Introduction
Tallinn Shelter, established on January 1, 2001, aims to provide a safe and secure environment for children and young people without parental care, while also supporting families with children who might have special needs. The shelter offers a range of social services, with the most significant being the substitute home service.
The shelter is organized into 13 units, including the Shelter for Children and the Shelter for Mothers and Children. Both units have been welcoming EVS and ESC volunteers since 2005.
The primary goal of the Shelter for Mothers and Children is to protect mothers and their children, while also empowering mothers to regain their self-confidence and independence. Many seek assistance due to issues such as housing instability, family conflicts, and domestic violence. The shelter supports mothers by helping them manage their lives, find employment, register at food banks, and more. Additionally, providing a listening ear and offering advice are crucial components of the assistance provided.
Location
Shelter for Mothers and Children is in Tallinn, in the district of Nõmme, which is about 20 minutes away by bus from the historical center of Tallinn. The area is surrounded by a big park and forest, which is a beautiful sight every time of the year.
Work tasks
The volunteers’ main tasks are spending time with kids in the shelter, helping with organazing birthdays, holidays, special events, making crafts and decorations with the kids and mothers, helping shelter with different everyday tasks. The volunteer has the opportunity to visit various cultural institutions with families. The exact tasks will be agreed on together with the tutor. Some examples of the proposed tasks are:
- Running different workshops for the mothers and children in the Shelter (e.g. drawing, handcrafting, singing, sewing)
- Helping to organize and search different possibilities to expose the works or the achievements made by the mothers and their children in the Shelter (e.g. exhibitions)
- Introducing one’s culture and running cultural evenings as a part of intercultural learning
- Organizing events in the Shelter: (e.g. movie evenings, reading books, teaching one’s mother tongue, cooking with the mothers and their children etc.)
- Helping to organize Estonian National holidays and the birthdays of the mothers and their children
- Organizing outdoor activities (using recourses of beautiful Nõmme nature – a perfect place for skiing in winter, picnics or cycling in summer)
The volunteer will be encouraged to propose one’s personal projects/initiatives related to the theme of this ESC project which can be supported by the host organization.
The volunteer can take part in local as well as in international training activities related to one’s service.
The working hours will be around 7 hours a day from 10:00 or 11:00 (depends on the agreement between the volunteer and the tutor). The total working time will be around 30-35 hours a week. The volunteer will have 2 sequence days off per week. Volunteers will be working under the supervision and with support of local pedagogical staff.
Benefits of volunteering
- The volunteer can acquire practical and social skills while interacting with mothers and children.
- Volunteer gets social work experience.
- The volunteer can work in a great team.
- The volunteer can practice Russian and Estonian languages.
Requirements for the volunteer
- The motivation for working with children.
- Experience in working with children or adults.
- Be open-minded and interested in work at social organisation.
- The volunteer can speak Russian at an intermediate level because the social workers at the center know only Estonian and Russian and at the same time, most mothers and children are Russian.
Application
To apply fill in the application form in the left column and send it to evs@estyes.ee.
We are flexible regarding the project dates which means we can change the service dates according to the needs of volunteer.
