SNAP Call Center Support

Project Overview: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides food benefits to low-income families to supplement their grocery budget so they can afford the nutritious food essential to health and well-being. Food Bank For New York City helps our neighbors overcome the hassle in the SNAP application and recertification process. 

The SNAP Call Center volunteer will work alongside Food Bank’s team of SNAP experts to assist community members. Volunteers will support the Call Center in various ways such as, answering phones, conducting pre-screening and making sure clients have the correct documentation. Volunteers will also assist with monitoring and logging client voicemails and emails for staff follow-up. All volunteer shifts will be supervised by a Food Bank staff member. This is an in-person role.

All interested volunteers must express interest below and complete our application in order to be considered.

Volunteer Qualifications:

• Excellent customer service and communication skills, especially via phone 

• Strong attention to detail 

• Basic computer literacy and data entry skills  

• Must be bilingual in at least one of the following languages: Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Korean, Haitian Creole or Arabic 

• Compassionate, patient, and sensitive to the needs of people experiencing food Insecurity 

• Complete required volunteer application and trainings as outlined below 

• Ability to work in-person at Food Bank’s Community Kitchen & Pantry (252 W 116th St., NY, NY 10026) during normal business hours 

• 18 years or older 

• This opportunity is not open to volunteers completing court-mandated service 

• Volunteers are expected to remain present and engaged for all trainings and shifts
   
• Food Bank reserves the right to determine if volunteers are appropriately qualified for the role and to reassign volunteers as needed
   
• Volunteers must adhere to Food Bank's Volunteer Guidelines

Getting Started: 

Please express interest below and complete the application form on the following page. Please note that limited spots are available for this position, a staff member will follow up with next steps when spots are available. 

Training Process: 

SNAP Call Center volunteers must complete a 2-part virtual training on SNAP and our Call Center technology with Food Bank staff before their first shift. The trainings will take approximately 4.5 hours total and will be scheduled with volunteers after the application process. Volunteers will also spend at least their first volunteer shift shadowing a member of Food Bank’s Benefits Access team to complete their training. Food Bank staff may recommend additional training as needed.

Time Commitment:  

Due to the training requirements, we are seeking volunteers for weekday hours who can commit for to a minimum of 3 hours each week for at least a 2-month period. Shifts are offered on Tuesdays from 9:30am-1pm and 1:30pm-4pm and on Wednesdays & Thursdays from 9:30am-1pm and 1:30pm-4:30pm (additional shifts may be offered at a later date). If you are interested but may require some adjustments to the shift schedule or time commitment, please complete the application and contact our team at [email protected] to discuss your specific needs. 

Benefits: 

• Build customer service, communication and data entry skills 

• Gain experience in Salesforce software 

• Free training on SNAP and software by Food Bank’s experts 

• Opportunity to practice 2nd language 

• Verification of volunteer hours upon request (not applicable for court-mandated service) 

• Invitation to Food Bank’s annual volunteer appreciation party 

• Assist hundreds of NY’ers in smoothly accessing food benefits