Blog: SCEC in Action!

Explore SCEC's work in the community here! SCEC leads multiple programs: Serve Your City (SYC) Shorts, which are one-time volunteer opportunities for PSU students; SYC Series, which are repeated opportunities with the same community partner throughout the term; and Student Leaders for Service, a program that connects a student with a nonprofit organization in the Portland area for the student to work with during a whole school year. Read below to learn more about the work we do!

SYC Series: Blanchet House Led by Student Leader for Service Jay

Every Saturday, a group of PSU students gathers at Blanchet House in Portland’s Old Town neighborhood. Blanchet House is a nonprofit that serves free meals to people in need, as well as operating a farm program and housing services. Their mission includes “serving every person who comes to our doors with dignity and without judgment. We believe everyone deserves food, clothes, community, and hope.”

Student Leader for Service Jay Salumbides leads the PSU volunteer group. Jay has been volunteering at Blanchet House since his freshman year of college, and is now in his senior year, still volunteering once a week. Jay started working with Blanchet House because he identified with the needs they were meeting in the community. “I was almost homeless my freshman year,” Jay said. “Homelessness doesn’t discriminate. It was nice to get a free meal once a week.”

Volunteering during lunch service at Blanchet House starts at 11 am, when volunteers of all backgrounds enter the building. They are greeted by the Blanchet staff, sign in, check their assignment for that shift, and put on an apron and name tag. Then they wash their hands, put on gloves, and sit down to roll forks into napkins. 

The PSU students sat together around the table. Other volunteers introduced themselves. After greeting the other volunteers, the PSU group started catching up with one another. Volunteering once a week consistently throughout the school year not only provides them with important skills and experience, but it also allows them to really get to know their fellow volunteers. The PSU students have connected with one another and formed a close-knit group. 

As they rolled silverware, they chatted and told one another about what had happened during the week since they last gathered at Blanchet. One student talked about the date she had been on. The other students asked questions, laughed, joked, and offered caring advice. 

Once the silverware was prepared, the volunteers went to their positions. Some were serving, others plating or pouring drinks. One staff member stood near the entrance, and they opened the door. As each person entered the building, the staff member handed them a fork and napkin and assigned them a table. They headed to their seat and one of the volunteers tasked with serving set a plate of hot food down in front of them. Then another volunteer came and served them juice or water. 

Some guests asked for a vegetarian lunch, and others asked for help connecting with various resources, including shelters and medical services. Volunteers met their needs and answered their questions in knowledgeable and respectful ways, connecting them with staff members when needed. 

Lunch service lasts an hour. The room was full for this hour, with people eating, drinking, and talking. People were offered seconds, and their pets were given food as well. After lunch service ended, the volunteers cleaned up the room and then filled their plates for their own lunch. The PSU students sat down to eat and resumed talking about the date one of them had been on, as well as their upcoming finals and Spring Break. After eating, they took the MAX back to PSU.

“See you next week!” they said, and waved to one another as they went their separate ways. 

Student Leader for Service: Tanya's Service at Store to Door

Tanya Konyukhova worked with Store to Door as a Student Leader for Service during the 2025-26 school year. She made phone calls to seniors and disabled people in the Portland area, making friendly calls and taking grocery orders. 

Tanya said her favorite part of working with Store to Door was “Connecting with the elderly when they’re isolated, and being there for them when no one else is.”

I interviewed Cass Listro, Store to Door’s Program Director, about the organization’s partnership with PSU Student Leaders for Service. 

Q: What is Store to Door’s mission?

A: Our Mission is to support independent living for homebound seniors and adults living with disabilities in the Portland Metro area by providing food access, food security, social connection, and community support.

Our vision is that our community be an equitable and supportive place where all seniors and adults living with disabilities are nourished, included, and can age with dignity in the setting of their own choice.

Q: How do Tanya's (your current Student Leader for Service) contributions to Store to Door further that mission?

A: Tanya’s work as a Friendly Caller and Order Taker supports Store to Door’s mission by providing clients with care, compassion, and kindness at every step of their process with us. Whether she is taking an order on Tuesday or making friendly calls on Friday, Tanya has had a marked impact on the life of the clients she is serving. These services allow clients to remain independent in the home of their choice successfully while still being connected to community and caring.

Q: Why did Store to Door choose to partner with PSU Student Leaders for Service?

A: As a volunteer based organizing the folks who volunteer and intern with our programs are critical to our success. We are always looking for folks who are engaged, thoughtful, community-focused, and enthusiastic about our mission. The SLS program really spoke to these key skills we were looking for. Having a student who is a liaison between the work we do and the Portland State Community to develop awareness of our programs is fantastic. And hopefully students who participate walk away with great leadership skills and a feeling of deep connection with their community. So it’s a win-win.

