The Impact Now program is a calendar of service projects organized by HandsOn Twin Cities. Each project takes between 1-3 hours, requires no advance training or ongoing commitment, and is led by a HandsOn Project Coordinator. Projects happen at a variety of nonprofit organizations throughout the metro who have requested volunteer support for everything from serving meals to sorting donations to reading with children.

Dream, Explore Connect! and Homework Help at Phyllis Wheatley Community Center

Looking for an opportunity to inspire, engage and educate youth through fun and creative projects? Then check out Phyllis Wheatley Community Center in Minneapolis! Monday through Thursday afternoons and evenings, PWCC offers tutoring along with a variety of classes that focus on arts, science, life skills, and more! Each class goes on a special off-site field trip and works on completing a final project. Sign up with friends, learn new skills, and meet new people in a fun and safe environment!

On Mondays through Thursdays from 3:30PM to 5:30PM, volunteers at Homework Help assist students in grades K-8 with homework in the after school drop-in tutoring program. Volunteers lead games and activities with students who finish their homework early.

The Dream, Explore, Connect! program offers free evening activities on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:00PM to 8:00PM. Classes are open to any student (grades 4-12^th) in the neighborhood.

“Dream Explore Connect is an awesome, laid-back yet productive and structured after school program for middle schoolers. There’s a reason so many of them have been in the program for years. We’re always looking for more volunteers because the more positive role models and one-on-one help the kids get with their hands-on learning projects, the better their experience is! “  – Impact Now Project Coordinator, Rachel Pelham

Activities Include:

Active Chefs: Top Chef Series– Mondays 6-8pm (4-8^th grade)
Would you like to learn new recipes and cooking skills while making yourself nutritious food at Phyllis Wheatley? We will mix and match evening fitness activities in the gym and adventures in the kitchen cooking up a storm. This session’s theme will take students through a series of competitions to learn about food, fitness, and healthy habits in Top Chef style.

French Around the World– Tuesdays 6-8pm (6-10^th grade)
Did you know that French is spoken by 223 million speakers of French in the world and that French is spoken in a total of 54 countries? In this class, we’ll search the globe for these French-speaking countries while learning a little bit of la langue française and exploring their cultures through food, movies, and music!

Urban Birding with 4-H – Mondays 6-8pm (6-9^th grade)
Learn and explore how to be a citizen scientist! We will investigate and observe birds right in our own backyards and creatively present our findings at the University of MN. This is a great opportunity to work with scientists around the State! **GIRLS ONLY**

Community Technology Investigators (CTI)– Thursdays 6-8pm (6-10 grade)
Let’s use technology to explore some of the issues that our community faces! We can explore things like where to get food, the importance of keeping the neighborhood clean, and who has access to computers and the internet in their homes. We can then add our findings to the Phyllis Wheatley website, social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, and Vlogs! **BOYS ONLY**

Girl Scouts/Fashion, Design, and Entrepreneurship – Thursdays 6-8pm (4-8^th grade)
Are you interested in fashion, art, design, or business? Use your creativity and develop new skills to help create a fashion line, brand, and logo as a group. Students will make a variety of items and promote them online!

To sign up for these or any other Impact Now projects, please visit the Project Calendar page on our website.