Volunteering

The Department of Employment Services (DOES) provides a wide variety of services to job seekers through its One-Stop Career Centers. A vocational rehabilitation counselor who works for the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) is also available at the One-Stop Career Centers. Please note that in order to receive services from an Employment Specialist at the One-Stop Career Center, job seekers must complete an assessment that includes a reading test. Residents who test below an eighth grade reading level will be referred to other agencies for assistance.

As the cornerstone of the American Job Center Network this site provides a single access point - open 24-7 - to key federal programs and critical local resources to help people find a job, identify training programs, and gain skills in growing industries. Connecting Americans to online resources from across the federal government, nearly 3,000 brick-and-mortar American Job Centers, and hundreds of local training programs and job resources funded through federal grants, the proud partners of the American Job Center Network provide an easily-identifiable source for the help and services individuals and businesses need. No matter what state you're in, whether you're online or visiting in person, when you see American Job Center Network, take comfort knowing you're in the right place to jump start your job search, explore new career options, or tap into the most talented and dedicated workforce in the world.

Best Buddies Maryland offers a variety of Best Buddies International programs that create opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

These programs include:

• Best Buddies Middle Schools - Best Buddies Middle Schools fosters one-to-one friendships between students with and without IDD. Students with IDD are often isolated and left out of social activities. Best Buddies Middle Schools helps to create an inclusive school climate for students early on in their educational development.
• Best Buddies High Schools - Best Buddies High Schools fosters one-to-one friendships between students with and without IDD. The high school years are a time of heightened social and emotional development and can be difficult even for those without IDD. Best Buddies High Schools helps break through social barriers at an important time in a young person's life.
• Best Buddies Colleges - Best Buddies Colleges fosters one-to-one friendships between college students and adults with IDD and college students without IDD. Historically, adults with IDD have been isolated in home or work environments. Best Buddies Colleges is changing this by providing the opportunity for people with IDD to be involved in campus and community life.
• Best Buddies Citizens - Best Buddies Citizens fosters one-to-one friendships between adults with and without IDD in corporate and civic communities. This program helps people with IDD become part of mainstream society and creates an inclusive and diverse community for all.
• e-Buddies - e-Buddies provides a safe online forum to develop one-to-one friendships between people with and without IDD. Technology is an integral part of society and by participating in e-Buddies, participants can develop the skills necessary to be able to communicate using a variety of sources.
• Best Buddies Jobs - Best Buddies Jobs is a supported employment program that secures competitive paying jobs for people with IDD, therefore enabling them to work as respected individuals. The program develops partnerships with employers, assists with the hiring process, and provides ongoing support to the employee and employer.

Founded on the belief that young people can change the world, City Year’s vision is that one day a year of service will become an opportunity for and common expectation of every young person. A grant is supporting development of an infrastructure to become an inclusive service organization so it can recruit, train, and support youth with disabilities to become successful City Year corps members.

We are dedicated to a single purpose: empowering veterans to lead high-quality lives with respect and dignity. We accomplish this by ensuring that veterans and their families can access the full range of benefits available to them; fighting for the interests of America’s injured heroes on Capitol Hill; and educating the public about the great sacrifices and needs of veterans transitioning back to civilian life.

• Providing free, professional assistance to veterans and their families in obtaining benefits and services earned through military service and provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and other agencies of government.
• Providing outreach concerning its program services to the American people generally, and to disabled veterans and their families specifically.
• Representing the interests of disabled veterans, their families, their widowed spouses and their orphans before Congress, the White House and the Judicial Branch, as well as state and local government.
• Extending DAV’s mission of hope into the communities where these veterans and their families live through a network of state-level Departments and local chapters.
• Providing a structure through which disabled veterans can express their compassion for their fellow veterans through a variety of volunteer programs.

e-Buddies is an e-mail pen pal program that provides opportunities for e-mail friendships between people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their peers who do not have IDD.

Each participant is matched in a one-to-one e-mail friendship, and matched pairs are asked to exchange e-mails once a week for at least one year. Matches are made based on similar age, gender, geography (i.e. participants will NOT be matched with someone from the same state/province), and shared interests.

e-Buddies is open to anyone with an e-mail address who is 10 years old and up. Participants with IDD can sign up individually, or in groups through a special education class or a support service agency. e-Buddies is ALWAYS free of charge for participants with IDD.

e-Buddies is a program of Best Buddies International.

Goodwill assists teens and young adults with disabilities to: identify their experiences and dreams, develop individual career plans, conduct job searches, write resumes, and practice interviewing skills. After you find employment, GGW staff regularly consults with you to assess your progress and determine the need for additional services.

Hiring Our Heroes is a U.S. Chamber of Commerce program that provides military veterans and their spouses with:

• Information about local hiring fairs
• Access to employment workshops, resume building, job search, and survey tools
• Personal and/or professional networking opportunities

Prospective employers may also:

• Commit to hire heroes
• Post jobs
• Search resumes
• Mentor job seekers
• Volunteer at workshops
• Sign up for hiring fairs

Offers a variety of job-search tools and services: resource room, workshops, trained staff, information about jobs in demand , access to job openings through Maryland Workforce Exchange, an internet-based program and other job databases.

Serve DC – The Mayor’s Office on Volunteerism encourages people with disabilities to participate as National Service members in the District of Columbia. A priority of the Corporation for National and Community Service and Serve DC is the full and proactive inclusion of individuals with disabilities in service. Under federal law, National Service program sites that include AmeriCorps, Learn and Serve, and Senior Corps are required to comply with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. In addition, National Service program sites must make reasonable accommodations to enable a qualified applicant or National Service participant with a disability to participate in the application process or to perform essential service functions. Serve DC currently has funding available for any National Service program site operating in the District of Columbia to provide reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities who are applicants or current National Service members. National Service program sites must apply for the funding.