Volunteer
Put your heart to work
Vista Maria volunteers ignite possibility! Every year hundreds of people share their time, thoughtfulness, and talents with our residents—helping each young person heal and transform, showing them love and empowering each person’s own courageous path.
Residential Activities
If you have an interest, skill, or passion, there is likely a youth at Vista Maria who loves it too. Residential activities are a great way to connect with our kids. About 5 to 20 youth typically participate in group activities. Please allow a minimum of two weeks’ notice to plan the event.
Need some ideas? We recently polled our residents to ask what they would most love to do or learn about with volunteers and these are some of their suggestions:
- Arts & crafts
- Cheer / Gymnastics
- Cooking & baking
- Dance (hip-hop and step)
- Diamond art
- Football
- Hair braiding
- Music / Rapping
One-on-One Mentors
As a Mentor to a young person living on campus, you share your individual attention, insights and compassion as they heal and embrace their self-worth. A longer-term opportunity, Mentors generally serve 1 to 2 hours a week for several months or more. Together you and your mentee can share activities, talk about the week, and build confidence along the way.
Campus Beautification
Looking for a great team-building exercise for your corporate or social group? Come to Vista Maria and help us keep our facilities beautiful and comforting for our children. Projects could include landscaping, painting (indoor and outdoor) and a variety of other needs around campus.
To best support our facilities team, projects are available with at least 30 days’ notice, on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings, for at least 4 hours.
DREAM Mentor
A specialized opportunity, DREAM Mentors work with groups of residential youth in developing life skills and goal setting as they build their ownership and love for their education and career journeys. Expressive therapies such as music and art, plus values-based learning including spiritual and self-care wellness, and academic tutoring are all part of this comprehensive program.
The Vista Boutique
This special on-campus shop is set aside for residents to peruse and select free clothes, shoes, personal products, and accessories.
For individuals looking for a regular weekly or monthly opportunity, this is a great option! These dedicated, recurring volunteers help with inventory, organization, stocking shelves, and making The Vista Boutique a place where our youth feel beautiful, well-dressed, and valued.
Heartmover Spiritual Volunteers
We welcome spiritual groups of all faith origins to help provide the girls in our residential programs with a good moral compass. Heartmovers perform ministry services and prayer groups for our youth, serving 2 to 4 hours a month.
Holiday Wish List Program
Our Holiday Wish List Program is a fun and rewarding way for volunteers to make the holidays warm and wonderful for our residents. Volunteers generously go above and beyond to provide gifts and stocking stuffers for each young person, fulfilling individual wish lists, holiday shopping needs, and getting everything wrapped and festive in our Vista Boutique. Join us!