Q: What would you like a future student in this position to know about your organization and this position?

A: Most of our clients live alone and for most of our clients the contact with our volunteers is the only contact they have during the week. The little things really matter – kindness, taking a minute to chat when taking an order, a genuine desire to get to know people – it goes a long way. These are such important skills in life and this placement gives the opportunity to hone those skills while also connecting this experience with what students are studying and where they want to go professionally.

We also have some great low-commitment volunteer opportunities for people to engage with. If you are interested in Store to Door but want to see what we do before committing to a longer-term volunteer position, please check out our website and think about doing something like shopping at our Grocery Program!

Student Leaders for Service: Kate's Service at Rose Haven 

Rose Haven is one of the community partners that works with the Student Leaders for Service (SLS) program. Rose Haven is a day shelter for women and those who are marginalized by their gender. Kate Hlad (pictured above) was their SLS member during the 2025-26 school year. 

I interviewed Robin Corbo, Rose Haven’s Volunteer Manager, about the organization’s partnership with SLS. 

Q: What is Rose Haven’s mission?

A: Rose Haven was founded 29 years ago. It’s a secular organization founded by a nun who worked with women and children in poverty. She moved to Portland and saw a vacancy in services for women during the day who were experiencing homelessness. She put out surveys to gather information from the community to see what they needed, instead of telling them what she would do for them. The number one answer she received was a safe place with a locked door. She secured a basement in Old Town and started what is now Rose Haven, a place where she provided coffee, community, and popcorn. She wanted to reinforce the dignity and intrinsic worth of everyone who came in. 

Rose Haven has grown in mission and scope since then. Now we work with women and those who are marginalized by gender, children, and even pets to provide a day shelter and community center for those who experience homelessness, poverty, domestic violence, and people at the intersections of what marginalizes those communities in Portland. 

The organization works with volunteers to provide radical hospitality. The staff are trained to work with the delicate needs of many different kinds of people with many different needs. We offer food, clothing, showers, enrichment activities, shopping with dignity, access to supplies and help navigating shelters. Much of the guest-facing work is done by volunteers. We served over 4,000 guests last year, and our staff is 28 people. We’ve worked with 600 volunteers this year. This organization requires an outpouring of community support. 

Q: How do your Student Leaders for Services’ contributions to Rose Haven further that mission?

A: It’s incredible. Working consistently with guests over the full school year allows relationships to build, allows for understanding, provides skills needed to meet guests’ needs, and the students do it in alignment with their values. They foster community and loving action, and they do it with zeal. It’s a reflection of the worth they understand every person to have. 

Consistently showing up allows volunteers to build positive relationships with guests, and effectively navigate challenges. For example, if a guest has a rough interaction with a volunteer, with someone coming in week after week true reconciliation can happen. Establishing healthy dynamics with other adults shows everyone involved that they can trust others, connect with them, and communicate. 

Working with Kate, this year’s guest-facing Student Leader for Service, is a testimony of how much of herself she puts into the role and how much it means to guests. She works as hard as she can to meet people’s needs, not as a population, but as individual people. You can’t do that if you’re only coming in sporadically. It also helps us as an agency to have someone who we can depend on. It’s incredible to see who Kate was when she first began the position and what she’s able to do now, and how knowledgeable, caring, and dependable she is. 

Q: Why did you choose to partner with PSU Student Leaders for Service? 

A: It’s a mutually beneficial relationship. I cannot attest enough to the success of this program. It’s helpful to students who are studying gender studies, social work, family education, and so many other fields. Students need to have direct experiential work in order to apply for jobs and start their careers. Student Leaders for Service gain hundreds of hours of dedicated volunteer work and form relationships with guests, other volunteers, and staff. They are truly integrated into the community. 

Q: What would you like a future student in this position to know about your organization and this position?

A: Rose Haven is a place where students’ efforts can have a positive immediate impact on someone who needs it the most. We work with families who have newly immigrated to the US, people who have separated from an abuser and are looking for shelter, guests who can’t express their gender identity anywhere other than inside Rose Haven, people who have freshly aged out of foster care. We work directly with these communities and do something that can make life more bearable and survivable. Our staff and volunteers become one of the voices that enforces how important it is that our guests stay alive and remain true to who they are. Someone is on their side. 

We also need more people who speak languages other than English. Some of our guests speak Spanish, Russian, Ukrainian, Mandarin, and many other languages. And if you have lived experiences that align with those that are lived by our guests, please apply to volunteer with us. 

We need people who don’t have predetermined ideas about what it means to be unhoused, to be in a position where you have to escape from something without having  a place to escape to. Even if you don’t have experiences similar to our guests’ experiences, we need someone who is open to learning and unlearning at the same time. If you want to be part of a community where you’re working with people for their sake, not in order to come in and save anyone, then we are the place for you. 

