Volunteer

Individual Volunteering does not require training, just a positive mindset. Some of these options might include, but are not limited to:

• Courtyard and garden maintainance
• Making buttons and other marketing materials
• Helping at events such as Shop & Share or The Real Taco Fest
• Organizing and donation sorting

Group Volunteers are not required to complete training or background checks. Group Volunteering may include but is not limited to:

• Landscaping and courtyard maintainance
• Cleaning play spaces at shelters
• Donation drives
• Putting together hospital bags
• Event preparation

We’d love to partner with your group, workplace, or organization for the benefit of those we serve! If you or your group has volunteering ideas not mentioned on this list, please reach out to the community engagement manager

Calling all pet people! For the folks who have a soft spot for animals. Become a volunteer who gets to hang out with all sorts of pets, so that our clients and their fur babies may be reunited in the future.

To aid survivors in their process of fleeing an unsafe location, the Ion Center has created a Pet Protection Program. The Pet Protection Program has worked to remove the barrier of having to leave pets behind while fleeing to a safe location. Now, the Ion center offers kennel space to pets of individuals in our shelter. As space fills up, we look to place these wonderful pets into homes with equally wonderful individuals who have opened their hearts and homes for these animals. The Ion Center understands the responsibility of taking in animals, and covers all fostering fees such as food, treats, and other services.

Foster Volunteers are required to go through individualized training with Bridget, our Residential Services Director.

Are you a planner? Do you enjoy doing things to make life brighter for those around you? The Celebration Committee is waiting for you!

Requires background checks and 2 – 5 Hours of virtual training, done at your own pace.

The Celebration Committee’s goal is to plan and carry out events that provide a fun, safe environment for families and individuals in shelter. This may look like providing events for:

• Mother’s and Father’s Day
• Holidays including but not limited to: New Years, Valentine’s Day, Easter, St. Patrick’s Day, Fourth of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Winter (Etc.)
• Beginning and end of school year
• Birthday’s
• And other big yearly events

Represent The Ion Center at community events and fairs.

The Ion Center regularly attends many community events including health and resource fairs, awareness events, community socials, and other gatherings. When you join us as a community outreach volunteer, you’ll bring knowledge of the Ion Center’s programs and services to individuals and organizations at events throughout the community.

Outreach Volunteers will complete background checks and 3 Hours of required virtual training.

Provide court advocacy to victim/survivors in all 13 counties.

Court advocates support victims/survivors in the court room as they are pursuing protective orders. Support includes validating experience, sitting with victim/survivor, safety planning, connecting to resources, and answering questions about protective orders. Court advocates require completing a background check and completing the 40-hour foundatION training. Court advocates go through additional training including shadowing a seasoned court advocate to learn more about court advocacy and courtroom procedures. Court advocacy scheduling is based on the court schedules for each county.

On-call volunteering opportunity to provide hospital advocacy to victim/survivors in Northern Kentucky. 

Ion Center supports victim/survivors in the emergency room 24/7/365. When someone discloses sexual violence or intimate partner violence at the hospital, Ion Center dispatches a hospital advocate for support. Support can include connecting to resources, processing what happened, safety planning, and sitting with the victim/survivor during a forensic exam. Ion Center partners with six hospitals in the Northern Kentucky area: St. E Covington, St. E Edgewood, St. E Fort Thomas, St. E Florence, St. E Grant County, and Carrol County Hospital.

Hospital advocates require completing a background check and completing the 40-hour foundatION training. Hospital advocates go through additional training including shadowing a seasoned advocate to learn more about hospital advocacy and procedures. Hospital advocacy is most needed on evening, nights, and weekends. Volunteers will sign up for 6 hour shifts in advance.

Do you have the desire to make the space our clients reside in the best it can be? Shelter Advocacy may be for you.

Shelter Support helps our shelter do various tasks and hold certain responsibilities including keeping children’s spaces clean, maintaining public spaces, prepping meals, and engaging with clients and staff. This position is flexible depending on the volunteer’s interests and professional background. Shelter volunteers will be required to complete two background checks and our 40-hour virtual training.

Are you a personable individual who is confidents on phones, and can be a warm person to greet people as they arrive at our office? Support the Ion Center front desk by answering the phone and routing to appropriate staff member or greeting clients and guests.

The Front Desk volunteer is the first line of communication for donors, community partners, and victim/survivors. The Front Desk volunteer helps answer the hotline and connect victim/survivors to a Crisis Response Specialist or callers to other departments. The Front Desk volunteer also helps greet people who walk in the front door and connect them to who they are meeting with. Front Desk coverage occurs Monday – Friday 9am – 7pm. Hotline volunteers will be required to complete two background checks and our 40-hour virtual training.

Do you enjoy playing with and caring for animals? Support the Ion Center and our clients by caring for their pets.

The Ion Center Pet Protection Program works to provide a safe space for clients to bring their pets as individuals and families leave unsafe environments. The Companion Kennel, located in Maysville, houses all sorts of animals as their families stay with us in shelter. Kennel assistants will help to enrich the lives of the pets in our Companion Kennel. This includes enrichment, feeding, and cleaning up the pets and the kennel. Kennel assistants will be required to complete background checks and 40-Hour virtual training.

Are you looking for an internship that allows you to step into the world of advocacy? Are you looking to gain firsthand experience in the nonprofit sector? Apply to be an Ion Intern.

Ion Interns will work with staff to find the most suitable oversight for your internship needs. The Internship program is flexible, and aims to meet individuals seeking experience, where they are at. As an intern, you will support your oversight with projects that align with department needs. Interns will complete two background checks and 40-hour virtual training.