BED START VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
Bed Start: Sharing beds and furnishing with Love of our neighbors in need
For more information contact: BEDSTART.VOLUNTEER@GMAIL.COM
Thank you for your interest in volunteering for Bed Start. BED START is a 501c3 Charity made up of 100% volunteers. Bed Start provides beds and household items to families that are in need. This includes veterans, refugees, domestic violence victims and other in housing crisis.
ROUTE DAY OPPORTUNITIES
SATURDAYs 7:45 am – 11:45-ish. and/or WEDNESDAYs from 4:45 pm – 7:30-ish
Bed Start Volunteers’ meet-up address: 2109 Parker Road, Suite 700, Plano, TX 75023
VOLUNTEER POSITIONS NEEDED
TRAILER PULLER / PICKUP TRUCK DRIVER (Urgent need)
Bed Start has access to several trailers and needs drivers with pickup trucks or similar vehicles that are willing to pull the trailers. For those who have a pickup or larger vehicle but do not feel comfortable pulling a trailer, Bed Start could use you and your vehicle to do smaller pick up or deliveries. Bed Start has an urgent need for more drivers – either on a regular basis or to fill in when regular drivers are unavailable.
Volunteers who drive trucks/pull trailers will be given a crew and a route to follow. The route information will include addresses of the stops and what furniture should be picked up or delivered at each stop. For those new to Bed Start, an experienced person can be provided to help with the route and to lead the crew. This volunteer will also be involved in loading and unloading the truck/trailer at each stop.
CREW MEMBER
Crew members support the crew leader at each stop by moving furniture from Bed Start vehicle to/from the residences. Some furniture items are quite heavy, but pillows, cushions, lamps, etc. also need to be moved.
A Bed Start crew typically has one or two deliveries and 2-4 pickups on their route. Crew members follow the Bed Start vehicle to each stop and help move items from trailer to residence (delivery) or from residence to trailer (pick-up). Furniture items range from heavy sofas and chests to pillows, seat cushions and lamps. Volunteers of almost any age and ability can be a crew member.
SHED ATTENDANT (Urgent Need)
Shed Attendants stay at the shed while the Bed Start crews go on their routes. Shed Attendants support crews as they prepare for their routes and when they return with items to be stored. In addition, shed attendants have several duties while the crews are doing their routes.
Shed attendants greet volunteers as they arrive, receive donations as they come in, and organize/store donations in the shed. When crews return, the shed attendant assists in gathering inventory lists and sorts items based on deliveries scheduled for the next Bed Start cycle.
RIDE ALONG SHEPHERD
While crews are delivering furniture, the Bed Start Shepherd speaks to the family and learns about any additional needs they may have. They would then contact the family with information on other services that are available.
Bed Start wants to make connections with those in need. While delivery crews and crew leaders are busy moving furniture, we need volunteers that just talk with families. Bed Start Shepherds speak to the family and learn about any additional needs they may have. They follow up with the families with information and/or contacts for other services that are available.
WEEKLY NON-ROUTE OPPORTUNITIES
TRAILER PRE-LOADER (Thursday or Friday)
Trailer Pre-Loaders help the Bed Start Coordinator load the trailers for the Saturday morning delivery routes.
The Bed Start Coordinator will have a list with the scheduled Saturday deliveries, the furniture needed for each delivery and which trailer will do each delivery. Trailer Pre-Loaders pull the available furniture from the shed and load onto the appropriate trailers. Multiple Trailer Pre-Loaders are needed and day/time will be coordinated between the available pre-loaders and the coordinator.
INVENTORY COORDINATOR (Can be done at home, usually on Thursdays and Sunday or Monday)
The Inventory Coordinator maintains an accurate inventory of furniture items being stored by Bed Start and provides this information to the Bed Start Coordinator in preparation for each route day.
The Inventory Coordinator uses the route information provided each route day (Saturdays & Wednesdays) by the Bed Start Coordinator to keep an accurate inventory of the furniture being stored by Bed Start. The Inventory Coordinator will also receive emails from Crew Leaders when more, less or different furniture items are returned from their route, and will use this information to update the inventory. An up-to-date inventory is important so the Bed Start Coordinator has an accurate list of furniture available to allocate and pre-load for deliveries on the next route day.
