1) You could always just go by a shelter and play with a dog/cat for an hour a week. Most require next to no training but some require references and everything. Some are truly horrible and others are beautiful. Shop around until you find one you like. 2) This is a horrible thing to admit, but I really could never deal directly with homeless people but I know they need any little bit of a help they can get. And I love cooking so for six months of the year I cook for a weekly meal program. It doesn't cost me much as I only buy the things I can't get from a food bank and it only takes a few hours. So I cook it up and drop it off. 3) As you like carpentry, perhaps the local Habitat for Humanity or similar outfit could use your skills? I would guess most volunteers there know dick all about it and if you could just focus on the teaching of skills and ignore the fact that they may be incompetent but good-hearted, it might be a fit for you..