
Sewing & Knitting Instruction
This involves helping instruct the artisans in beginner to advanced sewing or knitting skills. The volunteers help with English language instruction as well. The classes are fun and lively. Your main tasks include: Cutting out patterns, choosing fabric, teaching sewing skills, interacting with the artisans.
ESL instruction
Occasionally we have additional meeting just for teaching students basic English. This instruction is part of our mission to help refugees connect with the community. We need volunteers who are comfortable with communicating with non-english speakers, have some background with teaching english, and can provide 1 hour lesson on ESL, communication skills, basic cultural practices for the refugees.
Sales Events
This consists of setting up for our sales events, taking on simples sales transactions, and monitoring merchandise. A refugee usually helps at these events. They are held in a variety of locations such as Saturday market, bazaars, home sales, and many other fun locations.
Marketing
This is a constant need. Our primary marketing goals are to advertise our handmade products, acquire additional sponsors, receive donations, enroll refugees, and enlist volunteers. Some mediums of marketing that we need help with are the following:
Social Media Management
Photography (photos of the studio, events, artisans at work, etc.)
Graphic Design (i.e. packaging, flyers, social media ads)
Printing (if you know someone, or own a print shop to offer free or discounted printing)
Local recognition (i.e. news articles and television debuts)
Content Marketing (blog writers, even if its just one or two posts)
Online sales + store
We would love to run an online store someday to expand opportunities to sell for our refugee-artisans, especially once our online presence is established. This requires a lot of effort:
Online store manager (write product descriptions, post to store, managing online store inventory, etc.)
Shipping (Packaging, labels, material, etc.)
Product Photography
Administration
If you are good at business, accounting, or managing a non-profit we could use your help. Our manager has so much work to do and so little time. A good helper would make her job much easier.
Grants
Because we are committed that the money from sales goes directly to the refugee artisans, we rely on outside sources for operating costs. One of these outside sources are grants. If you have grant writing skills and have a grasp on the grant process we could use your expertise and knowledge.
Inventory and Organization
Visit our studio and you will see how we need help with our huge inventory and organizing our materials. If you are an organizational whiz you will love this job, plus you get to play with all that fun fabric!