Jewett Center for Community Partnerships

222 Church Street
Middletown, CT 06459
engage@wesleyan.edu
860-685-2881

Volunteer Programs

The JCCP has 20 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

    Mission: Cardinal Kids was founded in 2018 by four Wesleyan students who believe that all children should have access to quality extra-curricular enrichment. It is our goal to provide unique lessons that excite and engage our students. It is important to us that Wesleyan remains a positive, active force within the Middletown community. They hope to 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: Cardinal Kids teachers each bring their unique set of skills and interests to the program. Our teachers seamlessly adapt their on-campus work and passions into fun, kid-friendly lessons that enrich elementary students and encourage creativity. Lessons are taught weekly at various local elementary schools in Middletown. 

    Contact: wescardinalkids@gmail.com to apply or for more information.

  • The Foster Connection

    Mission:  The Foster Connection is an effort to support and empower foster children of all ages by connecting them with students and young adults through tutoring and mentorship. Our work is guided by an ambitious goal — to ultimately reach all of Connecticut’s foster children. We inform and educate as many people as possible about the inextricable link between the foster care system and the mass incarceration crisis. Unlike the other student tutoring services on campus, we aim to create long-term mentoring partnerships between students of Wesleyan University and children in the foster care system in Connecticut.

    Work:  Work as a tutor-mentor by aiding with academic work and offering encouragement through conversation and personalized mentorship. Connect with children in the foster care system through the Department of Children and Families in Connecticut and match our pairs for compatibility and skillset

    Contact: thefosterconnection@gmail.com to apply or for more information.

  • Individual Tutoring/WesTutors
    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. 

    Contact: westutors@gmail.com to apply or for more information.
  • Traverse Square After-School Program

    Mission: Traverse Square is an afterschool homework help program completely designed and run by Wesleyan University students. The program is geared to provide children within the Traverse Square public housing community with the proper resources to succeed in all aspects of life. Helping students with their homework is the main goal of the program, but we also offer academic enrichment, mentor relationships between students and tutors, recreational activities, and fun enrichment programming for the students. Traverse Square is unique to Wesleyan because it is the only program run through the university that interacts with the Traverse Square community. Middletown locals and Wesleyan students have the opportunity to get to know each other on a deeper understanding. Our program hopes to create long-lasting relationships between the community members of Traverse Square and Wesleyan students. We partner with various student groups on campus, and they participate in our fun Friday programs. 

    Work: This program runs Monday - Friday from 4-6pm during the academic year. Monday-Thursday, tutors pair up with students to provide support during homework, play games, do arts and crafts, and work on projects. Tutors are asked to commit two days per week Monday-Thursday. On Fridays, we host fun enrichment programs, often partnering with other Wesleyan student organizations. Tutors are asked to attend 3 Fridays/semester (approximately 1/month). 

    Contact: traversesquare@gmail.com to apply or for more information

  • Wesleyan Multilingual Community Tutors (WMCT)

    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, WMCT 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.

    Contact: wesleyanmct@gmail.com to apply or for more information.

  • WesReads / WesMath
    Mission: WesReads/WesMath provides in-class assistance for reading and math in grades K-5 at local elementary schools and afterschool programs. Wesleyan tutors give general classroom support that varies based on the teacher’s needs. Oftentimes there are students either ahead or behind of the curriculum, and our assistance helps provide an extra set of hands to make the classroom more equitable for all children. We seek to aid teachers' in whatever they need to improve the success of their classroom.
    Work: An average workday 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, as well as helping students with homework at the afterschool programs. You can commit to as little as one session per week (roughly 45 min - 1 hour) or sign up for several shifts.   

    Contact: wes.reads.math@gmail.com to apply or for more information.
  • Wesleyan University Middle School Tutoring Partnership (WUMSTP)

    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.

    Contact: wwmstutor@gmail.com to apply or for more information.

Civic Engagement Programs

  • Adolescent Sexual Health Awareness (ASHA)

    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 harm mitigation, restorative justice, 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.

    Contact: asha.wesleyan@gmail.com to apply or for more information

  • Cultivating Justice Wesleyan
    Mission: Cultivating Justice is a community-led program meeting community-identified needs around food security, land access, environmental justice, civic engagement, power building, and pathways towards agriculture for people underrepresented in Connecticut's farming community. CJ Wes is a chapter of Cultivating Justice made up of Wesleyan students who wish to support Cultivating Justice and their goals. Our goal is to form radical, reciprocal relationships with farmers within the Wesleyan, Connecticut, and world communities. These relationships will be sustained through consistent collaboration and developing accountability over time. Our intent is to build and mobilize collective power on campus and beyond, by acting as an available resource for Cultivating Justice’s various projects and needs.

    Work:  The average work day will vary depending on the work CJ is involved in. Work includes but is not limited to: farm work, attending city meetings, soil testing, and learning/teaching organizing leadership skills. Members can put in as little as an hour a month, or as much as 10 hours a week.

    Contact:  Zoe Hecht (zhecht@wesleyan.edu) to apply or for more information
  • Environmental Solidarity Network (ESN)
    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. 

