Volunteers founded Hubbard House in 1976, and today our volunteers continue to serve a vital role in every aspect of the agency. Why are volunteers so important to Hubbard House? Volunteers contribute their time and energy, their ideas and their ideals. They increase our visibility in the community, expand our capacity to provide services, and send a strong message of caring to our clients.
It is because of the support and generosity given by Hubbard House volunteers and donors that we are able to provide services to more than 6,000 women, children, and men annually and ensure that their hope for peace, dreams of tomorrow, and strength for their children are not lost.
This month’s volunteer spotlight focuses on Quiana Bones, who is a hair stylist with a desire to give back to the community. Quiana brings a smile to the residents once a month, when she gives up her day off from the salon to bring the salon to Hubbard House. Quiana gives the residents the gift of feeling good on the outside while they are working on feeling good on the inside.
Why do you donate your time and resources?
I feel the best thing you can give anyone is your time and your talent. I love the look on their [the women staying at Hubbard House] faces when I am done cutting and styling their hair, they may enter the room battered and broken but they leave feeling like a queen. Making someone beautiful is empowering and gives you the strength to fight and survive another day. I wish that I could give them more to make their situation better but at least I can make them feel better for the day that I am there with them.
What has your experience volunteering at Hubbard House taught you?
This experience has humbled me in so many ways. Someone once told me that we could all be a step away from being homeless or in a similar situation as some of the women. I also come from a troubled past and background and I felt really alone, like there was no one to help me. So, I want the women at the shelter to know that even if I don’t know them personally, I care and I want to help.
What made you get connected to Hubbard House?
I wanted to choose a place where my talent would be best suited and that people would benefit the most and be uplifted the most. Each month that I come to Hubbard House I leave feeling better than the moment that I entered the doors. I feel that when you put good into the universe that good comes back to you.
To find out more about volunteer opportunities at Hubbard House contact Tracy Knight at (904) 354-0076 ext. 251 or visit www.hubbardhouse.org/help/volunteering/.
ABOUT HUBBARD HOUSE
Founded as the first domestic violence shelter in Florida in 1976, Hubbard House is a certified, comprehensive domestic violence center providing programs and services to more than 6,000 women, children, and men annually in Duval and Baker counties. While Hubbard House is most known for its emergency shelter, the agency also provides extensive adult and youth outreach services, school-based education, therapeutic childcare, batterers’ intervention programs, court advocacy and volunteer and community education opportunities. Visit www.hubbardhouse.org to learn more.
If you or someone you know is in an abusive relationship Hubbard House can help. Please call the Hubbard House hotline at (904) 354-3114 or (800) 500-1119.