Get involved

Volunteer

As abortion access has been threatened, we've been inundated with support from our community, including hundreds of volunteer applications and inquiries. We are so grateful for this support, and it has put us in the lucky position of being fully staffed in many of our volunteer roles. That being said, we are always considering new ways to utilize volunteers and we know the work ahead will require many of us. Please consider the opportunities below, and keep in mind that NWAAF and other reproductive justice organizations, may not be able to get back to you in a timely manner and your patience and support mean the world to us.

If you're interested in volunteering with NWAAF to break down barriers to abortion access for people across the Northwest, please read through the information below and then fill out our volunteer interest form. Thank you for your support!

Opportunities:

• Providing rides: Can you drive folks to or from their appointments? Please consider that most of the need for rides is during the day on weekdays.
  • If you are in Oregon or southern Washington and are interested in giving rides, consider applying to volunteer with Cascades Abortion Support Collective, our awesome partner that provides all Oregon rides. Volunteers are welcome to work with both NWAAF and CASC.
• Providing homestays: Could you host people travelling for abortion care a couple of times a year? We are just beginning homestays again after pausing for the pandemic and we are prioritizing hosts with no-contact spaces like a mother-in-law or other private space with its own entrance and Spanish-speaking hosts.
• Case Management & Emotional Support: We run a helpline remotely that is entirely staffed by volunteers. There are primary volunteer roles on the helpline: practical support coordinators, who work directly with callers to provide them with travel, cash assistance, childcare, meals, etc., and funding advocates, who talk with callers to assess their needs and then send funding vouchers directly to clinics. If you want to work on the hotline, you don't have to decide for sure which role you'd like to do until part way through the training process. Additionally, the helpline also has an emotional support role that is staffed by trained abortion and full-spectrum doulas who provide emotional support and other doula services to our callers as needed. The helpline is currently fully staffed, please understand that if you fill out the volunteer form indicating helpline interest, you are effectively signing up for a waitlist with an indefinite response time and we will follow up when we have openings.
  • Fluent Spanish-speakers are still needed on the helpline and are especially encouraged to get involved!
• Other leadership opportunities: We are regularly look for volunteers to take on leadership roles helping with training our new volunteers, engaging with our callers and managing caller data, or overseeing the hotline volunteers on shift. While those roles are currently fully staffed, if you have any skill sets well suited to any of those roles and would like a mix of independent work and a couple of meetings each month, feel free to indicate that you're interested in leadership roles in your volunteer form and we will reach out when we do have openings.
• Fundraise on our behalf:  See more info below! Fundraising for NWAAF is one of the easiest ways to get involved, and it is truly what makes this work possible.
• Donate to NWAAF: If you are able, please consider setting up a monthly donation with NWAAF. This allows us to confidently plan and provide for our community long term. 
• Other Opportunities to Support and Uphold Reproductive Justice in the PNW:
  • Cascades Abortion Support Collective: We are partners with Cascades Abortion Support Collective for all Oregon rides and homestays. CASC can also use help with aftercare kits, fundraising etc. If you're in Oregon or Southern Washington, consider applying to volunteer with Cascades Abortion Support Collective.
  • Exhale Pro-Voice: Exhale operates a volunteer-staffed peer-support text line for folks to seek support around their abortion process. 
  • Surge Reproductive Justice: Surge is a Black-led organizing and advocacy org based in Seattle. 
  • Cedar River Clinics: These are some of the primary independent clinics we rely on in the Seattle area. They have a variety of volunteer opportunities and provide essential care. 
  • Legal Voice: A Seattle-based org that advocates for women and reproductive justice issues. You don't need a legal background to volunteer with them. 
  • Planned Parenthood: There are so many avenues here. Some clinics utilize clinic escort volunteers. Some areas have robust Planned Parenthood Advocates groups that do more community organizing and fundraising. Some locations have education teams that volunteers can also engage with. Planned Parenthood clinics and the advocacy side operate separately, and I'd recommend looking into the opportunities on both sides in your area. 
  • If/When/How and All Above All are other national groups we work with closely that do critical legal advocacy in the reproductive justice landscape. I know If/When/How will also be offering pro bono services to those seeking criminalization charges if/when that is a future issue. Totally worth looking into local opportunities. 
  • Abortion Story-telling: If you've had an abortion and would like to share your story (this can be largely anonymous or not), please submit your story here or check out We Testify's programs around story-telling. It's an instrumental way to fight stigma. 

It is helpful to note that NWAAF invests a few months into the vetting and training of each volunteer. Because of that investment, we ask that all volunteers make a good faith commitment to volunteer with us for at least two years.

Questions? Email us at info@nwaafund.org

Outside the Northwest, but still interested? Find your local fund!