How To Use HelpFinder And VOMO
HelpFinder
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Go to helpfinder.org.
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Find the field that says "Enter your zip code" and enter the zip code of the person for whom you are using HelpFinder.
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Find and click the category and subcategory that best match the issue this person is facing (e.g. if someone tells you their family is running low on food this week, then hover over the "Food" category, and then click the "Food Pantry" subcategory).
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Search through the resulting programs to find which one is the best fit for the person you're helping (e.g. how close it is to them, when they're open, if it has a cost, potential language barriers, any key information that would be in the description, etc.). You can find all the information pertaining to each program using the drop-down button on each one that says "MORE INFO."
VOMO
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Go to vomo.org.
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Click where it says "Find Volunteer Opportunities" on the top right corner of the page.
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Follow the instructions below for whichever one of the following scenarios is applicable to the person you're helping:
Volunteer Opportunities Near Them:
Make sure the first field says "All Causes" and make sure the second field accurately displays where they live, then click the magnifying glass icon to search. This will pull up all the organizations with serving opportunities in their area. Have them browse through and see which ones would have serving opportunities that they are interested in helping with.
Volunteer Opportunities Related to a Specific Cause That is Near Them:
Click the drop-down arrow for the first field and select all the causes that relate to serving opportunities that the person you're helping is interested in. After that, make sure the second field accurately displays where they live, then click the magnifying glass icon to search. This will pull up all the organizations with serving opportunities in their area. Have them browse through and see which ones would have serving opportunities that they are interested in helping with.
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Volunteer Opportunities Related to a Specific Cause in DFW:
Click the magnifying glass in the top left part of the screen, then click whichever one of the 28 displayed causes relates to the serving opportunities that the person you're serving is interested in. Then, you can either browse through the popular organizations at the top of the page or look through the specific opportunities posted below that are looking for people to help.
Specific Organization or Serving Opportunity:
Click the magnifying glass in the top left part of the screen, then type in the organization or serving opportunity that they're interested in trying to find. This will pull up three tabs which are titled "Projects" "Campaigns" and "Orgs" respectively. Depending on which of those tabs is relevant to what you are searching for, click into it and see if the organization or serving opportunity is in the results. If it's not, then try searching for something using one of the other three scenarios described above.