- Virtual/Remote Volunteer Opportunities
- Local Hospitals & Clinical Environments
- Non-Profit Organizations
- Camps
- International & Long-Term Service Learning
- Volunteering in Tacoma
Virtual/Remote Volunteer Opportunities
As many organizations continue to impose restrictions on in-person volunteers due to COVID-19 related protocol, pre-health students are encouraged to explore virtual/remote volunteer opportunities.
- Reading Partners (help tutor young students in their reading comprehension and skills, remote & in-person opportunites)
- Dream Catchers Kindness & Compassion Initiative (remote opportunity to provide companionship to isolated elderly people)
- The Trevor Project (crisis hotline that supports LGBTQ youth)
- St. Peter's Hospice Care Inc. (support hospice patients through letters or phone calls)
- Operation Paws for Homes (virtual volunteers needed for screening dog adoption applications, time commitment is 1-2 hours/week)
- Big & Mini (focus is on ending the feeling of social isolation by connecting people from older and younger generations through phone or video calls)
- Lutheran Community Services: Senior Friends (volunteer to support lonely/socially-isolated seniors in communities throughout Washington, Idaho, and Oregon)
- Learning Ally ("brings books to life" for dyslexic, blind, and visually impaired students to help them succeed in school, and are currently recruiting volunteers to be "authentic voice narrators" in culturally-diverse stories. They are also currently looking for fluent Spanish-speakers to narrate Spanish language textbooks)
- Missing Maps: (volunteers map small villages/rural populations that are missing from current maps used in relief efforts)
- RAINN: Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (requires 30 hours of training)
- Brighten A Day: (virtually support, encourage, and provide joy to isolated senior citizens)
- All for Good: (search for volunteer opportunities (of any kind) in a specific geographic area)
- Child Family Health International (global health remote volunteer opportunities)
- Digital Smithsonian Museum Volunteers
- UPchieve (online tutoring for disadvantaged students)
- Amnesty International (research and expose human rights violations)
- Zooniverse (people-powered research program)
- Crisis Text Line (requires 30 hours of training)
- Translators Without Borders (for students fluent in multiple languages)
- Paper Airplanes (provide online-tutoring for conflict affected individuals)
Local Hospitals and Clinical Environments
Local hospitals and other health-related organizations offer a variety of training programs and volunteer opportunities where you can serve in a clinical setting. Below are a few locations where Puget Sound pre-health students and graduates have volunteered. *Some locations may have restrictions on in-person volunteers due to COVID-19 protocol.
- Multicare: Includes Tacoma General Hospital, Allenmoore Hospital, and Mary Bridge Children's Hospital
- Virginia Mason Franciscan Health: Includes St. Joseph Medical Center, Franciscan Hospice and Palliative Care, St. Clare Hospital, and St. Francis Hospital
- Kaiser Permanente: Includes Tacoma Medical Center and Tacoma South Medical Center
- Tacoma Neighborhood Clinic
Non-Profit Organizations
- American Cancer Society (Cancer Resource Centers)
- American Heart Association
- American Red Cross
- Associated Ministries, Benefits Access Department( support essential services for people experiencing homelessness or financial difficulty in Tacoma, in-person experience)
- CASA Association of Washington (support an abused or neglected child through the process of getting into a safe home, 30+ hours of pre-service training required)
- HealthPoint
- Easterseals Washington
- Feeding America (locate a local food pantry, soup kitchen or homeless shelter seeking volunteers)
- Frank Tobey Jones (retirement & assisted living home in Tacoma)
- L'Arche Tacoma Hope
- Mother Earth Farm (assist with harvest efforts at the Puyallup, WA farm location, which is then distributed to Pierce County food pantries and meal sites)
- Northwest Spay & Neuter Center
- Northwest Trek Wildlife Park (volunteers support wildlife education and wildlife conservation programs)
- Nourish Pierce County: Food Banks for Healthier Futures
- Pierce County AIDS Foundation
- Pierce County Humane Society
- Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium (volunteers serve roles as a guest experience interpreter--educating zoo guests about animals and conservation, or a zoo greeter--welcoming guests, providing directions, and answering questions, in-person experience)
- Providence Hospice
- Rainbow Housing Assistance Corporation (provides service-enriched housing programs for those in rental housing communities in Tacoma)
- Tacoma Rescue Mission
- Tahoma Audubon Society
- Sexual Assault Center of Pierce County
- United Way (explore local non-profits seeking volunteers)
Camps
- Easterseals Camp Stand by Me
- Muscular Dystrophy Association Summer Camp
- American Diabetes Association Camp Sealth
- Camp Agape Northwest
- Camp Side-By-Side
International and Long-Term Service Learning
For students looking for international and/or long-term service learning experiences, the following organizations may be of interest. Many of these organizations work in areas that have a great need for health care and other basic needs and welcome volunteers and teachers. *Some programs have been put on hiatus due to the pandemic, or have shifted opportunities to a virtual format.
- Americorps
- Child Family Health International
- Cross-Cultural Solutions
- Doctors Without Borders
- Global Service Corps
- International Medical Volunteers Association
- International Service Learning
- International Missions
- Peace Corps
- Teach for America
- World Teach
Volunteering in Tacoma
To find additional service-learning opportunities in Tacoma, contact the Center for Intercultural and Civic Engagement on campus at 253.879.2751 or visit the CICE website.
