Primary Site Placements

Civic Engagement Scholars are responsible for identifying their own primary site placement, but CCEL is happy to provide support in this process.

Community Service Resources

CCEL has a variety of resources that can help Scholars identify potential primary sites.

  • CCEL E-News: When nonprofits have volunteer needs, CCEL lists them in our weekly E-newsletter. Join us on CampusGroups to sign up.
  • CampusGroups: Check out our events list to view upcoming opportunities.
  • CCEL Community Service Advising: If you would like more individualized help finding service opportunities, please visit the CCEL office on the first floor of the Tinkham Veale University Center, Suite #165 near the Bellflower Rd entrance or email adrian.griffin@case.edu to schedule an advising appointment.
  • Issue Area Resource Sheets: Browse CCEL's primary site resources google drive folder for a list of nonprofit suggestions categorized by community issue area (refugees, health, animal welfare, and more).
  • Date-specific opportunities: Business Volunteers Unlimited has a helpful database that you can use to search area nonprofits, including sorting by event date if you have specific date requirements, as does HandsOn Northeast Ohio.

CCEL Serves

Another great way to complete your Scholars hours is by becoming a regular volunteer at one of our weekly CCEL Serves sites. Transportation is provided to these sites.

  • CCEL Flexible Serves: You can make a flexible CCEL Serves site your primary site if you sign up on a date-by-date basis and attend enough times to complete at least 20 hours at one site.
  • CCEL Semester Serves: These sites require a semester-long commitment, so they can easily be your primary site as long as you fulfill your commitment and serve weekly. Semester Serves sites are full for the Fall 2019 semester. Stay tuned for new sites to be added at the beginning of the Spring 2020 semester.

Contact Erin Corwin with any questions about the CCEL Serves program.

Student Organizations

Many student organizations coordinate regular service opportunities at local nonprofits. You can find student organizations in CampusGroups (community.case.edu). In addition to joining organizations' CampusGroups pages, students are encouraged to email directly club officers to learn how to become involved.

Below are some organizations that have offered regular service opportunities in the past. Please note that a Scholars primary site must be a Cleveland nonprofit that benefits from the service, not the student organization (with the exception of the Labre Project and CWRU EMS). Some examples of nonprofit beneficiaries are listed below.

Student Organization Type of Volunteer Opportunity Nonprofit Beneficiary
Big Brothers Big Sisters College students are assigned a local youth to mentor Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cleveland
Cleveland Public Schools Connection Facilitating after school activities with middle school students Michael R. White School
Labre Project Building relationships with people experiencing homelessness Labre Project
Habitat for Humanity Building and restoring homes. Volunteering at the "Restore" shop. Habitat for Humanity of Cleveland
Spartans for Special Olympics Opportunities to volunteer with individuals with disabilities Various
Colleges Against Cancer Opportunities to volunteer with cancer patients and caregivers at Hope Lodge American Cancer Society
SpartanTHON Opportunities to volunteer at Rainbow Babies Children's Hospital and with the Children's Miracle Network (note: volunteering at SpartanTHON can also be counted towards Scholars hours, but solely dancing at the event cannot) Rainbow Babies OR Children's Miracle Network
Alpha Phi Omega Various service opportunities at nonprofits Various
Advocates for Cleveland Health Public health outreach opportunities Various
Kids Against Hunger Packing food to be donated to local pantries Cleveland Food Bank
CWRU for Autism Acceptance Advocacy, education, and awareness about autism. Sparties Running Buddies, running program with children on the autism spectrum. Autism Speaks
Art Forward Connects college student volunteers with youth involved in the juvenile justice system over monthly art projects Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center
Camp Kesem Serve at day camps and fundraise for a camp experience for children affected by a parent's cancer Camp Kesem
CWRU EMS Support the workload of Cleveland EMS by responding to EMS calls on campus (note: only time spent actively responding to calls, leading education and outreach efforts such as Stop the Bleed sessions, and completing required training up to 20 hours max in a program year can count towards Scholars) CWRU EMS
CWRU MedWish Repair medical supplies that are donated to developing nations MedWish International
Food Recovery Network Divert excess food from campus to area community centers Food Recovery Network (or name of center)
Girls Who Code Teach youth computer coding lessons Various
Project Sunshine Provide activities (arts, baking, games, etc.) for children with life-threatening illnesses Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital or Ronald McDonald House
Shadowing Case By Case Various service opportunities at nonprofits Various

Popular Transportation-Accessible Sites

The below sites are located within walking distance or are RTA HealthLine accessible from campus and are often popular primary sites. Please visit the links below first, and then reach out to these sites directly to learn about their volunteer needs. Here are sample email and phone call templates

Site Name (follow the below links to read about their volunteer opportunities) Distance from Campus  Contact Information
The Saturday Tutoring Program at Church of the Covenant Walkable Arrive at 9 a.m. for training your first date; tutoring ends at Noon. Program begins on September 11. Contact saturdaytutoring@gmail.com with questions.
Provost Scholars (tutoring teens Thursdays from 2:30 to 3:50 p.m. in Guilford House) Walkable Kate Klonowski
Hope Lodge Walkable Cara Stock and Racheal Warner
Cleveland's Museum of Contemporary Art Walkable Elizabeth Culp
Cleveland Botanical Garden Walkable CBGvolunteer@holdenfg.org
Cleveland Museum of Natural History Walkable volunteer@cmnh.org 
Transplant House Walkable volunteer@transplanthouseofcleveland.org
Cleveland Sight Center Walkable Melissa Mauk
Judson Senior Living Walkable Laura Templar
University Hospitals Walkable Follow online process
Ronald McDonald House Cleveland Walkable or RTA HealthLine Review details online
Cleveland Clinic RTA HealthLine Follow online process
Children's Museum of Cleveland RTA HealthLine volunteer@CMCleveland.org
MedWish International RTA HealthLine Sign up online
Cleveland Kids' Book Bank RTA HealthLine Sign up online