We need your help in our free legal clinics - come join the Southwest Detroit Immigrant and Refugee Center!
Our legal clinics can help so many people because of our exceptional team of dedicated volunteers. We welcome anyone willing to give of their time to help recent immigrants!Volunteer Roles
You don’t need to be an attorney, volunteers help in four essential roles:
- Legal Consultants take the lead in helping our clients work through the legal issues that they bring. Many are attorneys, paralegals, or in the later years of law school. Experience with immigration systems is helpful but not required.
- Translators translate between our mostly Spanish speaking clients and mostly English speaking staff & volunteers. French and Arabic language translators would be helpful as well.
- Researchers assist legal consultants by finding answers to a specific policy or process question, finding forms online, and helping with data entry. Researchers are asked to bring their own computer. They should be comfortable using an internet search engine to answer questions and doing simple data entry.
- Intake workers offer a word of welcome and help clients fill out our intake form. Some ability to speak Spanish or Arabic is helpful here but not necessary.
Scheduling
Volunteers work in shifts of 2-3 hours at our Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday afternoon clinics. We ask that you consider a six-month commitment as you signing up for a shift.
Some volunteers commit to a regular shift, and some are on-call for when openings in the schedule appear.
Orientation
All volunteers must participate in an orientation at our Southwest Legal Clinic and fill out an application before signing up for a regular shift.
Want to Get Involved?
Our three legal clinics are powered by the work of a dedicated team of volunteers. We are always looking for help from more people who believe that everyone deserves justice. If this sounds like you or if you have other skills to lend, fill out the form below.
