Volunteering

Lifesharing, which is different from traditional shared living, simply means that people with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities live together in a mutually supportive way.  Cadmus households are led by single people or couples who make long-term commitments to lifesharing and may also include their children.  Lifesharing households often include one or more national or international volunteers who typically give one year of service to live within our Lifesharing households.  They get to know the individuals as family members and are trusted partners in giving support.  Our volunteers often say that they get more from living within our households than they give.

Volunteer applications are accepted year-round. Apply below!

Cadmus is also grateful to be a partner community with the Camphill Academy. Through the Camphill Academy, students can live and volunteer at Cadmus while studying at the nearby Camphill Academy campus in Copake, New York. Upon acceptance, students are offered a community fellowship award which grants the following:

  • Coverage of all program costs/fees

  • Free room & board

  • Life-needs stipend for incidental expenses not included in room and board

Excerpt from Lori Warner, a former Householder with Cadmus:

 What if … more is possible, more than providing a service or lifestyle for individuals with special needs? What if a calling of service could also be a model to facilitate our own inner work, serving the highest good not only of ourselves but also of Cadmus and that of our larger communities?  I have had qualities of my own, favorite and not so, mirrored back to me, had many kind and gentle reminders of where my own challenges or ‘special needs’ may get in the way, have been given the grace to make mistakes, space to learn and grow, and acceptance that allows for wanting to try harder. I know that what brings the greatest joy is most often invisible and our capacities for ‘knowing’ can be developed and broadened.  Each time I look anew, I see more of what makes us human, of what emerges in forms of intuition or imagination as our highest selves. If these life sharing experiences make me and each of my housemates a better person, global citizen, evolutionary being, and if we, in turn, affect each of our individual encounters and communities, what might be the rippling results?

Mealtimes are still a favorite for me.  Good food, prepared with love, eaten together in our entire splendor.  Each personality displayed authentically, contributing for better or worse.  Some of the funniest, most surprising and touching moments, not to mention soundtracks, have taken place around a large table.  Our first annual house trip to Florida was incredible, an epic journey that bound us together in a way that only being vulnerable and free together could do.  Co-creating in the garden, participating in the mysteries of nature, feeling the satisfaction of hard work and reaping the fruits and vegetables of our labor brings us full circle to the table.

True, life sharing can be hard; it’s exhausting, often requiring different boundaries of self.  At times, I’ve felt frustrated or inadequate.  Equally true, is that in nearly two years, I believe I’ve laughed every day, experienced love every day, been surprised every day.  I have never awakened to a feeling of dread or discontent. I experience less personal stress than when in so-called professional life; I am, overall, healthier than ever.  This must be contagious and personally it doesn’t matter who spreads what to whom.

What if…our differences were only that and not value judgments. What if the way we live our lives contributes positively to those we may never meet; what if by not deciding how it already is, we open possibilities for how it may be?   Now, imagine me twirling around, gesticulating grandly, extending an arm toward you…and pointing.  “GO!”