VOLUNTEER

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Want to Volunteer with Tharros Place?

Volunteering at Tharros Place is an extraordinary opportunity to actively contribute to your local community while providing crucial support to survivors of human trafficking. Our volunteers are the backbone of our organization, playing a pivotal role in our mission to create a safer and more supportive environment for survivors.

Whether you're passionate about direct support work, advocacy, event planning, or administrative tasks, there's a place for you at Tharros Place. By volunteering with us, you'll not only make a tangible difference in the lives of survivors but also gain valuable experience, build meaningful connections, and join a dedicated community committed to ending human trafficking.

Ready to make a difference? Contact us below for volunteering opportunities and join us in making a positive impact with Tharros Place!

To inquire about volunteering opportunities with Tharros Place, please reach out to:

- Gabriella Marvaldi, Development Manager
[email protected]

Q&A with Volunteer Kim Wade

Held in April every year, National Volunteer Month is a time to celebrate and recognize the contributions of volunteers and encourage more people to get involved in their communities.

In 2023, 378 volunteers donated $48,504 worth of hours to Tharros Place. We are grateful for the service of our community of volunteers, who are the backbone of our organization and play a pivotal role in our mission to create a safer and more supportive environment for survivors.

We recently caught up with Kim Wade, who was recently recognized for her contributions to Tharros Place at our Spring Stakeholder Meeting, and asked her a few questions about her volunteer work.

How did you find out about Tharros Place?

Wade: An acquaintance who is involved with a lot of nonprofits in Savannah mentioned Julie Wade was looking for volunteers to help her team with their new facility for Tharros Place. I looked up Tharros Place online and read about their mission and knew I wanted to find a way to volunteer with them. With the help of a friend, we connected and the team at Tharros Place started putting together regular volunteer opportunities for groups and it just took off from there. We started telling friends and they started telling friends or their church groups or co-workers and before long, there was an active group of volunteers coming out to Tharros Place determined to help as much as possible.

Why did you want to get involved?

Wade: Last summer when we first heard about Tharros Place, I was having kind of a sad time in my life with a sick family member and knew I needed to find a positive outlet instead of sitting around the house, looking at my phone, and trying to guess what would happen next. I had volunteered with other groups in the community before and knew that finding a place to give my time could be that positive outlet I needed. Over the years, I've learned volunteering gives me that space to do something good for others in need and always leaves me with a feeling that I did something positive and meaningful. It makes me feel like other things in my life are possible and that the bad days will eventually turn to good days. When I heard about the mission of Tharros Place to provide a safe place for these young victims, it just seemed like the perfect outlet for me to find a way to help with something much bigger than me and my problems. And hopefully do some good.

What kinds of things did you do?

Wade: Once we signed up to volunteer with Tharros, I had the opportunity to spend several Saturday mornings over the summer, with mostly women volunteers, to come into the Tharros Place facility and help start the process of turning the old building into a sanctuary for their planned residents. Each time we came out, Julie and her team gave us a list of things to do from yard work, ripping up old flooring, painting, cleaning, putting together furniture, removing hardware from the walls, washing windows. I can't even remember what all we did over the summer—the tasks seemed to scratch the surface at first, but each time we came out, you could see the progress the other volunteer groups were doing as well and it made you realize how many people in the community were coming out to pitch in. I felt connected to something much bigger. It was incredible to watch. The manual work was like therapy for me. I was able to come in, get to work, make new friends, smile and laugh, help a great mission, and walk away feeling like I did something really good for a future resident that desperately needed Tharros Place to open its doors. Knowing we were all working together to help provide that sanctuary for those girls is almost indescribable. We all had our own experiences and things going on in our personal lives, but we were able to leave all of that at the door and come in as a united team working to help create a space for the pending residents. It makes you feel good to help out with something that is truly a remarkable facility for our community. And it's also empowering to sweat and do hard work with other people who are all working for the same goal—get Tharros Place up and running so their residents have a place to live, be safe, be taken care of, be educated, and just get to do the things that a typical young girl should be able to do.

What surprised you as you worked? What did you learn?

Wade: I learned a lot about the shocking statistics related to the sex trafficking of minors in our state and community. I had never really considered what happens to these victims once they are located and removed from these horrific situations. It never occurred to me that they may not have a safe place to go or a trusted family member to take them in. I also learned that despite feeling busy all the time with work and my personal life, it was easier than I thought it would be to create space in my schedule to help in my community and connect with others in such a positive and empowering mission. I'd walk away each time with such a positive feeling and the new friends I'd met that day. As we would work during those volunteer mornings, I would get to talking to other volunteers and learn most of us are going through or have been through hard times in our lives and getting to help a mission that works to protect some of the most vulnerable victims in our community helped put our own lives and troubles into perspective and gave us an outlet to do something good for others in need. It feels good to do good. And the connections we've all made along the way will last a lifetime.

What would you tell people about Tharros Place?

Wade: Look them up. Look at their mission. Look at their research. Look at what they have already accomplished. Once you start hearing about Tharros Place, it's hard to ignore the need. You may not have money to give, but chances are you have time you could give. Or you know someone who has time to give, so pass on the information to them. Everyone at Tharros Place is amazing. They make you feel like anything is possible and they are always so kind and easy to work with on volunteer schedules. The need in the community that Tharros Place is working to help fill is so immense. These girls that will be living at their facility need hope. They need an education. They need laughter. They need food. They need to be safe. They need to know they are not forgotten. They need to know our community loves them and cares about them. It's just too important to ignore