recs for volunteering? (experience & letter of recommendation for social work grad school application)
tl;dr Do folks have any recommendations for places to volunteer in Saint Paul that would fit this bill?
- well run & organized
- related to food distribution, mental health, housing, immigration, healthcare, transit, labor
- have people in charge who would be good at writing a recommendation letter
- in Saint Paul
- bonus: you've volunteered with, worked with, or gotten help from the group you are mentioning
My spouse is doing a mid-career shift and applying to social work school this coming winter/spring. His last couple of jobs were pretty terrible (think places where there was mandatory overtime and/or terrible micromanagers) so getting grad school recommendation letters from them is pretty unlikely.
He also wants to do volunteering closer to the kind of work he is aiming to do eventually. We are thinking there are places where he could help with connecting people with resources or distributing resources (i.e. food banks). (He is currently between jobs and applying for jobs at the schools in the area that have tuition assistance.) He is hoping he can ultimately get a letter from the place he volunteers at to help with his grad school application.
We currently have the Hallie Q Brown Center, Neighborhood House, and Zion Community Commons on our list. But I am just generally aware of food distro work in general, so it would be nice to get recommendations of other places that he could volunteer at that are different than food distro (i.e. mental health, housing, immigration, healthcare, transit, labor). Also, he doesn't have a car, so we want to research volunteering opportunities in Saint Paul or very close by.
Especially hoping to hear from folks who have volunteered with, worked with, or gotten help from the groups they mention and can speak to them being organized. (A lot of volunteer spaces can be chaotic and actually not that well run.)
Thanks for any suggestions folks have!