DELIVERY FOLLOW-UP CONTACT LEADER (Can be done at home on your own schedule)
The Contact Leader will coordinate follow-up calls to the recipients of the deliveries. The Contact Leader will work with the Ride Along Shephard to provide further assistance to those families that need it.
The Contact Leader will communicate with the Ride Along Shepherds and coordinate follow-up calls to the families receiving Bed Start deliveries. The Contact Leader will undergo training to become familiar with local service organizations and to develop contacts within those organizations.
SORTING TEAM MEMBERS FOR BEDDING, KITCHEN ITEMS, and CARE PACKAGES (Can be done at home on your own schedule)
These coordinators take donations, organizes them and prepares them for a future delivery.
Bedding Sorter
The Bedding Sorter sorts, folds and labels donated bedding. The Sorter picks up the donated bedding, sorts and labels the bedding by size, organizes it for future delivery and returns the bedding to the Bed Start shed. The sorting, folding and labeling can be done at home.
Kitchen Items
The Kitchen Items Sorter sorts, organizes and labels donated pots, pans, glassware and utensils. The Sorter picks up the donated items then returns them to the Bed Start shed once they are sorted and organized. The sorting, organizing and labeling can be done at home.
Care Package
Bed Start gets frequent requests for Care Packages containing certain items. These Care Packages might contain things needed to start a kitchen (pots, pans, etc.) or a bath or pantry. The Care Package Coordinator organizes these packages from donated items, bundles them and prepares them for delivery.
BED START SUPPORT OPPORTUNITIES
TRAILER MAINTENANCE (Urgent Need)
Bed Start has multiple trailers that are used multiple times each week. We need a volunteer that will routinely do maintenance/inspections on the trailers.
This may include checking tires, lubricating trailer hitches, changing light bulbs, checking wiring connections, minor trailer body upkeep, etc. Most of the maintenance can be done while the trailers sit in the parking lot.
HANDY PERSON — DONATION REPAIR (Urgent Need)
Bed Start donations occasionally need some minor repairs. We need a volunteer that can make these repairs so the furniture item can be delivered.
This volunteer would perform the repairs such as door/drawer/hinge reattachment, replacing missing handles/screws/bolts or even just using some wood glue. Tools and supplies are available if needed. The repairs can be performed on your schedule at the Bed Start shed.
APARTMENT LIAISONS
An apartment liaison will serve as a point of contact for the residents in various high referrals apartment complexes in the BED START service area. POPUP
Bed Start does not currently have the man power to follow up with recipients in a timely manner after a delivery. The liaison will follow up with the recipients. Depending on further needed, the liaison might need to follow up with the apartment manager, contact the referring organization of the recipient, or forward a need request to another contact or organization. This position would be primarily a communications position and would not necessarily require in person contact.
BED START ADVOCATE
The Bed Start Advocate provides input to other support agencies regarding Bed Start capabilities and the need for continuous support.
Communicates with churches in the Bed Start delivery area to promote giving and loving for those in need in their communities; socialize the concept of providing a hand up, not just a hand out; promote shifting the support culture from “provided support to them” and “working with them” to a culture of “being a part of the same community”
OUTREACH MINISTRY LIAISON
Liaison will deliver small items that have been donated that are better suited for various support agencies
COLLIN COUNTY HOMELESS COALITION MEMBER
Liaison for coordination of Collin County resources. Must have a passion in homelessness and housing.
GRANT APPLICATION WRITER
The Grant Application Writer looks for grant opportunities (Collin County Homeless Coalition, HUD, etc.), assesses which ones are suitable for Bed Start, and applies for those grants.
HEALTH AND SAFETY COORDINATOR
The Health and Safety Coordinator stocks supplies, monitors procedures, and the training of volunteers. The Coordinator stays current with government regulations guidelines for health and safety. Training will be provided.