    Contact: Email esnwesleyan@gmail.com to apply or for more information.
  • Food Rescue
    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 and Pi Cafe) 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.

    Contact: wesfoodrescue@gmail.com to apply or for more information.
  • Habitat for Humanity
    Mission: Wesleyan Habitat for Humanity partners with Middlesex Habitat for Humanity to build affordable housing for first-time homeowners 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.

    Contact: Calista Huang (chuang02@wesleyan.edu) to apply or for more information.
  • Sunrise Movement
    Mission: 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. 

    Work: Attend weekly hub meetings and weekly leadership meetings; support the group with social media posts and management; engage in community and campus outreach for on-and-off-campus events; outreach and awareness raising on environmental legislation on local, regional, and national levels.
     
    Contact: sunrise.mvmt.wesleyan@gmail.com to apply or for more information.
  • WesBuds

    Mission: WesBuds is a partnership between Wesleyan students and the students of Middlesex Transition Academy (MTA). MTA is a school right on Wesleyan's campus for students 18-22 living with disability. The school aids students with post high school transitional needs by offering work experience, life skills and general support. WesBuds has monthly events (vibing on Foss, craft making, dancing, etc) and other more frequent activities in order to provide Wes students the opportunity to engage with the broader community and foster connections with new, amazing people.

    Work: Membership in WesBuds entails coming to monthly events, lunches, and other informal meet ups with MTA students. There are no time commitment requirements, but we hope that you come whenever you can! Event activities range from arts and crafts, to dancing, sports, board games, and more — it is mostly just hanging out in a low stakes and inclusive social environment!

    Contact: Liv Drazen (ldrazen@wesleyan.edu) and Sam White (swhite01@wesleyan.edu) to apply or for more information.

  • Wesleyan Harm Reduction Initiative (WesHRI)

    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. 
    Contact: Nia Chetkovich (nchetkovich@wesleyan.edu) to apply or for more information. 
  • Wesleyan Doula Project

    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.

    Contact: doulaproject@wesleyan.edu to apply or for more information.

  • Wesleyan Period Coalition
    Mission: Wesleyan Period Coalition aims to fight against menstrual stigma through education within the Wesleyan community, as well as the broader Middletown community. Our main goal is education about menstruation; we create spaces on campus where students can learn about menstruation and menstrual stigma and critically examine the role this stigma plays in their lives. We also strive to partner with off-campus organizations to help increase access to information and products for those in Middletown. Prospective partners include Middletown High School and New Horizons. Addressing period poverty and deconstructing period stigma is a joint project. It is important that we all take part in this work, regardless of gender or menstruating status. Please join us.  
    Work: Our members help organize educational events on and off campus, including in nearby high schools and homeless shelters. They also help expand access to menstrual products on campus through workshops and product distribution, as well as assisting coordinators in organizing product drives for local homeless shelters. Additional projects that our members may work on include organizing menstruator self-care spaces for Wesleyan students and designing zines and other educational materials to distribute on campus and in the broader Middletown community. 
  • Wesleyan Refugee Project

    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), 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. Paper Airplane tutors are matched with a student learning English through the program. They meet virtually for 90 minutes a week over 18 weeks, working on English proficiency as well as the application of English to the real and professional world. Tutors only need to be proficient in English to apply and will have access to a pre-made curriculum, tailored to the student's English level, that they will base their lessons around. 

    Contact: Dikshya Kuikel  (dkuikel@wesleyan.edu) and Idenya Bala-Mehta (ibalamehta@wesleyan.edu) to apply or for more information.

  • Wesleyan Students for Justice in Palestine
    Mission: Wesleyan Students for Justice in Palestine (WesSJP) is part of a movement committed to catalyzing conversations and actions in support of Palestinian rights and self-determination. We serve as a conduit for education, solidarity, and mobilization on campus and in Middletown. Recognizing the interconnectedness of colonialism, settler colonialism, imperialism, racial capitalism, and oppression of all forms, we stand as allies in the pursuit of collective liberation and justice on a domestic and global scale.
    Work: A staff person/volunteer can expect to support our work by developing political education, doing graphic design work, or coordinating mutual aid efforts for Palestinians impacted by the ongoing genocide. A lot of our work involves being in community with each other – which can look like attending meetings or providing support for rallies, demonstrations, and actions of all sorts! The average day of work varies, but we will be communicative about our needs, and hope that staff/volunteers feel comfortable sharing their needs, capacities, and any experiences they hope to gain from working with SJP.
    Contact: Caitlin Levy (calevy@wesleyan.edu) to apply or for more information 
  • Wesleyan Reproductive Advocacy & Legislation (WRAL)

    Mission: 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. 

    Work: An average day looks like preparing for events to educate about reproductive justice and connect with students who are passionate about this issue, distributing emergency contraception around campus, and supporting the efforts at Wesleyan and in the greater community to protect abortion rights. We work to plan and run events with the Connecticut REACH Fund as well as supporting abortion clinics in the area, such as Hartford GYN, with fundraisers and various other events. 

    Contact: Wral.Wesleyan@gmail.com  to apply or for more information.