Volunteer Programs
The JCCP has 18 student-run programs in a variety of areas. These programs vary in level of commitment, with most being a weekly commitment. We strongly encourage longer-term commitments to help foster stronger connections with our community members.
If you do not see a program that fits your interest, check out our listing of local service agencies, or stop by the JCCP and we'll be happy to help you find a site that connects with your interests.
Any student participating in one of these groups must complete our JCCP Engagement Registration Form.
Literacy Programs
- Cardinal Kids
Student Coordinators: Jack Vigue, Zach Glenn, Safiya Sekkm-Miles
Mission: Cardinal Kids was founded in 2018 by four Wesleyan students who believe that all children should have access to quality extra-curricular enrichment. Cardinal Kids provides unique lessons that excite and engage their students. They create a safe and inclusive space in which all kids feel free to explore, express, and ask questions. They also seek to provide teacher training and experience for Wesleyan students interested in going into education.
Work: Using their unique set of skills, each teacher at Cardinal Kids adapts their on-campus work and passions into fun, kid-friendly lessons. The group seeks teachers and teachers' assistants to bring their lessons to the classroom. Lessons are taught several days a week at Macdonough Elementary School and Snow Elementary School. Cardinal Kids also coordinates Bread Salvage which increases food security in the Middletown community. Each week, hundreds of loaves of bread are distributed to Middletown elementary school children and their families, many of whom come from low-income households that may have inadequate access to healthy and affordable food.
- The Foster Connection
Student Coordinators: Elena Cruz-Aquino, Kay Dominguez, and Daniel Goldberg thefosterconnection@gmail.com
Mission: The Foster Connection is an effort to support and empower foster children, 3rd grade - early college, by connecting them with students and young adults through tutoring and mentorship.
Work: Connect children in the Connecticut Foster Care System to Wesleyan Students for 1:1, free tutoring to aid with academic work and offer encouragement through conversationStay up to date with the Foster Connection! Join their group on WesNest here!
- Individual Tutoring
Student Coordinator: Nicky Wang, and Aimee Fernandez westutors@gmail.com
Mission: Individual Tutoring provides quality, reliable free tutoring for Middletown residents. They create an easy way for Wesleyan students to share their talents and academic strengths without having to sacrifice other commitments. Their tutors work to engage in the community and bridge the gap between Wesleyan and Middletown.
Work: Get matched up with people of all ages who need help in a certain area or school subject. Work as much as you'd like, but at least one hour a week. Tutoring takes place in-person, or virtually.Stay up to date on Individual Tutoring! Join their group on WesNest here!
- Musical Mentoring
Student Coordinator: Miles Allen (mallen01@wesleyan.edu)
The Musical Mentoring program is a collaboration with Oddfellows Playhouse that pairs individual Wesleyan students with a student aged 6-11. These lessons are tailored to fit the individual needs of different learners, and the mentors work closely with their students to develop their musical skills and interest. They currently offer guitar, keyboard, voice, ukelele, violin, cello, clarinet, oboe and saxophone lessons that are open to all. - Traverse Square After-School Program
Student Coordinators: Abrielle Belisle, Sofia Chartove, Felix Clayton, Daisy Montoya traversesquare@gmail.com
Mission: Student run and neighborhood based, the Traverse Square After-school program provides a community setting for children within the Traverse Square public housing community to receive academic and social support. Also known as "The Center," this student designed program is geared to provide Middletown children with the proper resources to succeed in all aspects of life. Helping the children with their homework is the main goal of the program, and they also provide academic enrichment, recreational activities, and Friday afternoon field trips for the students.
Work: This program runs Monday - Thursday from 4 - 6pm, with occasional Fridays. Each day tutors help kids with homework and then play games, do arts and crafts, and work on projects. Tutors are asked to commit at least one day per week.Stay up to date on Traverse Square! Join their group on WesNest here!
- WELLP (Wesleyan English Language Learners Program)
Student Coordinator: Darin Iraj (diraj@wesleyan.edu)
Mission: This program seeks to narrow the achievement gap between English Language Learners and Native English speakers, as well as increase the retention rate for this demographic within the Middletown Public School system. Currently, they send tutors to Beman Middle School and may expand to the Meriden school district this semester as well. In addition, WELLP partners with SAWA, a Syrian refugee group based out of Hartford, for virtual one on one tutoring.
Work:
Beman: Students serve as classroom assistants, in person, at the local middle school to help with English language learning.
SAWA: Tutors work one-on-one with a student for the whole semester online to help with English language learning.Stay up to date on WELLP! Join their group on WesNest here!
