For the Morning Program, we require that volunteers be at least 14 years old. Volunteers that are under 16 years old must come with a parent or guardian. Volunteers that are 16- 17 years old can volunteer by themselves, but must have a Parent Permission Form filled out. All volunteers 18 years old and over must complete a background check before volunteering, unless they are part of a group.

To protect our clients’ privacy, we ask that volunteers DO NOT take photos during their shift especially photos or videos that include clients. We are more than happy to take a photo of your group before or after your volunteer shift but not while serving clients. You can take photos of in-kind items you’re donating or pictures of bringing donations into our office so long as no clients are included in the photo. We strictly enforce our photo policy and will ask any photos we encounter that violate client privacy to be deleted and appreciate your support in keeping our community members privacy safe.

Unfortunately, all of our volunteer opportunities are Monday – Friday, 7:30 - 4:00 PM. If you would like to volunteer on the weekends to Thrive DC clients, there is another program called Loaves and Fishes that serves lunch on Saturdays and Sundays to our clients. Please contact their Volunteer Coordinator at (240)-855-5874 or denize@loavesandfishesdc.org.

Thrive DC cannot guarantee that you will have a parking space if you choose to drive. There should be ample street parking around our location, but space in our parking lot is extremely limited. Please note that if you do park in our lot, that our volunteers are only authorized to park in parallel spots and you should ask a staff member for a parking pass for your car.

We highly recommend that all of our volunteers take public transportation to our location. We are a short walk (5 – 8 minutes) from the Columbia Heights Metro stop, and the S1/S2 bus routes along 16th St stop directly in front of our building.

Yes! However, Thrive DC is not a good location to get a lot of hours quickly. Volunteers should not expect to volunteer more than 1 shift/week (4 hours). Please contact Vanessa, Volunteer and In-Kind Coordinator, at vanessa@thrivedc.org to get this squared away and make sure requirements are met.

Volunteers should wear comfortable clothing and closed toed shoes. Shirts must be “sleeved,” this can mean either long sleeves or short sleeves. Jackets, coats, scarves, backpacks, bags, purses, etc. should all be left in our secure office before your volunteer experience begins. There are storage cubes in our office (located next to the volunteer check in station) for each volunteer to store their items while they’re on the program floor. We encourage you to bring your own baseball cap or hat if possible. In addition, due to COVID-19, we have masks, gloves, and temperature checks in place for those who are still interested in volunteering during the pandemic.

Please do not bring anything to the program floor that you would be upset at losing. Thrive DC is not responsible for lost or stolen items.

Fully vaccinated means that you are up-to-date with all of the CDC recommended doses for the COVID-19 virus. This means the first two (2) initial doses (or one (1) if you received the J&J), in addition to any recommended boosters available at the time, which as of September 2022, is the Omicron Bi-valent booster, but as guidelines change, our policy will update.

For the continued health of everyone, if the Volunteer Coordinator does not have proof that you have been fully vaccinated, you MAY NOT volunteer.

According to CDC guidelines, if you have contracted the Covid-19 virus, it is recommended that you wait at least three (3) months from when your Covid symptoms started before obtaining a vaccine or any booster doses. If this is the case for you, please email the Volunteer Coordinator to discuss.

Thrive DC recommends that volunteers who have contracted Covid-19 email the Volunteer Coordinator as soon as they become aware of their situation. Please remain at home the entire duration of your illness. Please email the Volunteer Coordinator when you have recovered. We also recommend that you wait one to two weeks after you recover to sign up to volunteer again. Before volunteering, please email the Volunteer Coordinator a photo of your negative test results. Results can be from PCR or Rapid Tests.

Unfortunately not. Our policy was set in place to protect not only our clients who remain highly unvaccinated, but to protect our staff and volunteers alike. While Thrive DC respects every reason why someone remains unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated, we do enforce our policy regardless of the reason. The only exception is for the reason stated above