What You Can Do To … Strengthen Community

Commit to some form of regular volunteer service. Recruit others to join you. SOME offers many volunteer opportunities for both individuals and groups. Idealist.org can help you find opportunities anywhere in the U.S. and in other countries around the world.

Help build your service organization. Use your skills and connections to help the organization get what it needs. Talk with your employer or other local businesses about providing resources, including staff expertise. Work with the organization to schedule site visits for public policymakers, reporters and other opinion leaders.

Reach out to homeless and low-income individuals. Try to get to know disadvantaged individuals through your volunteer work. Help them become involved in policy decisions that affect them—for example, by speaking about their experiences in a public forum.

Donate to organizations of your choice. They depend on financial contributions from concerned citizens like you. And please consider a donation to SOME. It can make a world of difference to homeless and poor people in our nation's capital.

Organize a neighborhood group. If you live in a neighborhood that suffers from inadequate services for homeless and low-income people or one where planned changes will cause problems for them, you may want to reach out to your neighbors to develop a collaborative action plan. The Idealist Community Action Center and The Citizen's Handbook will tell you how and link you to additional resources.