Volunteer Stories

HELP LINE IS BACK AND READY TO DISCUSS YOUR PROBLEMS, BIG AND SMALL

HELP LINE IS BACK AND READY TO DISCUSS YOUR PROBLEMS, BIG AND SMALL

When Shapiro got to UVA, he was scrolling through the website of Madison House – the independent, nonprofit volunteer center for UVA students – looking for volunteering opportunities when he came across HELP Line.

HELP Line is a free and confidential telephone hotline serving UVA and the surrounding area. It is a student-run and student-operated empathetic listening and referral hotline, staffed entirely by anonymous UVA student volunteers.

“I thought, ‘This has got to be the coolest thing ever,’” Shapiro said.

CIOs overcome distance learning limitations to maintain a sense of community

CIOs overcome distance learning limitations to maintain a sense of community

The strong community that exists among the University’s students would be nothing without the support of the broader Charlottesville community. For that reason, Madison House directors and student volunteers have remained dedicated to serving the people of Charlottesville and supporting them through the most difficult times of the pandemic. Although Madison House’s volunteer services will function very differently than in previous years, many efforts will continue virtually in order to strengthen the Charlottesville community.

“Our programs will focus almost exclusively on virtual volunteering,” said Rose Cole, Madison House director of community engagement, in an email to The Cavalier Daily. “There will be some exceptions made for in-person volunteering based on community needs — focused only on medical services, food insecurity and food justice and support for essential workers — but we can’t begin in-person volunteering until we know how safe it will be.”

UVA medical students create 'Quarantine Trivia'

UVA medical students create 'Quarantine Trivia'

"We have players all over Virginia, all over the East Coast, in New York and Boston," he said. "We have people out on the West Coast, in Oregon and California and one player from England, so it has really kind of become a big thing."

Not only is the game bringing together family and friends but it also benefiting Charlottesville-area charities like Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry, Madison House and the Legal Aid Justice Center.

"There's so many great organizations already established in Charlottesville, we thought we could help them along and all those donations would go to a big cause," said White.