Tag: accommodations

Staying involved in your community can be hard when you have a chronic illness. Here are some simple ways to make volunteering more doable.

1. Look for remote volunteering opportunities. Volunteering from home can be a great way to help your community when you are sick, need constant access to resources like bathrooms, or don’t feel up to leaving the comfort of your home. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there are plenty of places with roles where you can volunteer remotely. These roles may include virtual tutoring, writing letters to senior citizens and people from other isolated groups, and non-profit event planning committees.
2. Be open about your chronic illness and/or accommodations you may need when inquiring about volunteer opportunities. Once you find an organization you want to volunteer with, one of the easiest ways to find a role that you are able to do is to ask the volunteer coordinator if they have any roles that would fit or could be adapted to suit your needs. Even if you don’t feel comfortable sharing your diagnosis, consider asking about things you know would impact your ability to do the volunteer role. For example, if you get physically fatigued easily, ask about how physically active the volunteer role would be and if there are places you can sit down during your shift.
3. Listen to your body. When your body tells you to eat something or take a break, listen to it. Although you may feel pressured to keep going so the people around you don’t think you’re slacking off, your needs are nothing to be ashamed of. Even if you can push through this one time, listening to your body can keep you from becoming physically burnt out and make the volunteer role more feasible for you in the long run.
4. Share your chronic illness and/or additional needs with your fellow volunteers. If you are concerned about what the people you volunteer with will think about your extra breaks or needs, consider telling them why you need them. Sharing your chronic illness can be a good preemptive measure in case you ever need help from the people around you during a symptom flare or medical emergency. Additionally, if your health condition is rare or largely unknown, this can be a good opportunity to advocate for people with your condition. It can be a chance to help educate others about your condition so they know what to do the next time they meet someone with the same chronic illness.

Thanks for reading! If you have any tips you’d like to share, please leave them in the comments.