Volunteer

Interested in volunteering with the UW Odyssey Project?

There are many ways to volunteer with the Odyssey Project! If you are interested in volunteering with Odyssey, please fill out the form below.

Odyssey volunteer interest form

Odyssey Junior

Odyssey Junior Volunteers

Odyssey Junior volunteers support our classrooms by building relationships with our students (ages newborn to 18) and helping staff facilitate activities on Monday and Wednesday evenings.

We build our Junior volunteer team each summer for the following school year. Fill out the interest form to join our waitlist for the 2025-2026 school year!

Fulfill Wish Lists

For Odyssey Junior we can use art supplies, puzzles, games, notebooks, children’s books, etc. We have compiled these items into one “Wish List” on Amazon. We also could use gift cards for families (gas cards, dept stores like Target, grocery stores) to use as prizes and for emergencies.

If you have any questions or ideas, please contact Gwendolyn Coale at gwendolyn.coale@wisc.edu.

Odyssey Tutoring & Outreach

Tutor Adult Students / Alumni

Odyssey hosts tutoring sessions on Monday evenings but can sometimes make tutoring connections with students at other times. We seek tutors with skills in writing/ literacy, math, science, foreign language, and English as a Second Language.

If you have any questions or ideas, please contact Kevin Mullen at kevin.mullen@wisc.edu or 608-890-3330.

Other Ways to Support Odyssey

Donate to cover a Meal

We serve meals to roughly 150 people each Wednesday night, September through May. Since the pandemic, we have switched to ordering class meals from licensed kitchens in order to ensure the safety of our students and their families. For this reason, if you’re interested in donating to help cover meal expenses, please consider a gift to our Friends of Odyssey Family Fund.

Professional Services for Students

We can use pro bono services from attorneys, physicians/dentists, social workers, and others, to help students facing legal, medical, housing, and other challenges.

Administrative Support

We can sometimes use help with typing, mailings, and other administrative tasks in our office at 2238 S. Park St.

Photography or Videography

Help to capture photographs and/or video, especially from the Odyssey and Odyssey Junior classrooms on Wednesday evenings at Villager Mall, 2238 S. Park St.

If you have any questions or ideas, please contact Sarah Lensmire at sarah.lensmire@wisc.edu.