Being a Playspace Activity Leader (PAL) with Horizons for Homeless Children is a fantastic volunteer commitment that benefits not only the children you are playing with, but also their families. You will see as you start volunteering that your visit to the shelter is truly the high point of these children's day.

Horizons for Homeless Children serves children living in family homeless shelters all over the State. We have 5 Regions (Greater Boston, Central, North East, South East, and Western), and are always working to further expand.
The short info is:
• We're looking for a six month commitment of once a week for about 2 hours.
• You need to be at least 16 years old.
• We work with over 50 family homeless shelters in the Greater Boston Region, and roughly 140 Statewide, and we'll do our best to match you up with a shelter that is relatively convenient to you. We have times available in the morning, afternoon, and early evenings. The hours generally are 8am-8pm Mondays through Thursdays and 8am-6pm on Fridays. Unfortunately we have no weekend shifts.
• You will have other volunteers working with you so it's never just you alone with the kids. And you will have the support of the shelter staff at all times.
• The first step is to fill out an application; you can find it online at http://www.horizonsforhomelesschildren.org/How_To_Help_Volunteer_Application.asp . You will then be contacted by the Volunteer Recruitment and Training Manager.
• You'll also need to attend a training session. There you will learn more about our organization, family homelessness, what is expected of you as a PAL, and some early childhood development.
Upcoming Training Dates:
March 1st (Central Region)
March 3rd and 4th (Greater Boston Region)
March 24th and 25th (Western Region)
March 29 (North East Region)
April 5 (South East Region)
April 26 (Greater Boston Region)


• Please bring a photo copy of a government issued ID (driver's license/passport/ID card) to fill out your CORI application.
• You must have fun!

Thanks for your interest, and please call anytime with questions.

Have a great day,

Kerry Mullin
AmeriCorps Vista
Playspace Programs Coordinator
Horizons for Homeless Children
(617) 445-1480
boston@horizonsforhomelesschildren.org