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Ways to Volunteer

Khidmat (Work Study) or Work Exchange

Your room and board are provided in exchange for your work commitment.  In the Khidmat program, khadims devote 10 hours per week to spiritual studies under the guidance of a mentor. They offer 25 hours of work and three hours of kitchen karma yoga per week. We also have a mandatory Community Work morning each month. In the Work Exchange program (Hands and Heart), the applicant offers 30 hours of work and three hours of kitchen karma yoga per week as well as a mandatory Community Work morning each month.  

Concentrations:

Concentrations are areas of work. Each volunteer works in one or more areas of concentration, depending on their interests and the needs of the community.

Areas of concentration include:

• Mountain work (forestry, beautification, trail maintenance, landscaping, environmental artwork, carpentry, etc.).
• Maintenance (plumbing, carpentry, restoration, maintenance of buildings).
• Housekeeping:  For those to whom “cleanliness is godliness,” and who wish to enjoy the meditative aspects of sweeping, scrubbing and vacuuming. 
• Farm
• Office work (Programs, front desk, graphic art, video, marketing)
• Kitchen (Cleaning, cooking, baking)
• Food preservation
• Herb garden

Karma Yoga

Karma Yoga is “the path of selfless action and selfless service”.  Work service is expected of all residents and volunteers. Most karma yoga shifts consist of clean-up or cooking for a total of three hours per week.  

Work Day  

Work Day is an opportunity to work collaboratively with other community members on a community-improvement project. The project depends on the current needs of the community.  You may be harvesting crops on the farm, working on a maintenance project, preparing the Mountain Retreat Center, weather-proofing a building, or setting up solar panels in the greenhouse. Community members gather together for breakfast and work from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30.  Then we share a hearty organic lunch together to close the work day.

What are sleeping accommodations like?

Short-term volunteers sleep in same-sex dorms which hold six beds each. Long-term volunteers have private rooms on the same floor. All volunteers share common spaces such as bathrooms and showers.

What is the food like?

Volunteers enjoy organic homemade meals, with vegetarian and vegan options. Most of our vegetables are harvested on our own farm in season.

Khidmat

Khidmat is the Abode’s work-study program. The Khadim (Khidmat volunteer) chooses a mentor from among several Sufi teachers residing at the Abode. During weekly meetings, the mentor helps the Khadim to design a program of readings and spiritual practices. Khidmat participants meet together with a program coordinator once a week to share their experiences and explore questions that may arise during the course of their studies.

Testimonials:

“It was a good balance between spirituality and work.  At night, you go very deeply into yourself, and in the morning, you come out of it, work and think about what you’ve discovered.” – Olivia Zabrowski, Concord, Massachusetts

“The program is very valuable. You have a lot of time and space to do your inner work, and you get to go to classes and retreats for free. All of this is within a kind-hearted community that becomes a supportive atmosphere for one’s spiritual and personal growth.” – Fazilee Buechel, Portland, Oregon  

“The supervisors were very kind people, always open to questions. They had very interesting stories. I enjoyed hearing their stories while planting herbs or doing landscaping in the garden.” – Nicko Winner-Arroyo, Willimantic, Connecticut 

We try to match applicants’ interests and work opportunities.  Assignments may shift from week to week, depending on what is required. Apply online.
 

A group of volunteers who cooked and cleaned for a Suluk Academy graduation
Photo credit: Jane Feldman