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Volunteer
Silver Spring, MD

Volunteer opportunities

Thank you for your interest in welcoming refugees to your community. By volunteering with the IRC in Silver Spring, MD, you use your skills to help people who have fled violence and persecution to rebuild their lives in America. See below for the latest volunteer opportunities and how to apply.

Last updated 

Current opportunities

Silver Spring, MD

Youth Coach

Start date: Ongoing

Youth Coaches will work 1-1 with youth ages 15-24 to navigate academic and career-related interests, while developing a greater sense of belonging in their new communities.
Silver Spring, MD

Family Mentor

Start date: Ongoing

Work directly with a refugee family or individual to ease their transition to the Washington, DC Metro area and the United States.
Silver Spring, MD

Housing Set-up Volunteer

Start date: Ongoing

Help our Logistics Specialist prepare for a family to arrive by setting up their apartment.
Silver Spring, MD

Refugee Welcome Home Project Volunteer

Start date: Ongoing

Lead an effort to fully furnish and set-up a home for a refugee family arriving to Maryland.
Silver Spring, MD

Intern

Start date: Ongoing

Internships give you the chance to get deeply involved in refugee resettlement work. Interns play a pivotal role in supporting locally resettled refugees and leave their internships having built professional exprience preparing them for a career in a nonprofit.

How to become an IRC volunteer

Update 3/18/2020: In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the IRC has suspended all on-site volunteer and intern activities at the IRC office and in client homes effective 5pm on Friday March 13 to Friday April 3. Until further notice, all volunteer orientations and trainings will be held remotely. Interested volunteers are welcome to initiate the volunteer onboarding process so that, when normal operations resume, they will be prepared to begin volunteering. 

The IRC is exploring remote volunteer opportunities and will provide more detail as soon as possible. Please email [email protected] with any questions. 

Volunteer process

  1. Fill out this form to attend a volunteer orientation. You will receive a reminder the week of your scheduled orientation. All orientations take place at our office, located at: 8719 Colesville Road, 3rd Floor, Silver Spring, MD 20910. 

    Update 3/18/2020: In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, until further notice, all volunteer orientations and trainings will be held remotely.  

  2. After attending a volunteer orientation, you will receive an email from the Volunteer Coordinator with instructions for how to get involved in each volunteer opportunity including completing a background check. To protect our clients, we require background checks for all volunteers, and we ask volunteers to make a $30 donation to cover associated costs. Currently, 87% of our funding goes directly to our clients, and your help to cover this cost allows us to continue providing the best service possible.

Additional things to note

Most volunteer opportunities require volunteers to be 18 years or older and complete a background check.  

Please email [email protected] with any questions.