Volunteering & Drives

Volunteer with Clare Housing

Because many of our residents are survivors of systemic and individual harm and discrimination, we commit to ensuring that living at Clare Housing feels healing, empowering, dignifying, and connective.

That’s where you come in! We can’t fulfill that goal without the time and energy of compassionate, committed neighbors like you. Sharing in a conversation with a resident or landscaping at a Clare Housing building may seem simple, but these acts are so important in creating and sustaining a healing community.

Listed below are some descriptions of our existing volunteer opportunities, but we are always open to hearing from you about what you can offer or want to bring. Please let us know if you have a new idea or skill you’d like to share; we’re excited to welcome you into the community!

Get Involved with Clare Housing

Make a difference in the lives of our residents


Volunteer and Donation Drive Opportunities

Supper Club

Supper Club is one of our longest-running programs. Individuals, pairs, or small groups (max 4 people) prepare, serve, share, and clean up after the evening meal for 4 neighbors living in one of our South Minneapolis Community Care Homes. More important than the meal itself, they offer companionship and community. If you like to cook, eat, and/or build community, come join the Supper Club!

Note: if possible, we ask Supper Club volunteers to commit to a regular shift at their designated care home (at least monthly), which helps deepen relationship and strengthen community.

Community Meals

Strengthen community and connection by hosting a meal at one of our apartment buildings! We welcome groups of up to 8 folks to prepare, serve, share, and clean up a meal for residents (usually anywhere from 10 – 20 folks) at one of our properties in Northeast Minneapolis, South Minneapolis, or Robbinsdale. The possibilities are endless: breakfast for dinner, summer barbecue, hotdish night… whatever gets your creativity going and energy flowing!

Welcome Baskets

It’s sometimes the little things that help you feel at home after a move: eating from a favorite bowl, sipping a warm cup of coffee in the morning, or dancing in a freshly-cleaned living space.

Folks often move in to Clare Housing with some personal items, but not all they need to set up their new homes. While we can connect them to furniture, we invite our community to welcome new residents by providing some other household essentials.

The total cost of putting together a welcome basket of new items is about $500, with each one including:

  • Small Appliances (coffee maker, microwave, toaster oven, etc.)
  • Utensils
  • Dishes
  • Pots & Pans
  • Sheets & Towels
  • Cleaning Supplies
  • Paper Products
  • Large, lidded, plastic storage containers

Please reach out if you and/or your organization would like to put some baskets together (this is a great opportunity for groups!); we would be so glad to have your support in welcoming our new neighbors home!

Gift Card Drive

We have all experienced unexpected challenges and barriers, right? Sometimes, when life throws a curve-ball, our residents aren’t able to cover all their regular expenses.

Enter: neighbors like you.

We invite you to provide a little relief in these moments by gathering and donating some gift cards. Cards from grocery, discount, or drug stores are always welcome (think Target, Cub Foods, Hy-Vee, CVS, Walgreens, Dollar Tree, Holiday, and Speedway). Even just $25 can go a long way in helping your Clare Housing neighbors navigate tough moments and continue achieving their goals!

Salon Services

Hair is powerful and about so much more than just looking good; how we style our hair can tell a story about who we are, where we come from, and what matters to us. It’s a representation of our humanity and identities.  

Help your Clare Housing neighbors deepen their confidence, self-expression, and pride by offering personal care services for a few hours! If you are licensed to cut and style hair, provide nail treatments, or offer other salon services, we would be ecstatic to hear from you. Our residents come from a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds, so having some background styling different hair types is ideal. 

Note: We’re ideally looking for folks who can make an ongoing commitment (~3-4 hours every 1-2 months). A background check is required.

Stock Our Shelves

Life happens; we all know this. Sometimes daily necessities, such as personal hygiene items, cleaning supplies, and food are hard to come by; that’s why we like to keep some basic items on-hand for days and moments when our community needs a little boost.

We like to stock nutritious, satisfying, and non-perishable food and household items on an ongoing basis. Some examples include:

  • Peanut butter
  • Canned soups and stews (chili, hearty soups, etc.)
  • Laundry detergent
  • Kitchen and bathroom cleaners
  • Rice
  • Microwaveable instant oatmealPancake mix
  • Special diet foods – gluten-free, low-sugar, low-sodium
  • Vinegar and baking soda
  • Sponges

For a current list of basic needs supplies, please check out our registry with Target, which you can shop from directly!

*For food safety reasons, personal care items and cleaning supplies need to be kept separate from food items.

*To make room for more healthy food on our shelves, we do not accept donations of candy or soda.

Birthday Bags

Do you remember a time when someone made your birthday extra special, perhaps by offering a small, unexpected gift or planning a big surprise party?

We want to help create that same wonderful feeling for your neighbors who live in our buildings! Come be part of the celebration by putting together a birthday bag (or a few!). These can contain some special snacks, small gifts, a hand-made card, and/or perhaps a gift card or two. We will gift them to residents on their birthdays.

This is a great opportunity for partners, families, or small groups with kids to collaborate. We welcome folks to get crafty and creative!