(and a whole lot more)!
Volunteers are the heart and soul of Ability Online. We couldn’t and wouldn’t exist without them. They come from all walks of life, and personalities, and they have a varied mix of life skills, roles, and perspectives. Together, they contribute a vibrant diversity to our organization that makes it an exhilarating place to be.
All of our volunteer opportunities qualify for community service hours. Unpaid student internships are also available for College and University students.
For any kind of volunteering with Ability Online, the first step is always to get to know us, and then decide what role you might want to play. Orientations and training is done over the phone and online. No travel required! For close encounters of the right kind, contact us.
Read below to learn more about our Online, Offline and Special volunteering opportunities
Help young people of all abilities go from capABLE to unstoppABLE.
The impact of what you do is huge.
Helping the Helpers is a program created by Ability Online and funded in part by Canada Service Corps, a national movement that empowers youth 15-30 to gain experience and build important skills while giving back to their community. Learn more at Canada.ca/CanadaServiceCorps. This new program aims to develop participants’ socialization, communication, leadership, mentoring, technical, and life skills.
Our Ability Online community was created for underserved youth, including indigenous youth, and those with disabilities, to socialize together, develop transitional life skills, and enhance wellbeing. Now, with the Helping the Helpers program, we are looking to recruit, engage and support youth volunteers between the ages of 12 and 30 to participate within our virtual, free, safe, 24/7 online community and make it even better!
We want to increase national awareness on the importance of inclusion, diversity and equality. So by volunteering, you will have the opportunity to practice developing your resilience, civic and democratic engagement but you will also be able to fully participate and socialize within our online community, so you’ll have fun interacting, learning and growing with our members.
The best part is we will work together with you, to choose and design your volunteer role! Some volunteers enjoy mentoring others, others have great ideas on what we should do and include on our website, others may work with our website designers, or advocate with us on social media to spread the word!
We want to continue developing our online community with you, because your voice matters!
So, if you are a Canadian youth between 12-30 years of age, you have access to the internet, you are friendly, have a flexible schedule and would enjoy meeting new people, join our program! All abilities are welcome!
Host – This is someone who watches over our online environment, and is a resource for questions and concerns that may arise and upholds the spirit of Ability Online during their watch. Please note that to be an online host, you have to have been an online member for a minimum of 6 months and must be at least 16 years of age. We’ll wait for you – don’t worry!
Mentor – The word actually comes from Homer’s Odyssey. When Odysseus set out on his journey, he asked his friend, Mentor – a wise and experienced teacher to watch over his son, Telemachus. So, a mentor is an experienced adviser and supporter. At Ability Online, a volunteer mentor is someone to whom members can turn for specialized advice and support that comes from their life experience. Mentors have learned a lot and lived to tell the tale!
Friendship Mentor – Do you love to socialize? Then this is the position for you. Friendship mentors float around the different forums looking for messages that no one has responded to yet. You reach out to others, be a friend, and keep the conversation going.
Specialty Volunteers – Some of our specific online programs rely on behind-the-scenes volunteers to provide information and content and also answer member questions.
Ambassador – We love when our members tell others about our amazing online program and the opportunities available in it. If you are as passionate about our program as we are, this role has your name written on it. Our ambassadors join us at our events to tell others about the impact the program has had on them.
Event Voluneer – This is someone who is willing to lend their time and energy to being part of the team that organizes special events for Ability Online. We get involved in all kinds of different things from fundraising events to information displays at charity trade shows. You’ll need stamina and a ready smile to take on these tasks!
Committee Volunteer – This is someone who is particularly interested in bringing their skills to one of the Board committees and get hands on professional expertise in a variety of areas. Ideal for our Student internships. Bring on your best and help us in Communications, Content editing and writing, Event Management, Fundraising, Marketing, Program Development, Social Media management, etc. Do you have an idea? We want to hear it!
Professional Volunteer – If you have expertise in a specific area, e.g., marketing, public relations, fundraising, web design and accessibility, we’d love your help. With only one full time staff person, we rely on the expertise of our Board and other dedicated individuals who want to contribute to the success of our program, and ultimately the success of our members to be the best that they can be!