- WesReads / WesMath
Student Coordinator: Arlette Aguilera, Andrew Engel wes.reads.math@gmail.com
WesReads/WesMath provides in-class assistance for reading and math in grades K-5 at local elementary schools. Wesleyan tutors give general classroom support that varies based on the teacher’s needs; it can include assisting individual students with reading or math assignments, leading small groups through activities, or answering questions that come up as students complete work independently. You can commit to as little as one session per week (30min- 1 hour), or sign up for several shifts.
Stay up to date on WesReads/WesMath! Join their group on WesNest here!
- WUMSTP (Wesleyan University Middle School Tutoring Partnership)
Student Coordinators: Matt Nusbaum, Abby Lyell wwmstutor@gmail.com
Mission: This intervention program serves middle school students who are failing subjects, at risk of retention, and/or in need of general and academic support. Students are identified by their team of teachers and matched one-on-one with Wesleyan students for in-school tutoring. With a major focus on building relationships across the college-middle school gap, tutors assist students with schoolwork, work to identify major issues affecting students motivation, and serve as a general support for building confidence and changing academic performance.
Work: Tutors pull together middle school students during the academic day and tutor them in subjects they need support in. They can expect to commit about 4 hours a week to the program.Stay up to date on WUMSTP! Join their group on WesNest here!
Civic Engagement Programs
- ASHA (Adolescent Sexual Health Awareness)
Student Coordinators: Nicole Allina, Zariah Greene, Alexandra Segal asha.wesleyan@gmail.com
Mission: ASHA works to provide young people with the resources and knowledge they need to make healthy sexual decisions. They empower young people to be active participants in their sexual education and to take charge of their bodies, as well as their emotional and physical health. ASHA seeks to create classroom environments that: 1. Promote healthy behavior. 2. Are accepting of a wide variety of sexual activities and decisions. 3. Encourage consent and communication between partners.
Work: With a focus on community sexual health education outreach, ASHA leads interactive workshops in local high schools about STI’s, safe-sex practices, sexual assault prevention, communication, and other sexual health issues. Other activities include promotion of STI testing for Wesleyan students and members of the community, bringing speakers to campus, and co-programming with other Wesleyan sexual health groups.Website: http://asha.group.
wesleyan.edu Stay up to date on ASHA! Join their group on WesNest here!
- Environmental Solidarity Network (ESN)
Student Coordinators: Annie Volker, B Frankenstein, Debbra Goh, Serena Levingston, Dylan Campos, and Lily Krug esnwesleyan@gmail.com
Mission: The Environmental Solidarity Network (ESN) is a student-led platform for collaboration, communication, and advocacy on sustainability and environmentally-focused issues at Wesleyan and in the greater community.
Work: ESN's work lies in holding Wesleyan accountable for their institutional policies and demanding a sustained commitment to justice; providing education as a means of collective action; drawing links between EJ and other movements by means of supporting sister movements; serving as a switchboard to connect individuals, clubs, and other stakeholders to bridge overlapping work and organize behind common issues; solidifying institutional memory; and building momentum and collaboration between respective and collective goals of sustainability/environmental stakeholders. - Food Rescue
Food Rescue:Student Coordinators: Gina Gwiazda, Ari Hart, and Lucia Voges wesfoodrescue@gmail.com
Mission: Food Rescue aims to reduce waste on campus and help to alleviate food insecurity in our community. They also strive to build awareness of both environmental issues regarding waste as well as hunger and food insecurity in our community and on a greater scale..
Work: Food Rescue reallocates the excess food, that would otherwise be thrown away, from our dining establishments (Usdan, Pi Cafe and Summerfields) to the Eddy Shelter. Students establish a valuable community connection and residents of the shelter receive daily meals. Students sign up for half hour, weekly shifts where they pick up the excess food from our dining options and drive them to the Eddy Shelter, just 5 minutes from campus. They aim to foster a community around fighting hunger and homelessness in our own city.Stay up to date on Food Rescue! Join their group on WesNest here!
- Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity:
Student Coordinators: Calista Huang (chuang02@wesleyan.edu) and Leo Mercado (lmercado@wesleyan.edu)
Mission: Wesleyan Habitat for Humanity partners with Middlesex Habitat for Humanity to build affordable housing for first-time home owners in the local community as well as to provide renovations to existing homes owned by deserving families.
Work: Every Saturday, help out at the Habitat Restore in Cromwell or work on a local build.Stay up to date on Habitat for Humanity! Join their group on WesNest here!
