Local Community Organizations
Use this page to discover organizations in the Tacoma area and find possible service oriented opportunities. You can also click the buttons on the right to learn more about Community-Based learning (CBL) at Puget Sound or schedule a First Steps meeting to begin your journey!
ADVOCATES FOR IMMIGRANTS IN DETENTION NORTHWEST
Advocates for Immigrants in Detention Northwest supports immigrants in detention and when released through welcoming services focused on transitional support and connection to vital resources for resettlement.
We believe in Alchemy; the melding of science and magic. Our mission: Providing opportunities for youth to learn and grow through skateboarding.
The mission of the American Cancer Society is to improve the lives of people with cancer and their families through advocacy, research, and patient support, to ensure everyone has an opportunity to prevent, detect, treat, and survive cancer.
Big Brothers Big Sisters Puget Sound
We believe that all youth should have the opportunity to succeed in life and live up to their full potential. Some kids need someone to help them along that path.
The Boys and Girls Club of Tacoma is committed to enriching the lives of youth in the South Sound area. With every volunteer comes the chance for our kids to gain a different perspective.
We inspire and enable youth of all backgrounds and abilities to discover their spark, value the natural world, and become tomorrow’s leaders, today.
We are 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.
We truly believe in honoring children and championing play. This is the heart of our mission and is what has led us to create many more offerings and programs that expand our reach beyond just our four walls.
We make a point of getting on the ground and out on the water to research the best solutions for Commencement Bay’s most pressing environmental needs.
Internships are about your learning and advancing your professional goals. City of Lakewood interns develop career direction, gain practical knowledge, and earn real opportunities to make a positive difference in Lakewood.
City of Tacoma–Environmental Services
Make a big ripple in Tacoma's clean water and natural beauty by joining us as a volunteer. As an individual or as part of community groups, you are part of the solution to protecting Tacoma's environment.
Volunteers are essential to our work at Communities In Schools of Tacoma. We could not reach as many families and students as we do without dedicated mentors, tutors, reading buddies, and teachers. “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”
We prepare diverse, homegrown leaders to succeed in college and career in order to build more vibrant and equitable communities.
Downtown On the Go’s purpose is to be the transportation advocate for anyone whose daily life is downtown.
Emergency Food Network - Mother Earth Farm and more!
Our mission is to provide Pierce County with a consistent, diverse and nutritious food supply so that no person goes hungry.
The mission of the Fife Historical Society is to ensure that the history of Fife and the surrounding area is kept alive and made accessible for present and future generations.
Parents and educators, early learning and higher education, business and labor, youth and community service, civic and philanthropy, local government and communities of faith, all aligning our work together with Tacoma schools to impact student success.
We create parks and protect land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come.
Greentrike is a nonprofit that advocates for and models equitable access to playful experiences for children, youth, and families — because play is essential for learning, joy, and a thriving community.
Our vision is to be a premier South Sound resource and destination that is recognized as the community memory bank, preserving and sharing our regional heritage and its connections to the world.
Highline Historical Society–Highline Heritage Museum
The Highline Heritage Museum is operated by a corps of professionals and civic volunteers who lend their talents to help us run an effective and fun Heritage Museum.
Our mission: using glass art to connect young people from diverse cultural and economic backgrounds to better futures.
Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group
Our mission is to ensure that wild salmon are once again abundant in the Pacific Northwest.
Since 1895, HopeSparks has been providing behavioral health, family services, and basic needs to children and families in Tacoma and Pierce County.
Operation Wildlife brings injured and retiring active military personnel together with college students and professional biologists to conserve endangered species, restore rare habitats, and conduct ecological research.
Lakewold Gardens provides intentional encounters with the life-changing power of nature, fostering peace, creativity and healing in our communities.
We guarantee an unforgettable experience. With so many vehicles under one roof, we have something everyone will get excited about.
We have a number of other volunteer opportunities, including: working with the museum library and archives; assisting the Friends of the Fort Lewis Military Museum in the Cannon Shop gift shop; and helping out with special events.
Lutheran Community Services Northwest
Lutheran Community Services Northwest partners with individuals, families and communities for health, justice and hope.
Metro Parks Tacoma is a CAPRA-accredited, independent park district that leads efforts to build a healthy, sustainable community.
Multicare–Healthcare Philanthropy
As a nonprofit health care system, MultiCare’s mission is powered by generosity. Donors and volunteers help build healthier communities by supporting exceptional and more accessible health care.
