Select from the following categories to learn more about specific types of volunteer opportunities:
- Camps
- International & Long-Term Service Learning
- Local Hospitals & Clinical Environments
- Non-Profit Organizations
- Virtual/Remote Volunteer Opportunities
- Volunteering in Tacoma
Virtual/Remote Volunteer Opportunities
- 7 Cups (online volunteer community for those in need of emotional support)
- All for Good: (search for volunteer opportunities (of any kind) in a specific geographic area)
- Amnesty International (research and expose human rights violations)
- Big & Mini (focus is on ending the feeling of social isolation by connecting people from older and younger generations through phone or video calls)
- Brighten A Day: (virtually support, encourage, and provide joy to isolated senior citizens)
- Center for Suicide Awareness (virtual and in-person opportunities may be available dependent on location)Conversations to Remember (dedicate time to hourly chats with residents of assisted living or memory care facilities to reduce loneliness and feelings of isolation)
- Child Family Health International (global health remote volunteer opportunities)
- Crisis Text Line (requires 30 hours of training)
- Digital Smithsonian Museum Volunteers
- Dream Catchers Kindness & Compassion Initiative (remote opportunity to provide companionship to isolated elderly people)
- Free for the Frontline Tutors (provides free online tutoring support to children of frontline workers who have been personally impacted by COVID-19)
- 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)
- Lutheran Community Services: Senior Friends (volunteer to support lonely/socially-isolated seniors in communities throughout Washington, Idaho, and Oregon)
- Missing Maps: (volunteers map small villages/rural populations that are missing from current maps used in relief efforts)
- NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness (provide virtual support for those navigating mental illness)
- National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA)
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
- Operation Paws for Homes (virtual volunteers needed for screening dog adoption applications, time commitment is 1-2 hours/week)
- Paper Airplanes (provide online-tutoring for conflict affected individuals)
- RAINN: Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (requires 30 hours of training)
- Reading Partners (help tutor young students in their reading comprehension and skills, remote & in-person opportunites)
- St. Peter's Hospice Care Inc. (support hospice patients through letters or phone calls)
- The Steve Fund (crisis support for People of Color)
- The Trevor Project (crisis hotline that supports LGBTQ youth)
- Trans Advocacy and Care Team (community of support for trans and nonbinary individuals)
- Trans Lifeline (crisis support for Transgender and Non-binary persons, virtual and in-person opportunities may be available)
- Translators Without Borders (for students fluent in multiple languages)
- UPchieve (online tutoring for disadvantaged students)
- Zooniverse (people-powered research program)
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 is a sampling of locations where Puget Sound pre-health students and graduates have volunteered. *Some locations may have ongoing restrictions or limitations on in-person volunteers due to COVID-19 protocol. For information about paid clinical experiences, visit the HPA Paid Clinical Experiences page.
- COPE Health Scholars: Includes Tacoma General Hospital and Allenmore Hospital
- Kaiser Permanente: Includes Tacoma Medical Center and Tacoma South Medical Center
- Lahai Health: Low-income, comprehensive, primary-care clinic serving the greater Seattle area
- Multicare: Includes Tacoma General Hospital, Allenmoore Hospital, and Mary Bridge Children's Hospital
- Tacoma Neighborhood Clinic: Supports those who are uninsured and under-insured in Tacoma
- Virginia Mason Franciscan Health: Includes St. Joseph Medical Center, Franciscan Hospice and Palliative Care, St. Clare Hospital, and St. Francis Hospital
Non-Profit Organizations
- Abused Deaf Women's Advocacy Services (located in Seattle, WA)
- 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)
- Catherine Place (located in Tacoma, Catherine Place is committed to addressing the particular needs of women who are materially poor, in transition, or facing the daily challenges associated with poverty, loss, violence, immigration and illness)
- 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)
- Raising Girls (provides necessary hygiene products to girls in Western Washington, and partners with local organizations committed to serving youth)
- Tacoma Rescue Mission
- Tahoma Audubon Society
- Sexual Assault Center of Pierce County
- United Way (explore local non-profits seeking volunteers)
- Wild Grief (facilitates peer groups for children and adults who are grieving a death by creating the space for sharing, connection, and healing in nature)
Camps
- American Diabetes Association Camp Sealth
- Camp Agape Northwest
- Camp Side-By-Side
- Easterseals Camp Stand by Me
- Muscular Dystrophy Association Summer Camp
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.
- 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
- Unite for Sight: Global Impact Corps
- World Teach
Volunteering in Tacoma
To find additional service-learning opportunities in Tacoma, contact the Office of Civic Engagement & Leadership in Wheelock 203, by calling 253.879.2751 or visit the website.
