shine counseling
Volunteer Opportunities
Like to help people? Do you like technical information? Have some spare time? If so you may be the perfect SHINE volunteer.
SHINE is one of the only resources that provides free, objective, accurate information to Medicare beneficiaries. If you choose to join us we are sure that you will find SHINE a rewarding, as well as a challenging volunteer experience.
We are very grateful to our volunteers. Without volunteers SHINE would not be able to help the many Medicare beneficiaries in the 63 cities and towns in Central Massachusetts.
SHINE Volunteer Functions
- Provide information, counseling and assistance in person or on the phone
- Assist Medicare beneficiaries by answering state and federal forms questions
- Provide public presentations
- Distribute educational and promotional materials in your community
- Educate the community about the program
- Recruit additional volunteers
The Path of being a SHINE Counselor
To volunteer the interested person must participate in an 8-10 full day training. During this training you will learn the essentials of Medicare, MassHealth and other state and federal programs. In order to become a state certified SHINE counselor you will be required to successfully complete training and pass a state certification test composed of 100 questions. We will then arrange for mentoring with an experienced counselor, so you are fully trained before public counseling on Medicare benefits. Additionally, we require all new counselors be able to use email as well as to be flexible on where they serve in their assignment. To meet the needs of our communities you may be asked to serve in different outreach sites or in an area other than where you live.
Please be aware that we are required to do a federal background check (CORI) on all individuals who wish to volunteer.
If you would like more information please contact us at 800-243-4636, option 4.