Serve in Austin
Covenant is located in a big city with diverse needs. Discover how you can use your gifts to serve our community.
View the Mission Guide
We work with several groups, serving people of all ages, economic backgrounds, cultures and interests. These diverse opportunities take advantage of all sorts of spiritual gifts, abilities, backgrounds, personality types and experience levels. You can find one-time or ongoing opportunities.
Homelessness
and Housing
Central Mission at Central Presbyterian Church
Covenant has recently been invited to join Central Presbyterian Church in their Thursday morning mission to serve unhoused neighbors downtown. If you would like to participate in this weekly opportunity contact Whitney Bell at
Community First! Village
Covenant’s Men in the Word Bible study has been faithfully connected to Community First Village for many years! Community First Village is a master-planned neighborhood that provides affordable, permanent housing and a supportive community for men and women who are coming out of chronic homelessness. Covenant has had the privilege to build 5 microhomes and has been approved to build a 6th in 2025! We are excited to expand this opportunity to the entire congregation! To learn more, contact Brian Millington at
Foundation Communities
Foundation Communities creates housing where individuals and families succeed. It provides affordable, stable, and nurturing homes within communities that foster opportunities for growth and self-sufficiency. It has 27 properties that house low-income residents locally and in North Texas. Their Children’s Housing Initiative supports families with wrap-around services and community. To learn more, contact Whitney Bell at .
Foundation for the Homeless
Foundation for the Homeless provides families experiencing homelessness hope, opportunity, and solutions while also promoting the dignity of individuals who experience homelessness. It does this by providing hot meals two days a week, helping families with rapid rehousing, and doing preventive work so families can remain housed. To learn more, contact Monte Osburn at .
Helping our Neighbors
Helping Our Neighbors (HON) is a ministry serving our local homeless population in West Austin. HON is looking for mentors to meet with homeless neighbors once per month for friendship and companionship. They are also looking for helpers to join their efforts to distribute food and supplies to homeless neighbors each weekend. If you are interested in serving in this way, contact Jo Ibsen at .
Learn more about HON and read our story about Jo.
Movin’ and Groovin’
Movin’ and Groovin’ is a ministry of Covenant that has transformed over the past few years and currently is providing new beds to families emerging from homelessness and newly arrived refugee families. Randy Jonkers took over the role of coordinator and could always use more volunteers to help deliver beds to those who may not be able to come get them from our storage facility. To learn more, contact Randy Jonkers at .
Street Youth Ministry
The mission of Street Youth Ministry (SYMin) is to serve homeless youth between the ages of 18 and 28. SYMin offers food, friendship, social services, counseling, clothing, and mentorship. It faithfully cares for the homeless youth in the heart of Austin. Covenant is proud that the founder and director of SYMin, Terry Cole, is a member of the church, and he continues to inspire our congregation as he pursues his call. SYMin is looking for volunteers available from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays. For more information and ways to volunteer, please contact Garrett Hall at .
Texas Reach Out
Texas Reach Out Ministries (TROM) provides Christian men and women leaving the criminal justice system with safe transitional housing, Spirit-led guidance, and employment assistance. It currently owns 9 homes, 7 for men and 2 for women. Through its services, it prepares formerly incarcerated men and women to live as productive citizens walking in the fullness of life with Christ. TROM seeks volunteers to lead weekly Bible studies or serve as mentors for its participants. It is also looking for individuals willing to provide pro bono services in key areas like counseling, nutrition, web design, and database creation. For more information and how to get involved, please contact Nelson Mann at
Families and Education
Austin Voices for Education and Youth
Austin Voices for Education and Youth (AVEY), a ministry working throughout East Austin, is a community collaboration that aims to strengthen families, support kids and improve schools. AVEY trains and encourages parents to be leaders, connects families with resources and helps to build safe and thriving communities. Austin Voices is special to Covenant, since it was founded by Covenant members, Allen and Julie Weeks.
Click here to sign up to serve with AVEY. For more information and how to get involved, contact Lynn Bell at .
Austin Young Life
The mission of Austin Young Life is that every student in Austin would hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and grow in faith. Volunteer leaders and staff build relationships with students to communicate hope and give vision for the future in this life and the next. Covenant has been in partnership with Austin Young Life for many years. To volunteer, contact Will Withers at .
Manos De Cristo
The mission of Manos de Cristo is to empower low-income individuals with a loving hand of assistance and without regard to age, gender, race, or religious preference. Manos de Cristo promotes dignity and self-reliance by meeting basic needs with food and clothing, providing essential oral care, and furthering educational development. The Manos de Cristo Dental Center expanded its four-chair clinic into a state-of-the-art 11-chair facility in 2013. Treatment plans are one-third the price of private practice dental procedures. Its professional dentists provide low-cost, quality care and allow individuals to invest in their own healthcare. Manos serves whoever comes to its doors seeking assistance: more than 30,000 individuals annually. Its clients/patients/students include immigrants, seniors, the working poor, and the unhoused. For more information and how to volunteer, contact Melissa Matthews at with questions.
