KRISTY YIU, COMMUNITY VOLUNTEER ACTION

I have been involved with OPIRG McMaster’s Community Volunteer Action Working Group since my first year of undergrad, which would make this my fifth year of volunteering with this amazing McMaster group. I have always been involved in volunteering to some capacity within my home community since high school, so joining CVA in first year seemed like a natural progression.

One of the things that sets CVA apart from any other volunteer placement is our emphasis on reflecting after each volunteer session. We believe that setting aside 15 minutes to discuss concerns that arose or reflecting on our experience through a variety of media — from acting to drawing — will help students form a stronger bond both with their peers and the community that they are serving. This long-standing relationship between CVA and many of its community partners can also be attributed to the stress we place on long-term commitments. We understand that our community partners rely on us heavily in order to deliver their services to those in need so we expect our volunteers to be able to commit to every session for a full term. Not only will this consistency ensure that programs will be able to run smoothly with the help of our well-trained volunteers, our students will also get the opportunity to form more meaningful bonds with the individuals we serve.

CVA is a great place to take your first step and help you see behind the stigma of downtown being a “sketchy” place.

Community is clearly a very important part of CVA, given its name, and we try to encompass various communities in this experience – from student community to the greater Hamilton community. Many students don’t get involved/explore the latter until they are well into their second, third, or fourth year at McMaster. This is understandable because the McMaster campus,

aptly named the “McMaster bubble”, is so well equipped that students can have all their needs met without ever having to leave. But by no means should this be an excuse for students to stay cooped up on campus! Hamilton is diverse city hub that can cater to the interests of all people with its vibrant art scene to its gorgeous sceneries that live up to its name of being the “City of Waterfalls”. That being said, it can be intimidating, especially for first-year students, to venture out into downtown. CVA is a great place to take your first step and help you see behind the stigma of downtown being a “sketchy” place. By taking the bus as a group to and from the placement, students can get more comfortable with travelling on the HSR. And as well, through volunteering with the various populations that reside in the downtown area, we can understand more about these inhabitants and lessen the fear of downtown through familiarity.

With the wide array of placements, students are bound to find one that suits both their interests and their hectic timetables! Placement times range from the early hours in the morning for the daily Dr. Davey’s breakfast program to late afternoon shifts at the women’s shelter. The term-long commitments allow students to switch up their placements to get a different taste of everything (or continue at the same placement if you love it that much!) as soon as the term is over.

Leadership opportunities within CVA are endless, because we strive to provide so much more than just a volunteering organization. We value the experience and perspective that a student brings, and created facilitator roles for more experienced volunteers to lead discussions and act as liaison between CVA and the placement agency. This role allows facilitators to use their experience to guide new volunteers into their new positions, while providing them with an optimal position to give feedback and suggestions to CVA regarding placements, reflection exercises, etc. For many students, this may be their first leadership position, therefore CVA has arranged biweekly Creativity Reflection Activity Facilitator Team (CRAFT) meetings to ease them into this role. CRAFT meetings provide opportunities for facilitators to discuss common concerns or problems that typically arise in groups, to explore various themes that may be useful in volunteering sessions, and simply a time for facilitators to reflect on their own experiences. When you are a seasoned facilitator (given that you facilitated for a year or more), you may even apply to become a mentor motivator. This is a role that allows you to mentor a newer facilitator and provide them with one-on-one support. And of course, these mentors need their source of support as well so this gap has been filled by the monthly mentor-motivator meetings, where they plays a similar role to CRAFT meetings but put an emphasis on topics surrounding mentorship.

Overall, CVA is an amazing opportunity for any students who want to give back to the community while learning more about the surrounding Hamilton area. We host a volunteer fair in the beginning of each term to recruit new volunteers so feel free to come check it out! Fear not if you missed the fair, our website is also updated on a frequent basis to let you sign up for any volunteering opportunities still available.