LOCAL VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

How to get involved as a Southern Arizona resident!

Thank you for your interest in volunteering with us! The ongoing work of No More Deaths depends on a strong network of local volunteers, who organize, plan, support, and lead all aspects of our projects.

TUCSON

We have many different working groups within No More Deaths that are seeking volunteers to sustain the work that we do.

DESERT AID

What we do: No More Deaths maintains a year-round humanitarian presence in the deserts of southwestern Arizona. We work in the remote corridors where Prevention Through Deterrence has pushed migration routes, hiking the trails and leaving water, food, socks, blankets, and other supplies. Under the direction of our medical team, volunteers provide emergency first-aid treatment to individuals in distress.

COVID-19 UPDATE: Vaccination against COVID-19 is required for all volunteers participating in this program, including booster shot. Please review our FAQs prior to applying.

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

As a Local Desert Aid volunteer, you will work alongside long-term NMD volunteers, facilitators and incoming new Month-Long volunteers. You will have opportunities to participate in water and supply drops  in remote areas along the borderlands as well as support the work at our  humanitarian aid camp.

Opportunities to participate will largely depend on the capacity of the facilitators to train and host new volunteers and conditions on the ground in Southern Arizona. Since we’re all volunteers, some months we can host new volunteers several days per week while others it may be less than that.

We prioritize BIPOC applicants,  Spanish language skills, and people who have some sort of medical training. That being said, different skill-sets are also needed and welcome!

NMD cannot provide housing for local volunteers.

ON-BOARDING PROCESS FOR NEW LOCAL VOLUNTEERS:

1. Apply to the program before the stated deadline.

2. If accepted, participate in the mandatory New Volunteer Orientation which will take place on the first Sunday of the program.

3. You will then be added to group coordination threads where training and volunteer opportunities will be announced and fellow volunteers and facilitators will be able to communicate with each other. These opportunities may include water drops, trips to camp, and logistical support needs based on capacity and availability.

4. If you are available to begin training at our humanitarian aid camp immediately, you can join the Month-Long volunteers for the initial “at-camp-training” on the first Monday and Tuesday of the program. Otherwise, you can wait for other opportunities via volunteer coordinators or via communication threads with available facilitators for training. If you are only interested in water drops or in-town support roles, opportunities will be announced via coordination threads and volunteers can choose to participate at their discretion.

5. After the initial on-boarding month, you will go through a feedback process where fellow volunteers and facilitators will have the opportunity to review their experiences with you. After 6-8 in field activities or 3 months of involvement with the organization, you will have an opportunity to debrief your experiences and share feedback with us.

6. We perform these debrief and review sessions to affirm that our values align and that we all want to continue working together. If your fellow volunteers feel they need more time in the field with you before providing feedback, the review process will be postponed until the following month.

7. After your first three months of volunteering with the organization, we hope you will have a clearer understanding of how the organization functions and how to plug into different aspects of the work.

If you are interested in being a Desert Aid volunteer, please see the information below concerning the application process.

APPLICATION SCHEDULE

Please note the application deadline for your desired start date. You will be notified about your application status within two weeks of the application deadline.

Month

Program

Training Session*

Application

May 2024

Local Volunteer Program

Online Training: Sunday, 5/05

Deadline: April 1st, 2024. Apply here.

June 2024

Local Volunteer Program

Online Training: Sunday, 6/02

Deadline: May 1st, 2024. Apply here.

July 2024

Local Volunteer Program

Online Training: Sunday, 7/07

Deadline: June 1st, 2024. Apply here.

August 2024

Local Volunteer Program

Online Training: Sunday, 8/04

Deadline: July 1st, 2024. Apply here.

*Please note that you will need to commit to the entire mandatory New Volunteer Orientation session, held on the first Sunday of the program scheduled from 10AM-2PM.

If interested in being trained at our humanitarian aid camp, we might to be able to offer some flexibility for the at-camp training on a case-by-case basis.

STEPS FOR APPLYING

  1. Please read all the information above and review our FAQ.
  2. Find someone from a grassroots organization you have worked with or been involved with (activist collective, nonprofit, advocacy group, volunteer/community-service organization, etc.) to write you a letter of reference. Ask them to fill out a reference form for you before the application deadline.
  3. Submit an application by the application deadline. Please indicate in your application if you are interested in water drops, being trained to work at our humanitarian aid camp, or in-town logistical work. Interested applicant can pick one, two or all three options.
  4. Wait to hear back from the volunteer coordinator. Expect to hear back from us within two weeks after the application deadline.

