Everything you need to begin an application to HAVEN Free Clinic, from signing in to saving your progress and picking it back up.
Signing in to start
Every application begins at the applicant portal, apply.havenfreeclinic.org. When you arrive and are not signed in yet, you will see a welcome card that reads Apply to HAVEN Free Clinic with the message "Sign in to start a new application, pick up where you left off, or check your status."
There are two ways to sign in, and which one you use depends on whether you have a Yale account.
Choose how to sign in
If you have a Yale account, use Sign in with Yale. This takes you through Yale's standard single sign-on. You do not need to already be a HAVEN member; any Yale account can sign in and apply. If the Yale sign-in does not go through, you come back to the portal with the message "We couldn't sign you in with Yale. Please try again."
If you are not affiliated with Yale, look below the divider that reads "Not affiliated with Yale? Get a one-time link by email." and use the email form instead.
If you use email, request a link
In the Email field, type your address (for example, [email protected]), then click Email me a link. The button will read "Sending…" for a moment. If the address is not valid, you will see "Enter a valid email address."
When it works, the form is replaced by a green message: "Check your email for a link to your application. It expires in 30 minutes."
Open the link from your email
Open your inbox and click the link. It signs you into the portal after a quick confirmation. The link works only once and expires 30 minutes after it is sent.
Note
After you sign in with an email link, the portal keeps you signed in for 7 days, so you can come back without requesting a new link each time.
If something goes wrong with the email link
If your link has expired or was already used, opening it shows a page titled "This link is invalid or expired" with a Back to sign in button, so just request a fresh one there. When you open a valid link, a confirmation screen asks you to Continue as the address shown (or This isn't me if it is not yours). Links can only be used once and expire 30 minutes after they are sent.
Landing on your portal home
Once you are signed in, the portal greets you with Welcome back (and your first name if it is known) and the line "Track your applications, pick up a draft, or start something new."
You will see two areas:
Open applications lists every recruitment cycle that is currently accepting applications. Each one is a row with the cycle title and a Start application link. Click it to open that cycle's application. A cycle you have already applied to is not listed here again; it shows under Your applications instead. If you have an application in for every open cycle, this area says "You already have an application in for every open cycle."
Your applications appears once you have started or submitted something. Each application shows up here as its own card or as a Continue row for a saved draft.
Opening soon appears when a cycle has an opening date set in the future. Each row shows the cycle title and the date it opens. These are not links yet, because the form does not accept applications until that date.
Note
If you see a box that says "No applications are open right now," recruitment is simply between cycles. Recruitment opens each term. If the next cycle already has an opening date, it is listed under Opening soon; otherwise check back soon.
Note
If you volunteered with HAVEN before, the portal may recognize you and show a blue message such as "We found your record from {term} ({departments})." Apply with that same account, and your history reconnects automatically if you are accepted.
When you are finished, use the Sign out button in the top right. It signs you out completely and returns you to the signed-out portal.
What you need, and saving a draft
You do not need to have everything ready before you begin. The application saves your answers as you go, so you can start now and finish later.
Autosave. Every change you make is saved automatically a moment after you stop typing. A small status line shows "Saving…" and then "Saved." There is no save button to press.
Your draft waits for you. Come back any time through the portal. Your draft appears under Your applications as a Continue row. Click it to resume exactly where you left off, with your answers still filled in.
Uploaded files are remembered. When a step asks you to upload a file, it uploads right away (you will see "Uploading…" and then "Attached:" with the file name). Your files stay attached across saves and when you return, so you never have to re-pick them. Uploading a new file replaces the previous one.
Warning
In the normal case you can only continue a draft while its cycle is still open. If a cycle closes before you submit, that application shows "Applications closed" and the Continue link is removed, because a draft cannot be submitted to a closed cycle. Try to finish and submit before the cycle closes.
If you were sent an invitation link
Recruitment can invite one person to apply after a cycle has closed to everyone else, by emailing them a single-use link. If that is you, the closed-cycle rules above do not apply:
You can start and submit your application while the cycle is closed.
Your draft keeps its Continue link, and you can discard it and start over if you want to.
Your own link keeps working after you have used it, so you can come back over several sittings.
Your draft is not swept away with the abandoned ones, however long you take.
Note
The link is bound to whoever signs in with it first, so it is yours from that moment. If it stops working, ask whoever sent it: an invitation can be withdrawn, and it may simply have expired.
Opening a link to a specific application
Sometimes you will follow a direct link to a particular application rather than starting from the portal home. If you are not signed in yet, you will be sent to sign in first, and after you sign in (either way) you are taken right back to that same application.
A few things you might run into:
What you see | What it means |
Applications are closed | That cycle is not accepting submissions right now. It may reopen for the next cycle. |
Application submitted | You have already submitted for this cycle. You cannot reopen or resubmit, and the team will be in touch by email. |
Application withdrawn | You withdrew your application for this cycle. It cannot be reopened from the portal; use the support link on that page if you change your mind. |
Once you are in, your application opens as a guided, step-by-step form. See The application wizard for how to fill it out and submit, and Checking your status for what happens after you apply.