Multicultural Child & Family Hope Center
Our mission is to provide culturally relevant support services to children and families through daycare, ECEAP, and DSHS contracted services.
The mission of Museum of Glass is to ignite creativity, fuel discovery, and enrich lives through glass and glassmaking.
The Society's mission is: We will cure MS while empowering people affected by MS to live their best lives.
Our mission is to protect and steward lands to permanently benefit the water, fish, wildlife, and people of the Nisqually River Watershed.
Nisqually Living History Museum
Most volunteers are dedicated interpreters who bring to life the people of the 1850s. It’s not simply a matter of putting on a costume. You get to learn period skills, such as using a blacksmith’s forge or cooking on a wood stove.
Northwest Immigrant Rights Project
Northwest Immigrant Rights Project promotes justice by defending and advancing the rights of immigrants through direct legal services, systemic advocacy, and community education.
Northwest Spay and Neuter Center
You can help us achieve our mission to promote and provide affordable, high-quality spay and neuter services for cats and dogs in an effort to stop the killing of animals due to overpopulation.
To provide nutritious food and support services to people in need with compassion, dignity and respect.
In order to be impactful, the environment needs large scale and far reaching solutions. It is you who amplifies our solutions so that they make and impact that matters.
Pierce County Assigned Counsels
Come share your expertise by serving on one of our volunteer boards, volunteering for an event, or simply learn about how you can support your local government and your community.
Through education, advocacy, and celebration, Rainbow Center expands resources and safe space for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, two-spirit, and allied (LGBTQ2SA) community.
Reach Ministries is committed to helping HIV-positive children, families, and adults throughout the Pacific Northwest flourish with dignity and self-worth in the face of persistent rejection and isolation. Discover how you can make a difference!
Rebuilding Together South Sound
We envision safe homes and communities for everyone. To make this a reality, we are repairing homes, revitalizing communities and rebuilding lives.
We connect neighbors with each other through neighborhood groups, facilitate after-school programs across Pierce County, and provide the resources people need to get organized and address problems impacting their environment.
Our mission is to foster confident, community-oriented youth through the power of carpentry and craft.
We believe in creating and sustaining a community devoted to salmon recovery through collaboration, engagement, education, and celebration.
Spaceworks makes Tacoma culturally vibrant and economically strong through training and support for artists and creative entrepreneurs.
Our mission and belief is that God, out of love for us, has created a world in which there is enough food for everyone, if only we are willing to share.
Tacoma Arts Live is recognized for our leadership in presenting world-class performing artists, providing nationally recognized performing arts access and education programs in Washington State. Whether your passion is for the performing arts, education, community outreach or administrative support, your energy and time is needed.
Tacoma Art Museum transforms our communities by sharing art that inspires broader perspectives and cultivates a compassionate future.
Tacoma Community House creates opportunities for immigrants and other community members in the Puget Sound region through comprehensive services focused on self-sufficiency, inclusion, and advocacy.
It's our mission to collect, document, and share the unique history of Tacoma, Washington, and our passion to share it with you.
Through community partnerships, advocacy, and regard for the whole person, Neighborhood Clinic will be there for those who cannot afford or access health care while we partner to improve the health care system so that it meets the needs of all people.
Tacoma Pierce County Habitat for Humanity
For more than 30 years, Tacoma/Pierce County Habitat for Humanity has provided affordable homeownership opportunities to modest-income families and worked toward our goal of eliminating substandard housing in our region.
Dedicated volunteers can mentor and inspire students and provide new opportunities beyond what schools can.
We empower our community by bringing people together to discover, connect, create, learn, and thrive.
Our mission: To offer God’s help, hope and healing to the most impoverished members of our community.
TeenTix builds a bright future for our region by empowering young people to take an active role in shaping their arts community as audience members, critics, influencers, advocates, patrons, and leaders.
The Grand Cinema enriches lives and enhances the cultural vitality of the Greater Tacoma community through the art of film.
The Humane Society for Tacoma and Pierce County
Advancing the welfare of animals and promoting positive relationships between animals and people.
The Making a Difference Foundation
Making A Difference Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization with the mission to make a difference in the lives of others, one person at a time, by helping them acquire the most basic needs: food, housing, encouragement, and opportunity.
The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church. Its message is based on the Bible. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.
We mobilize and unite the caring power of Pierce County to tackle our community’s toughest challenges to improve lives in measurable and lasting ways.