Volunteer
New! Read our profile of longtime Clinic volunteer Sheri Overton!
Your gift of time helps People's Community Clinic provide healthcare services to underserved workers and their families in Central Texas. Most patients are low-income working singles or families without healthcare insurance.
Volunteer opportunities vary based upon the needs of the clinic and the expertise of the volunteer. People's Community Clinic has an on-going need for volunteers in specific areas of the clinic. Listed below are brief descriptions of typical tasks for which we use volunteers on an ongoing basis. We also accept professional health providers with appropriate credentialing as volunteers; please contact Abby Williamson for more information about this type of volunteering.
We are currently seeking volunteers in the following areas:
New! Luncheon Event Helper:
PCC's "There's no such thing as a free lunch" luncheon will be Monday, May 12th. We need help setting-up the event room. If you pitched in last year, we want you back. If you missed it last year, now's your chance! Volunteers are needed from 9-11am. The event is held at the Renaissance Austin Hotel at the Arboretum, 9721 Arboretum Boulevard, 78759. This is a great group service opportunity!
Administration
Volunteers in the Administration area will assist several departments with a variety of clerical projects including data entry, compiling monthly program statistics, compiling health education materials, filing donor acknowledgements and other projects as needed. This is a good position for someone interested in learning about the administrative aspects of healthcare. Available hours for this placement are from 9am-5pm, Mon-Fri.
Storytime Reader
The Storytime initiative is based on the success of our pilot program with the Austin Public Library featuring storytime in the clinic waiting room. This position requires a desire to be the center of attention, comfort with young children (ages 1-8) and a willingness to be theatrical in 30 minute spurts. This position has wide availability: Mon-Thurs, 9a-noon, 1-7 pm and Friday, 9a-noon, 1-4 pm.
Medical Records
Medical Records assistants will provide clerical support to the medical records area. Duties include organizing and filing patient lab results, filling medical record requests, pulling and shelving charts, photocopying, and computer data entry.
Reach Out and Read
Help support the Reach Out and Read pediatric literacy program, which encourages parents to read with children throughout their childhood as a way to promote later educational success. Volunteers will read to young waiting room patients, track book distribution and label books to ensure each young child receives an age and language appropriate book at their well child visit.
Pharmacy
Volunteers will work under the supervision of the clinic pharmacist and assist in taking inventory and destroying expired medications. Volunteers who are certified pharmacy technicians will receive priority consideration for this department.
All volunteers must be at least 18 years of age and willing to commit to two hours per week for at least four months. Volunteers will be required to show proof of up-to-date immunizations, including measles, mumps and rubella, varicella (chicken pox) and tuberculosis. Volunteers are also required to attend a brief orientation and submit to a criminal background check. For reasons of patient privacy and lack of space, we do not typically accept requests to shadow doctors.
Volunteer Today!
Contact Abby Williamson, Resource Development Associate, at (512) 708-3156 or abbyw@austinpcc.org.
You may download the application as a PDF or a Word document, however please contact Abby Williamson to discuss volunteer openings before submitting as we may not have openings at the immediate time of your interest.
Download Word Volunteer Application
Download PDF Volunteer Application
Strength in Numbers: Clinic Volunteer Sheri Overton
Volunteer Sheri Overton knows firsthand that there is strength in
numbers. Sheri has contributed much to the Clinic by volunteering regularly
since 2006, but perhaps her greatest contribution is that she motivates so
many fellow
First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin's (FUUCA) members to become involved
with PCC alongside her. When FUUCA chose People's Community Clinic as a church-wide
social action project, Sheri signed on to promote and coordinate the project.
The partnership between FUUCA and the Clinic is a perfect fit for church members because of the church's emphasis on social change, service in action and inclusiveness. At last count, at least seventy five church members have volunteered time with People's since the partnership began in 2006. Many more have contributed financially through the church's "Split-the-Plate" donation program that supports area non-profit organizations. Church members have contributed thousands of crucial funds to PCC through this program.
FUUCA members like Sheri are involved in a wide variety of Clinic efforts. They prepare hundreds of prenatal and family planning education packets for patients each month. They have staffed the Back-to-School immunization clinic and volunteered for fundraising events. They have gathered baby supplies for new mothers, and have donated items to our Season for Caring efforts. FUUCA member involvement includes young people, too: youth involved with the Church's Campfire Club regularly collect used children's books for the Clinic's waiting room.
This diversity of opportunities is intentional: Sheri works closely with clinic staff to find volunteer activities requiring varying skills and types of involvement so people with diverse schedules and interests can contribute as they would like. Many opportunities are group activities - even the most repetitive task can be made fun and fulfilling through conversation and company with others.
In her organizing role, Sheri ensures church members know about upcoming volunteer needs through their monthly newsletter, Sunday service bulletins, and email messages. She also makes sure members feel welcomed and encouraged to join in.
Sheri is motivated to find ways everyone can serve. Sheri says, "People want to help-it feeds your soul-but they have to do it within the constraints of the many demands on their own lives. Part of my job is finding a wide variety of opportunities to help PCC so that our members can find their own way of helping that matches their talents and other demands on their lives." Sometimes that means Sheri looks for tasks that can be done sitting down in order to accommodate a church member with difficulty standing. Other times she ensures that a Spanish speaking volunteer is put in a direct-service position where their skill will be most put to use.
Sheri was drawn to the work of People's Community Clinic because of its service to those in our community for whom the healthcare system does not work. She and her adult son are both disabled with muscular dystrophy, and Sheri has spent many years advocating for the health and educational services her son needs. Something she's learned from that experience is that "our health care system just doesn't work for people with the most need or with fewer resources...when I learned that PCC provided services to those for whom the system was essentially broken, I thought it might be a good fit for me..."
Having retired as a professor of special education in Oklahoma, Sheri's flexible schedule allows her to do several things she loves: traveling to visit family and friends, and camping throughout the U.S. She moved to Wimberly from Oklahoma four years ago and enjoys birding and gardening at her country home.
PCC is thrilled to have energetic, committed volunteers like Sheri. Sheri's capacity-building approach to service has several special benefits to the clinic. Volunteers in groups can tackle some of the more daunting but critical tasks that Clinic staff are hard-pressed to find time to accomplish while enjoying one another's company. Dozens of people are now supporting People's Community Clinic where before there was one. Thank you, Sheri, for your service and for motivating and organizing others to become involved with People's Community Clinic.
