Make a Difference in the Lives of our Patients and Staff and Receive Something Back in Return:
- Use your skills and experiences to benefit others
- Strengthen your recovery
- Explore a new career
- Enhance your knowledge
- Share a hobby
- Expand your personal and professional network
- Feel great
Patients in a psychiatric/substance abuse treatment hospital benefit in so many ways from the time, talents and experiences of volunteers. Those who are personally in recovery from the conditions we treat are beacons of hope for our patients. Those who bring in a hobby to share (such as crafts, board games, writing, art, gardening and music) provide a welcome creative outlet, as well as a therapeutic connection to the world. Volunteers who assist our staff with the daily routine tasks involved in their work or take a special project off their hands, free the staff to give their full attention to the functions that only they can perform. Those who offer comfort to families and patients during the admissions process make a difficult time just a little easier.
Whatever your reasons for volunteering and for any amount of time you have to give, we encourage you to contact us! The Volunteer Services Office will work with you to create a meaningful and rewarding opportunity that meets both your needs and the needs of the Hospital. It's a paradox, but we know it’s true: you will receive far more than you give.
All volunteers will be oriented to the hospital and its procedures and protocols for working in our facilities and with psychiatric and/or chemically dependent patients.
Volunteer opportunities are available in the following areas: (Please click on the opportunity to learn more)
If you are interested in volunteering, please complete an online application or email our Volunteer Services Department. Volunteers must be 18 years of age or older.
Opportunity Descriptions
Admissions Office Ambassador
The Admissions Office at Silver Hill Hospital is where individuals experiencing severe distress due to emotional or addiction issues first come to determine where they will be assigned in the hospital to receive the best possible treatment. You will work alongside the admissions staff, which is expertly trained to help people in crisis and to ensure that each patient will receive the most appropriate care. After training as an Admissions Office Ambassador, you will use your adept interpersonal skills and empathy for others to offer support to patients and their families by providing written information, food and beverages, and descriptions of our programs and facilities. Your calm presence and good people instincts will guide you so that patients are made to feel welcome, respected and encouraged. Volunteers who act as our Admissions Ambassadors should be self-assured, yet humble; accepting of people with psychiatric or addictive disorders; and able to work with minimal direction, but under close supervision. We request a weekly commitment of one 2-3 hour shift of your choice during weekdays 10:00 am to 7:00 pm.
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Floral Arrangement Designer
Join a very special group of gardening enthusiasts that have for over 30 years been making stunning floral arrangements for Silver Hill Hospital's patient units, reception areas and dining room. This group meets every Thursday morning from 9:30 am to noon to arrange nature's floral bounty in vases and whimsical planters that delight patients and bring even more vibrancy to Silver Hill's indoor spaces. You already know who you are! You love gardening and bringing the beauty of the garden's palette indoors for all to enjoy. Invite a friend to join you to make this a fun get-together with the Silver Hill "Flower Team." Your handiwork will spread joy and offer "horticultural therapy" to our patients.
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Grounds Keeping Team Member
Go green with the Silver Hill grounds keeping team! Silver Hill Hospital's 14 buildings are nestled among 45 beautiful New Canaan acres, which are discretely dotted with walkways, driveways and pathway lighting. If you enjoy the scent of fresh air and fragrant flowers and like to toil in the soil, join our grounds keeping crew to help maintain our lawns, shrubs and plantings. Hours are flexible and all the tools you need to get in a good day's (or few hours') work are supplied!
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Patient Discharge Follow-up Assistant
Patients at Silver Hill Hospital are involved in a myriad of treatment programs designed to aid in their recovery from mental illness and addiction. Once patients leave the hospital, the care they receive from other community resources and mental health professionals is crucial to their sustaining the gains they have made. Our treatment care team is looking for mature, results-oriented individuals to diligently connect by phone with external providers (other hospitals, social workers, physicians) to determine if our patients are following their post-discharge treatment plan. This volunteer role requires you to be accurate, thorough and an excellent communicator with a keen desire to follow-up until you receive all of the information required. We desire a positive outlook and telephone presence, excellent record-keeping and organizational skills.
