Get Involved
“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” Mother Teressa
To fill the gaps in our community and meet the needs of our neighbors in need- it takes all of us coming together in love to find the ways that we can help to bring about positive change. Below are many of the ways that you can get involved and help us love out loud and make Springfield a better place for all who call it home:
Street Outreach. At The Connecting Grounds (TCG), we have two seasons of street outreach.
In the winter, we have two outreach teams out every night when it is colder than 40 degrees. We go around in our vans loaded with supplies and check on people, give out survival supplies, talk to people about shelter options, and give rides to a shelter if beds open.
In the summer, we have teams out during the day between 1 PM-3 PM when it is hotter than 95 degrees. We drive around and hand out cold water, Gatorade, ice packs, cooling towels, sunscreen, popsicles, and aloe to help vulnerable individuals cool off on hot days.
Volunteer at Crisis Cold Weather Shelters. Our community’s ability to open crisis cold weather shelters to save the lives of our neighbors without stable shelter- depends fully on having volunteers to staff each shelter site. If you are willing to volunteer at a shelter for an evening, overnight, or morning shift, please click on the button below and fill out the interest form.
Volunteer at The Community Outreach Center. Located at 3000 W. Chestnut Expressway, our Outreach Center is open 12 PM - 4 PM Mondays, 8 AM - 4 PM Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 8 AM - 12 PM on Saturdays.
Some of our greatest needs are for:
1. Medical Volunteers: We have a first aid and wound care clinic at our Outreach Center, and we are always in need of people with medical training to come and help us care for the minor health issues that guests might be having as well as help them navigate the healthcare system for help with larger issues.
2. Transportation: Individuals who may be willing to help get people to appointments or to court out of town from time to time.
Want to work with families? We run a Family Connection program all year long that supervises visits for kids in the foster care system with their parents. Volunteers in this program get the chance to build strong relationships with kids and parents who are separated and support them as they work to reunify. We also work with other churches to train them to bring this program to their churches.
TCG Volunteers FB Group. We use this FB group to share unique volunteer needs. Be sure to join it to stay connected and learn about future needs.
Donate new or gently used items that can be used by our neighbors in need. Donations can be dropped off at 3000 W. Chestnut Expressway during the hours we are open (Mondays 12 PM - 4 PM, Tuesdays/Thursdays 8 AM - 4 PM, and Saturdays 8 AM-12 PM) or they can be dropped off in our donation bin that sits at the front of the Outreach Center. We take donations of survival supplies, clothing (not dress clothing), tennis shoes, medical supplies, food, and more. We post our biggest needs, or Cod Reds, weekly on our Facebook Page!
You can also send donations through our Amazon Links!
Shop our current Amazon Needs lists to help provide food and supplies for street outreach, medical outreach, and the Outreach Center.
Donate to the TCG Outreach Fund: This fund helps to meet needs and fill gaps. 100% of the money given to this fund are used for outreach purposes for things such as; prescriptions, eye glasses, supplies, housing fees, vital documents, gas cards, hotels and much more!
In addition to these ways to volunteer through The Connecting Grounds and Crisis Cold Weather Shelters, other great organizations that need help:
Youth Connect Center- that serves homeless teens between 13-18.
We hope you each find a way to connect to an ongoing volunteer opportunity to help us bring about positive change in our community.