- Sunrise Movement
Student Coordinators: Lily Krug, Tamira Le, Serena Levingston Anna Logan, Hannah Podol, Connor Wrubel sunrise.mvmt.wesleyan@gmail.com
Sunrise Movement’s Wesleyan hub takes action toward environmental justice on campus, in the local area, and state-wide, following the values of the Green New Deal. Sunrise Wesleyan aims to cultivate a supportive, community-oriented environment for anyone interested in climate justice activism.
Stay up to date on Wesleyan Book Buds! Join their group on WesNest here!
- WesBuds
Student Coordinators: Liv Drazen (ldrazen@wesleyan.edu); Sam White (swhite01@wesleyan.edu)
Mission: WesBuds is a partnership between Wesleyan Middlesex Transition Academy (MTA). MTA is a school for students 18-21 who have intellectual or developmental disabilities and are looking to address their own transition needs after high school. Wesbuds holds monthly events where we do a variety of activities such as soccer, dancing, movie watching, and chilling on Foss! It is a wonderful way to get involved in the Middletown community and a great space for making friends, having fun, and being yourself!Work: Partner and support a Bud from the MTA!
Stay up to date on WesBuds! Join their group on WesNest here!
- WesHRI
Student Coordinator: Nia Chetkovich (nchetkovich@wesleyan.edu)
Mission: WesHRI aims to inform and provide resources to Wesleyan students and community members to mitigate the potential negative effects of substance use on and beyond our campus.
Work: Support meetings that facilitate honest conversations about drug use and abuse on campus, plan events aimed at distributing safer use resources. Equip students and residents with the tools needed to combat drug overdose and abuse. - Wesleyan Doula Project
Student Coordinator: Olivia Andrews and Sanaa Mia doulaproject@wesleyan.edu
Mission: The Wesleyan Doula Project (WDP) is a student-run collective dedicated to providing free and compassionate support for people making the decision to terminate their pregnancies. By providing emotional, physical, and informational support and advocacy, they work to combat the stigma around abortion and reproductive health and to ensure that each individual receives the care they deserve. As the only college-based doula project in the country, the WDP strives to empower students to pursue reproductive health work and to strengthen connections between Wesleyan and the local community. Driven by the values of health, equity, and Reproductive Justice, the WDP is part of a national Full-Spectrum Doula Movement committed to making doula care accessible to all people and all pregnancy outcomes.
Work: Train with the Doula Project and work at local sites supporting their goals. Help with advocacy efforts on campus.Stay up to date on Wesleyan Doula Project! Join their group on WesNest here!
- Wesleyan Refugee Project
Student Coordinators: Maryam Badr (mbadr@wesleyan.edu), Gaybchoe Lhamo (glhamo@wesleyan.edu)
Mission: This student organization was started at Wesleyan University in the Fall of 2015. They are a passionate group of Wesleyan students volunteering, fundraising, and raising awareness of current refugee crises. They work with a number of international and local nonprofit organizations, assisting in areas such as tutoring, legal aid, and refugee resettlement.
Work: Support the Connecticut refugee community and bring awareness to the current worldwide refugee crisis by helping refugees at Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services (IRIS), a nonprofit organization that resettles refugees from Iraq, Afghanistan, Congo, Sudan, and numerous other countries. Work with refugees through the Middletown Refugee Resettlement Coalition (MRRC), International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), the Karam Foundation, Paper Airplanes, and other nonprofit organizations assisting in areas such as legal aid, tutoring, and refugee resettlement. You could also help bring artists, activists, and academics to Wesleyan’s campus to raise awareness about refugee-related issues worldwide. Or fundraise for organizations that provide life-saving services to displaced persons and refugees around the world.Stay up to date on Wesleyan Refugee Project! Join their group on WesNest here!
- WRAL (Wesleyan Reproductive Advocacy & Legislation
Student Coordinators: Nicole Allina (nallina@wesleyan.edu), Sita McGuire (szmcquire@wesleyan.edu), Kavya Panjwani (kpanjwani@wesleyan.edu), Wral.Wesleyan@gmail.com
WRAL is a club dedicated to supporting the reproductive justice movement through different forms of advocacy and outreach both on and off-campus. Reproductive justice is “the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities” (SisterSong). Our main goals include advocating for relevant legislation, improving reproductive health on-campus, educating our community, and supporting abortion clinics in Connecticut. We mainly do this by distributing information regarding birth control and reproductive autonomy throughout campus, Plan B handouts, and are in the process of forming Connecticut’s first Practical Support Network.