There is plenty of staff support in this position, but there’s also a lot of problem solving. No one day will look the same. We need someone who can be open, flexible, creative, and curious. 

Student Leaders for Service: Samantha's Service at IRCO

Samantha Her has been working with IRCO as a Student Leader for Service (SLS) during the 2025-26 school year. 

Samantha said, “IRCO provides free tax assistance for anyone who makes under $100,000 a year. I do tax intake, which means identifying what each person does for work and doing tax preparation. 

IRCO is a great opportunity to meet community members. We help lots of immigrants and refugees, and people are so relieved when we help them do their taxes.

I’m a finance major and this program let me see what accounting is like hands-on. It will also open up job opportunities in the future. 

I like being a Student Leader for Service because it’s motivating to be around a culture of very passionate people.”

Check out SLS positions for next year on Give Pulse!

SYC Series: Walking Adoptable Pups at Oregon Dog Rescue

Volunteers gathered at the back door of Oregon Dog Rescue on a misty day in March for the last weekly dog walking event of Winter term. PSU students and alumni chatted while they waited for staff to match volunteers with dogs to walk. Volunteers not associated with PSU also got to know one another, sharing their hopes of finding dogs to adopt in the future. 

An Oregon Dog Rescue staff member opened the rolling garage door and oriented the volunteers. They told them about the suggested walking routes, either in the neighborhood across from Macadam St. or along the SW Waterfront. The students with SCEC’s group chose to walk two dogs that got along well. The staff member brought out Benny and Eve, who both wore yellow jackets that said “Adopt me.”

Evanny Munoz, SCEC’s Marketing and Community Outreach Coordinator, led the group around the neighborhood. Cherry trees were budding, signaling the approaching blossoms and Spring. The group stopped to smell fragrant flowers on a daphne bush. Benny and Eve walked amiably, trotting alongside each other, stopping to sniff every so often. The dogs received compliments from other people walking in the neighborhood. The group turned around after thirty minutes, giving the dogs the full allotted hour outside. 

One volunteer said, “My favorite thing about dog walking is how calming it is. It’s good to get outside and get some movement in. Even if I’m having a bad day, it’s always calming.”

Oregon Dog Rescue is located on Macadam St. in SW Portland and has been operating since 2007. They are a no-kill shelter “devoted to placing dogs in the best homes and ensuring the long-term success of the adoption,” according to their website. They are a nonprofit that has placed over 18,000 dogs since 2007!

They offer dog walking seven days a week, as well as other volunteer opportunities. Check out GivePulse to sign up for dog walking and other volunteer events with SCEC! 

Student Leaders for Service: Ella's Service at The Shopp

As part of the Student Leaders for Service program, Ella Cunningham chose to work with The Shopp, a nonprofit that helps provide clothing and basic essentials to survivors of trafficking and domestic violence. Ella has been volunteering once a week for the whole school year! 

“Every time I volunteer I get to be surrounded by a collection of unique donated items, while knowing my efforts are going towards a greater cause. I usually help run the floor by accepting donated goods, sorting through them, tagging, and putting them out as well as chatting with customers and handling purchases,” said Ella. 

Other times, she is upstairs helping to keep the shoe room organized as new shoes are donated. Sometimes she gets to help pick out clothes that will be given to those coming from difficult situations in need of support. Every once in a while, she helps redecorate The Shopp by changing mannequins, swapping items on display, and ensuring everything looks orderly and intentional. 

Learn more about The Shopp or visit the thrift store at 2808 NE MLK Blvd. Check out GivePulse to learn about Student Leaders for Service positions!

SYC Short: Sorting Donations at Community Warehouse

Thank you to everyone who volunteered with us at Community Warehouse in February! Community Warehouse collects donated furniture and other household items, and works with social service agencies to get those items to people in need. They support those who are immigrants and refugees, veterans, transitioning from homelessness or incarceration, aging out of the foster care system, disabled, and survivors of domestic violence, and other people facing adversity. They serve over 7,500 people every year. 

Community Warehouse has locations in NE Portland, Gresham, and Tigard, and they’ve been operating for 25 years! The organization was started by Jewish Family and Child Service in the 1990s as part of a nationwide effort to support thousands of former Soviet Union Jews, and expanded to work with people of all backgrounds. 

Our team helped with one of their biggest needs, which is sorting donated linens. The turn-around time for items that enter the warehouse is about 48 hours, meaning that once something is donated it is usually taken home by someone in need within two days. 

The Student Community Engagement Center’s Kaitlyn Graves said, “Community Warehouse is an amazing organization that seeks to remove barriers to allow for people to succeed. Working with them is usually the highlight of my term because not only am I helping others, but I also get to work with people who are extremely passionate about the cause and the people they serve.”