Mentor a 4th Grader at Padron Elementary
The 2024-2025 school year will be Covenant’s second year to partner with Padron Elementary and Academy 4. The program focuses on 4th grade students at underserved and under-resourced schools. Each 4th grader is assigned a mentor. Mentoring happens one Friday a month from 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. Academy 4 staff members equip mentors before each session with curriculum and questions during their mentor time. This program runs through the school year and is once a month.
Contact Med Luckett at for more information and to sign up to volunteer.
Presbyterian Children’s Home and Services
Covenant has been in partnership with Presbyterian Children’s Home and Services (PCHAS) since 1999. PCHAS provides Christ-centered care and support for children and families in need. PCHAS helps children heal from trauma so they can build healthy relationships, succeed in education, and discover their own world of opportunities and possibilities. In 2023, PCHAS expanded its Child and Family Services here in Austin to help families through crises by counseling, parenting classes, behavioral support, and financial assistance. PCHAS needs ongoing support through prayer partners, volunteering, or their annual Back to School and Angel Tree initiatives. To learn more information and how you can get involved, email James Lavendar at or Susie Boyd at .
Vulnerable Populations
DAS-ATX exists to ensure that the isolated and older (60+) population stays meaningfully connected through a variety of services: 1) providing free transportation for health care appointments, spousal visits at memory care facilities, and trips to counseling or support groups, grocery stores, hairdressers, churches and other destinations, 2) checking in on our clients with friendly phone calls, 3) creating opportunities for clients to interact and connect with others at game days, fun outing trips, and other social events and 4) offering in-home handyman services and small repairs as well as help with technology, meal transportation, links to other senior services, and senior sidekicks. For 38 years DAS-ATX has worked to keep seniors in their own homes, while enabling them to be connected with – not isolated from – the rest of the world. For more information and how to get involved, please contact Shelly Frost at
Foster Care Ministry of Covenant
In 2022, Covenant launched a Foster Care Ministry. This ministry was created to train our congregation and volunteers how to best care for children from hard places. We seek to do that in two ways: One is to support families and individuals who feel called to foster by providing resources to help navigate and discern this call. Two is to support families who are fostering or have adopted and are in need of support. To learn more, contact Jen Harold at .
International Justice Ministry
International Justice Mission (IJM) is a global organization seeking to end slavery around the world. They partner with local authorities in 24 program offices in 14 countries to combat slavery, violence against women and children and police abuse of power against people who are poor. Covenant is in partnership with their field office in Ghana and seeks to pray and offer support for the team there working tirelessly to advocate for those enslaved. For more info and how you can get involved with IJM, please contact Thais Kilday at .
Samaritan Counseling Center
Samaritan Counseling Center heals hearts, provides hope, and enhances lives with a holistic approach to mental health for all ages, whole families, and especially the military community. It envisions a healthy and compassionate community in which every individual achieves mental, physical, spiritual, and social well-being, which it believes are equally important to overall health. It advances health equity by prioritizing underserved populations: low-income families, BIPOC communities, women, at-risk youth, LGBTQ+, veterans and their spouses and children. It treats entire family systems, breaking cycles of generational trauma. Samaritan Counseling Center helps fill the gap of equitable mental health services by employing diverse staff and offering culturally competent treatments. Free and low-cost services are provided in English and Spanish. To learn more, contact Anne Mullin at .
Welcoming the Stranger
Covenant’s Refugee Ministry
The Covenant Refugee Ministry has served many families as they have arrived in the United States over the past six years. The needs of this team are vast, from apartment setup and airport welcomes to long-term care and continued support for refugee families in all kinds of practical ways. For how to get involved in the refugee ministry, email Emily Dove at .
ESL (Manos)
Covenant, in partnership with Manos de Cristo, hosts ESL classes on our campus during each academic year. The classes serve populations from all over the world who come to the United States with a common goal: to flourish in their community. Daytime classes offer childcare. ESL is in need of a few more volunteers to help teach classes and to help with childcare. For more information about how to get involved, contact Jane Harris at .
Margin Institute
In 2021, Covenant’s Love Letter Fund gave it’s first grant to the Margin Institute, a non-profit that was created by Covenant members Dan Michel, Dan Pucci, and Matt McMichen. Margin Institute serves Texas communities that have limited options from the traditional financial system, by enabling individuals and entrepreneurs to take charge of their financial lives. They do this by providing low interest loans to those looking to start or expand a business who could not obtain a loan from another source. Margin is now a mission partner of Covenant with many opportunities to serve. They currently need volunteers to provide business coaching and support to their clients. To learn more, contact Dan Michel at .
Vecina
Vecina seeks to empower immigrant justice advocates by mentoring attorneys, educating communities, and mobilizing volunteers. Vecina identified needs for training and mentorship of volunteer attorneys who want to help with immigration and asylum advocacy but who do not possess the expertise to take cases on their own. It fills the gap by providing this service and often partners with other nonprofits that can identify cases of asylum seekers, refugees, and unaccompanied children who would benefit the most from representation. It is always looking for volunteer attorneys as well as other volunteers to help with administrative needs. To learn more, contact Michael Knisely at .
Meet Whitney
Need help finding more information about Covenant’s Mission Ministry? Contact Whitney Bell, Covenant’s Director of Mission.