Thank you for your interest in volunteering at Northwest Center. You can make a real difference in the life of someone with a disability by donating the gift of time.

We offer our volunteers meaningful projects that support our mission and services. As a small token of our appreciation, you will also receive our agency newsletters and the knowledge that you have helped to expand dignity, choice, opportunity, and independence for people with disabilities!

Some of the volunteer positions at Northwest Center require a background check and completion of an application form. Please refer to specific positions below for requirements.

Current Volunteer Opportunities

Northwest Center Kids
To volunteer at Northwest Center Kids, please call 206-286-2322.

Adult Programs
To volunteer with Northwest Center’s Adult Services, please fill out the application and someone will contact you about a background check. If you have any questions, please contact Erika Van Merr at 206-378-6389.

• Work Training Volunteer: Volunteers will train people with developmental disabilities how to perform specific work one step at a time. When adults with disabilities make the choice to seek employment, Northwest Center is here to support them along their path. We offer a wide range of employment options that are tailored to clients and their individual needs--with the ultimate goal of preparing them for competitive work in the community and reaching their desired level of independence. By building new skills, earning income, contributing to local businesses and pursuing personal goals, hundreds of people helped by Northwest Center are leading full and satisfying lives. Must be able to make a 6 month commitment. Must be fluent in English, have good communication skills, be reliable, patient, have a desire to learn and teach, be flexible, have excellent safety awareness, be able to stand and move around for entire shift and follow instructions.

The Big Blue Truck™
To support the efforts of Northwest Center’s Big Blue Truck™ donation program, please contact Denise Small at 206-378-2588.

• Host a clothing drive: One of the ways you can support us is to host a clothing drive. It’s free and easy. It’s also the most efficient way for us to collect donations, raise money for our programs and keep reusable clothing and other items out of our landfills. You can host a drive with your friends, family, co-workers, neighborhoods, religious groups or schools. Clothing drives are great for building morale and spirit among employees and communities. Let us know you're interested and we'll take care of the details!
  
  
• Neighborhood flier distribution: We have 20 donation stations in the community where people can drop off their donations. A lot of people don't know that we are in their community so we are distributing fliers to local businesses, community centers and residences with the location of the nearest truck. We need volunteers to walk around the communities where we have trucks and ask neighborhood businesses if you can put fliers up on their community boards or in the windows. In some cases, we also have fliers to be left at people's homes telling them where the local donation truck is located.

Community Relations
To volunteer with Northwest Center’s Community Relations Department, please fill out the application and someone will contact you about a background check. If you have any questions please contact Erika Van Merr at 206-378-6389.

• Donor Recognition and Fundraising Support: Assist the development department with tasks relating to acknowledging and thanking donors for their gifts of time, talent or cash. We also periodically need assistance with bulk mailings such as newsletters, appeals and invitations. This is an excellent opportunity if you're unable to make a regular time commitment.
  
  
• Special Event Support: Volunteers are vital to making our fundraising and awareness events a success. Whether it is before, during or after the event, there are many ways to participate. We need people to distribute invitations, solicit in-kind donations, organize RSVP's, register guests at the event, set up the room and send post-event acknowledgements. Check out our upcoming events!
  
  
• SEO Specialist: Northwest Center is seeking a volunteer with strong Search Engine Optimization skills.  Our team is interested in building the search engine presence of the Northwest Center website, along with the websites of 12 subsidiary businesses that support our mission.  The SEO volunteer could analyze the strengths and weaknesses of each site, make recommendations to improve search engine rankings and track the results.  The volunteer could also train our web team on current techniques and implementation of best practices.  We’re looking for simple (but effective) methods of bringing more users to our sites—and ultimately, to Northwest Center.