Participants in all SIS programs are encouraged to perform service in the community in conjunction with IC partner, Ulisse Cultural Association. Service can range from 1-5 hours a week and opportunities are in a variety of different service sites. Summer offers some particular service opportunities. Students might set tables at the city soup kitchen, visit with the elderly at a nursing home, volunteer with city ambulance crews during the famous Palio horse race. Volunteering in the community is an unparalleled way to improve language skills, get involved in the local social fabric and make a genuine contribution to the host community.
With medieval roots, the Misericordia volunteer organization is unique to Italian and to Sienese culture and offers a number of services to the city of Siena. Among those, and the most popular among IC students, is the ambulance transport and emergency service. In fact, the Misericordia coordinates ambulance services thanks to the Italian and foreign volunteers who work on the ambulances. Students of the IC can obtain certifications of varying levels in order to volunteer on these ambulances thanks to a special agreement between the Misericordia, Ulisse, the IC and Siena Italian Studies. Once certified, students can volunteer at a minimum of 3 hours a week up to a maximum of 10 hours per week.
Coordinated by the Misericordia Organization, the city food bank is one of various programs offering assistance to the less fortunate. At the Bancarella, students serve alongside Italian volunteers to distribute canned goods and other non-perishable items to those in need in the community.
The Pubblica Assistenza of Siena is a local volunteer association, active since 1894, that aims exclusively at objectives regarding social, civil and cultural solidarity and depends on the work of its volunteers, employees, and conscientious objectors to fulfill its duties. Among its main activities are the services of medical transport by ambulance, social transport, hotline assistance, civil and environmental protection, international solidarity and recreational and sport activities. Students of the IC offer their services mainly in the administrative offices.
Il Laboratorio is fully operated by volunteers. This organization runs a center and provides daily activities and transportation for handicapped residents of all ages in Siena. Ulisse members can be involved in the daily workings of Il Laboratorio interacting with the participants and providing logistical assistance.
This organization in Siena is dedicated to helping immigrants assimilate more smoothly into life in Siena. This includes helping immigrants find employment, access healthcare, acquire language skills, as well as legal aid when necessary. Students can volunteer in the office and work directly with immigrants in need. Activities include internet research, translation, accompanying people to offices, interviews, appointments etc.
The soup kitchen is located at the Convent of San Girolamo and it provides a very important service to the city of Siena. The volunteers assist in distributing meals to Italians and immigrants in need. In the same structure there is also a center for the collection and distribution of donated clothing for the less fortunate. Student volunteers help the sisters both in the soup kitchen and at the clothing distribution center.
The Associazione per Diabetici is located at the Siena City Hospital "Le Scotte" and aims at promoting awareness of diabetes to facilitate early diagnosis and to maximize the treatments available. The association lends special attention to young diabetics and their families. It organizes conferences, courses and recreational events. Ulisse members have offered their services alongside doctors in caring for patients as well as in basic administrative duties.
This Sienese volunteer association aims to promote physical, educational-rehabilitational and social activities for the handicapped. The association founded the Centro Polifunzionale "Tosca delle Bollicine", where projects of equestrian rehabilitation, horticulture and gardening, work place training, educational activities and social initiatives and other projects aimed at improving the individual and social autonomy of the disabled. IC students have participated in the hippotherapy project, but helping to prepare children for riding, organizing activities, helping with horses (training/experience required to work directly with horses), and assisting with the maintenance and improvement of the center.
IC students can volunteer at the university hospital virology laboratories. Due to a lack of funding, many laboratories are short staffed so student volunteers help tag experiments, run test machines, sterilize equipment and generally assist the professionals.
Italy's elderly population is actually (2010) the highest in the world. Siena is no exception. The "Poggio al Vento" elderly center is home to more than 30 residents. Ulisse members can work with Italian volunteers to assist the elderly as well as organize activities and events.
Located in the medieval gardens "L'Orto De' Pecci" La Proposta operates in the field of social-therapeutic reintegration. The first steps were made with subjects who were mentally disabled, after which they also began working with people coming from local prisons or who had drug addiction problems. La Proposta manages a community garden as well as a restaurant, where Ulisse members can lend their services in both places alongside those who are working towards their reintegration into society.