Support their mission by shopping at the Community Warehouse Estate Store in NE Portland, whose proceeds go directly to their furniture bank operations; donating furniture and household items; donating funds; volunteering; or checking GivePulse for future opportunities with the Student Community Engagement Center! 

Student Leaders for Service: Clay Street Table Distribution Project

In mid-February a group of Student Leaders for Service (SLS) joined Ghazal Alzghoul for her regular shift handing out lunch to community members with Clay Street Table, an organization that provides meals in the South Park Blocks. Clay Street Table was started in 2010 and serves over 250,000 meals every year. 

This time, in addition to handing out lunch, SLS members distributed hygiene kits, hand warmers, tarps, coats, gloves, socks, and hats.

Student Leaders for Service Ghazal, Ella, Kate, Valeria, Samantha, Mary, and Isabel started planning to fundraise for this special distribution event in December, before Winter Break. They held a very successful bake sale to raise money to buy items to distribute. 

SLS member Ella worked with The Shopp to provide clothing to hand out. Ella works regular shifts with The Shopp, a thrift store whose proceeds directly support NW Collaborative, a nonprofit that addresses the needs of those who have experienced human trafficking, domestic violence, homelessness, and addiction. SLS members Isabel and Kate helped source hygiene kits through their service with Rose Haven, a day shelter for women and children. 

Through working together to connect these resources from different community partners, as well as their diligent planning, these SLS members were able to provide crucial items to meet our neighbors’ immediate needs during the most challenging season of the year! 

Learn more about Clay Street Table, The Shopp - NW Collaborative, and Rose Haven. Go to GivePulse to check out our other opportunities, including Student Leaders for Service positions for next year!

Student Leaders for Service: Ghazal's Service at Clay Street Table

Every Monday, Ghazal Alzghoul arrives at Clay Street Table in the South Park Blocks at 10 am. She and other volunteers prepare 160 sack lunches in the large kitchen. At 12:30, they pack brown paper bags containing sandwiches into carts and roll them out to the Park Blocks in increments. Two volunteers run the popular coffee station, while others hand out lunches. 

On this rainy February day, there was no time amidst the rush to prepare hot chocolate like she usually does, so she handed out cookies instead. She arranged Reese’s cookies on a platter, covered it with a clear domed lid to protect them from the rain, and offered them to the people who gathered in the area for lunch. People thanked Ghazal for the cookies and made conversation. Dr. Paul Davis, Director of Clay Street Table, brought out another carafe of coffee.

Ghazal said, “I chose to work with Clay Street Table because I was drawn to the way they center dignity, community, and direct connection. Growing up in rural Jordan, I saw how strong community support systems can be when people look out for one another, especially during times of hardship. That upbringing shaped how I view service as a shared responsibility. Clay Street Table feels meaningful to me because it’s not just about providing food or supplies; it’s about creating a welcoming environment where people are treated with respect and humanity.”

Clay Street Table has been operating in various forms for thirty years, first under St. Stephen’s Parish. Their free meals are well known, and many people arrived to eat. They waited under the Oregon Historical Society’s awnings to avoid the persistent rain, murals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and the Oregon Trail towering thirty feet above. 

When the volunteers emerged, people formed lines in front of the coffee and sandwich carts. Some gathered under a tent and picked out books from Street Books, a street library that provides books and resources for “people who live outside and at the margins.”

Clay Street Table is housed in First Christian Church, but the nonprofit is non-sectarian. They serve food to anyone in need, and do not discriminate. According to their website, they provide over 250,000 meals annually, consisting of pantry groceries as well as meal distribution, in partnership with Operation Nightwatch and HomePDX. 

When asked about her advice to future students, she said, “Working with Clay Street Table will challenge you in the best way as it is an incredibly grounding experience. It reminds you that leadership isn’t always about big gestures, it’s about consistency, listening, and showing up for your community.” 

Learn more about Clay Street Table or check out GivePulse to see how you can connect with your community and explore next year’s Student Leaders for Service positions!

SYC Short: Packaging Books for Incarcerated People with Books Through Bars

Thank you to everyone who volunteered with Portland Books Through Bars, a nonprofit established in the 1990s that distributes books and educational materials to incarcerated people across the United States. 

Led by Kaitlyn, SCEC’s Service and Immersion Program Coordinator, PSU students and community members met at Taborspace in SE Portland to package reading materials. The team read letters written by people in custody, selected books from the organization’s donated book bank that fit the requests, and packaged them for distribution.

One volunteer, Quinn, said, “I enjoy volunteering with PDX Books Through Bars and would do so again at the drop of a hat.” 

Get involved with Books Through Bars by donating books, volunteering, or checking GivePulse to join SCEC for future opportunities!