Get involved
Pull up a chair. There's room for you.
You don’t have to do everything. You can do something.
Preparing for adulthood takes more than a program. It takes people, businesses, resources, experiences, and a community willing to open doors. However you choose to get involved, you can help create an experience that moves a young person forward.
Financial Donations
Give an experience.
Your donation helps provide hands-on programming, community experiences, and essential resources for young people in group homes, transitional living homes, and those who have aged out of foster care.
Your support can help fund:
- Program supplies
- Cooking experiences
- Grocery budgeting trips
- Transportation
- Career exploration
- College and trade exposure
- Community field trips
- Life-skills events
- Independent-living support
- And more
Online giving is coming soon. We’ve applied for our EIN and 501(c)(3) status and are waiting for IRS approval.
Leave your email and you'll be the first to know the day donations open.
Volunteer
Share what you know.
You don’t have to be an expert in foster care to make a difference. We are looking for dependable, encouraging adults who can help introduce young people to different areas of adulthood.
Volunteer opportunities include:
- Career exploration and mock interviews
- Financial literacy
- Cooking and nutrition
- Housing education
- Resume preparation
- Sharing your profession or life experiences
Volunteers need a background check and a fingerprint clearance card. It is simpler than it sounds: the background check is one online form, and we will walk you through the fingerprint card step by step.
Community Partnerships
Open a door. Create an opportunity.
We partner with businesses, organizations, and community leaders to give young people real-world experiences.
- Host mock interviews
- Offer workplace tours
- Share your career field or professional expertise
- Welcome youth for field trips (businesses, apartment communities, banks, colleges, trade programs, etc.)
- Provide hands-on learning opportunities
Group homes & housing providers
We bring hands-on life-skills workshops to the young people you serve: minors preparing to age out, and young adults in independent or transitional housing.
Donated Items
Help turn a first apartment into a home.
When a young person moves into independent housing, getting the keys is only part of this journey. We collect new or gently used household items to help create a safe, comfortable, and functional home.
Please contact us for current apartment needs before donating.
We always welcome small appliances, school supplies, small home furnishings and clothing, and monetary gifts help too. Please contact us to coordinate a monetary gift.
For furniture and large donations, please contact us before dropping off items so we can confirm current needs, condition requirements, storage availability, and delivery arrangements.
the wish list
- Small kitchen appliances
- Cookware, dishes, utensils
- Bedding and bedroom furniture
- Living room furniture
- Lamps and rugs
- Bathroom towels
- Shower curtains
- Cleaning supplies
- Laundry supplies
- Storage items
- And more
Host a Fundraising Event
Bring people together for a brighter tomorrow.
Hosting a fundraising event is a meaningful way to support EpekAZ and help provide real-world experiences for the young people we serve. Events can be large or small and can be hosted by individuals, businesses, schools, churches, or community groups.
Event Ideas:
- Dinners or luncheons
- Community walks or runs
- Charity golf tournaments
- Benefit concerts
- Trivia nights or game nights
Big or small, every event makes a difference.
We’re Here to Help!
Our team can provide guidance, promotional materials, and information about EpekAZ to help make your event a success.
Plan a Fundraising EventQuestions
Frequently asked
Are donations tax-deductible?
Not yet. We’ve applied for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status and are waiting for IRS approval. We’ll update this page as soon as we hear.
Do I need special training to volunteer?
No. If you can do an everyday adult skill well, you can help someone learn it. We provide training before you work with young people. All volunteers complete an online background check and hold an Arizona Level One fingerprint clearance card. It’s simpler than it sounds, and we’ll walk you through it step by step.
Will I work directly with young people?
Most volunteers help lead small-group workshops and hands-on activities. You will never be left in charge of or responsible for supervising foster youth: group home or transitional living home staff are always present and remain responsible for the youth, even when you are working one-on-one with a young person.
Where do you work?
In the Valley of the Sun.
How do you protect young people's privacy?
We never share identifiable photos or stories of young people in care without proper consent.
Together, we can open doors, create opportunities, and help God’s children reach forward.