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Patient/Medical Library Assistant
Silver Hill Hospital boasts a robust collection of up-to-date journals and medical publications for our clinical staff and a broad selection of self-help, leisure books, magazines and newspapers for our patients. Join our volunteer team as a library assistant and enjoy a variety of duties that are essential to keeping our library the efficient and organized, but warm and friendly place it is. Ongoing tasks include checking library material in and out; organizing library shelves; preparing bibliographies for patients on relevant topics; helping out with inventories; and accompanying the director to hospital units to assist in patient education programs. Some computer-based projects may be completed from home. Our library is open to Silver Hill Hospital staff and patients for their exclusive use from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday through Friday. Volunteer hours are flexible, but we have a current need for library assistants for shifts of 2-3 hours (or more) on Mondays (10:30 am to 5:00 pm); Tuesdays/Fridays (11:00 am to 5:00 pm) and Wednesdays/Thursdays (9:00 am to 5:00 pm). Volunteers will be trained and supervised by the director of library services. Please share your love of books and people at Silver Hill’s library!
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Recreational Activities/ Hobby Group Leader
Work directly with our patients and psychiatric, nursing and social work staff to provide recreational activities that enrich and enhance our patients' existing treatment programs in both our inpatient and transitional living programs. Perhaps you are an exercise enthusiast or board game lover or gifted storyteller. We invite you to share some of your natural talents or unique interests! Let us know what interests and hobbies you have and we will design a volunteer opportunity with you and the patients in mind.
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Recreational Art Group Leader
Prospective Silver Hill Hospital volunteers are invited to share their special artistic talents in drawing, painting or other media in a one-hour class designed around your interests and availability. Some of our patients work is featured in a quarterly in-house art/literature magazine called "The Silver Lining." We seek individuals who have a passion for their work and wish to share it with our patients, who may desire to express themselves creatively through visual arts.
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12-Step Recovery Group Leader
Patients at Silver Hill participate in a wide variety of therapeutic programs and also attend 12-step practicum meetings as part of their recovery journey. Volunteers play an integral role in this process by sharing their personal stories of strength, hope and recovery and how they maintain sobriety and a healthy lifestyle. You will lead group discussions on the topics listed on the unit/house schedules. Volunteers must be 18 years old or older; have at least one full year of sobriety; and be an active participant in 12-step recovery in AA and/or NA. We have daytime, evening and weekend times available.
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Share Group Leader
Patients living with psychiatric disorders participate in a wide variety of therapeutic programs designed to augment their medication protocols and provide them with new ways to understand their mental illness, along with better ways to relate and cope. Volunteers play an integral role in this process by sharing their personal stories of strength, hope and healing and how they maintain a balanced life while living with a mental illness. You will lead group discussions on the topics listed on the unit/house schedules. Volunteers are assigned to our dual diagnosis and transitional living programs. We offer daytime, evening and weekend times to volunteer.
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Wellness Gift Shop Sales/Display Assistant
Silver Hill Hospital's "Little Shop" was one of the first places in the organization that volunteers contributed their time and talents. The Little Shop, open weekdays from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm, continues to be a charming place for patients and staff to purchase personal convenience items, books, themed jewelry and much more. In the Little Shop, you will help patients establish a spending account for and assist them with their gift shop purchases; help the shop manager maintain and conduct inventory; process special orders; deliver patients' requested items to hospital units; and carry out routine administrative duties as assigned Although retail experience is desirable, it is not a prerequisite for helping to maintain the Little Shop as an inviting and convenient resource for patients and staff. You should, however, have a great appreciation for customer service, a keen eye for organization, and have ability to multi-task. This role provides a wonderful opportunity for volunteers to learn more about gift shop operations, "service with a smile," and self-help media that support patients in their recovery programs.
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Summer Volunteer Program
High school (age 16 and over) and college students (age 18 and over) that are interested in mental health and chemical dependency issues or simply wish to have a meaningful summer volunteer opportunity are invited to apply to our summer volunteer program. Summer volunteers will act in many of the same capacities listed above and will be supervised by the manager of volunteer services and the supervisor of the assigned department(s). Please apply to volunteers@silverhillhospital.org or complete our online application.
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Saturdays and Sundays at Silver Hill
Saturdays and Sundays at Silver Hill Hospital have a slower cadence to them as patients read, relax and receive friends and family members during visiting hours and our Family Forum programs. We especially welcome volunteers on the weekends to create a little (more) laughter and engage patients in fun activities and past times in one-on-one visits or in groups.
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