Volunteering with the ADI

Becoming a Volunteer with the ADI

About the Anxiety and Depression Initiative:

As a grassroots organization, with no paid employees, there is no shortage of volunteer needs at the Anxiety and Depression Initiative. There are important tasks that need to get done that rage from helping to implement programming to fulfill our organization's mission, along with administrative tasks, to help run the day to day operation of the non-profit organization and fundraising tasks, to help ensure that we have the financial resources to enable us to carry out our mission.

Volunteering Opportunities: Note that volunteers do not need to specialize in one of the areas below and are encouraged to help support our mission in a variety of ways.

• Community Activity Leader & Co-leader - Help to provide opportunities for the community to be physically active and try out new activities among peers, in a safe and friendly atmosphere. We currently host FREE fitness classes on Saturdays (currently in Totowa and Clifton) and monthly hikes in Northern NJ, for which we need responsible volunteers to greet participants, ensure that participants sign in, distribute and collect loaner equipment, and help class instructors. There are some training requirements that are needed to fully lead activities. You can find them listed at: http://www.theadi.org/Training
• Community Outreach Representative - Help the organization to get the word out to the community about how important physical activity is for mental health and wellness. We attend local community fairs and conferences to distribute information about the mental health benefits of physical activity and interact with the community. For this area, we need responsible volunteers who can attend community events, set up information tables, interact with the community, help in distributing a variety of informational brochures and break down the table after the event. There are no training
• Administrative, Event Planning & Fundraising Volunteer - For those that prefer to be more behind the scenes in supporting our mission, we have an endless number of things that need to get done since every aspect of the ADI is run by volunteers. There is general administrative work, research, event planning and fundraising activities, that all need to be done by a responsible volunteer.
• Yoga Instructor - If you happen to be certified in yoga instruction, we have a special need for you. As we grow our volunteer workforce, we would like to expand to new areas and we typically start with yoga classes in a new area. We use volunteer yoga instructors to get the new class up a running. Once we have steady attendance, we partner with a local studio to provide instruction and the volunteer yoga instructors move to a new area. You would instruct the class and serve as Community Activity Leader. There are some training and certification requirements for yoga instructors. You can find them listed at: http://www.theadi.org/Training

How do you get started?

Getting started volunteering with the ADI is very easy.

1. First you want to connect with one of our volunteer ambassadors (Volunteer@TheADI.org), who will help to guide you through the volunteer on-boarding process and answer any questions that you might have. Please be patient as we are a grassroots organization that is run entirely by volunteers. In the meantime, you can use the above links to explore our website and social media pages. Be sure to like/follow our pages and encourage others that you think might be interested do so as well.
2. Next, you will come to a Remote Volunteer Engagement Meeting, where you will find out about some ADI's volunteer opportunities and talk about where you think that you would like to fit in. You will find the Volunteer Engagement Meeting Calendar below and can participate from the comfort of your own home, via video conference or conference call. You must register IN ADVANCE if you are planning to attend an upcoming meeting. Please register at: www.TheADI.org/Engage If there is no one registered there will be no meeting held.
3. If there is some time until the next Volunteer Engagement Meeting, try to join our community activity group and sign up for an activity (www.TheADI.org/ALHM) to see us in action as we carry out our mission.
4. At the Volunteer Engagement Meeting, you will arrange to help us us at an upcoming event that can include distributing information at local community health & wellness fairs and/or attend a community activity group event. This will help to give you a better idea as to what we are doing to support our mission.
5. After meeting some of the ADI team and seeing our mission in action, you are welcome to fill out our volunteer application to formally join us as a volunteer.
6. At any point during the process, you are welcome to pursue training in the areas of CPR, First Aid and/or Mental Health First Aid that are required for some, but not all, of the volunteer positions with the ADI. These are generally good certifications to have anyway, as you never know what type of situation you can come upon in everyday life. You can find out more about the training requirements for the various volunteer positions and where to find the training at: www.TheADI.org/Training