For more information contact our volunteer coordinator at Volunteer@nomoredeaths.org .

SEARCH AND RESCUE

What we do: The Search and Rescue/Recovery (SAR) team is a working group of No More Deaths comprised of volunteers from various areas in the Southern Arizona borderlands. The project consists of an Arizona search and rescue phone line, and search and rescue response teams. It runs additional supporting projects, such as distribution of harm-reduction information and
supplies.

Volunteer opportunities and requirements: SAR is currently in need of new and returning local volunteers!

New volunteers, please fill out this form.

Returning volunteers, please fill out this form.

There are currently three different volunteer opportunities within SAR: Volunteer Phone Line Operators, Search Team Leader, and Search Team Member.

Volunteer Phone Line Operators must: be fluently bilingual in both English and Spanish; be willing to speak directly to law enforcement and border patrol when needed; have access to computer with internet for entirety of shift; have completed basic NMD training and Hotline Operator Training, have a basic geographical understanding of borderlands. When considered active, volunteers must commit to two shifts a month, and attend the SAR team meetings and/or read meeting minutes to stay appraised of changes in phone line protocols.

Search Team Leaders must: have  experience as a search responder; respond to text/email by hotline operator with the indication that they want to assemble a search team to respond to a case, communicate with Search Team Members and brainstorm where to
gather additional person resources if those are needed; plan and/or delegate planning the search and gathering necessary resources (maps, GPS, radios, vehicle); communicate directly with family of missing person if appropriate ; communicate with law enforcement if necessary and appropriate; be responsible for communicating what was done back to working group, in a meeting or a write-up.

Search Team Members must: have attended a NMD or Samaritans training, or have previous involvement with another group that we regularly work with (for example Aguilas del Desierto, Armadillos Busqueda y Rescate); respond to delegating requests from Search Team Leader, or volunteer assistance with search organization; follow through on commitments made or let the Search Team Leader know that you can’t; be personally prepared with your own gear and supplies.

For more information please get in touch by e-mail at: sarhotlinevolcoord@nomoredeaths.org

AID IN NORTHERN MEXICO

Check back soon for updates!

ABUSE DOCUMENTATION

What we do: The Abuse Documentation team works on long-term collaborative projects researching, documenting and exposing patterns of abuse against migrants at the hands of Border Patrol and other governmental officials. We are currently working on the third installment of the report “Disappeared: How U.S. Border Enforcement Agencies are Fueling a Missing Person’s Crisis” (www.thedisappearedreport.org).

Volunteer opportunities and requirements: Potential volunteer tasks include research support/data collection and editing (as well as other minute tasks as they arise). We generally require a longer-term commitments from volunteers and seek volunteers who can regularly attend meetings. *Note, at this time, Abuse Documentation is not taking new volunteers. If you’re interested in volunteering in the  future,  please reach out after the release of our current project, Disappeared pt III*

For more information contact:  abusedocumentation@nomoredeaths.org

FUNDRAISING

What we do: Support all the work of NMD with fundraising through: individual and corporate contributions; churches, religious organizations and other non-profits; event fundraisers; and grants.

Volunteer opportunities and requirements: Volunteer opportunities include: organizing and tabling fundraising events; grant research and writing (grant writing experience needed); data entry for donations; and budgeting/ finance technical assistance (non-profit budgeting/ finance experience required).

For more information contact: Celia Bavier, Fundraising Coordinator, fundraising@nomoredeaths.org

LOGISTICS

What we do:  We do the behind the scenes work to keep our Desert Aid program running.

Volunteer opportunities and requirements: There is always need for folks willing to help out with errands around Tucson! This could include grocery shopping, doing laundry, helping with cleaning tasks, making copies, picking out-of-town volunteers up from the airport, helping with food prep for trainings or other volunteer events, and other miscellaneous tasks.

For more information contact: Logistics Coordinator: (520)307-2626 or logistics@nomoredeaths.org

MEDIA

What we do: We manage incoming media requests, give interviews, and work to share information about our work with local, national, and international journalists.

Volunteer opportunities and requirements: We’re looking for folks who are eager to spread the word about our work! Given that working with the media team requires detailed knowledge of NMD and how we operate, we’re looking for volunteers who already have some months of involvement with other working groups within No More Deaths. We’re particularly interested in Spanish-speaking volunteers, and people who are able to make a long-term commitment.

For more information contact: Media Coordinator: media@nomoredeaths.org

NOGALES

Check back soon for updates!

PHOENIX

Contact No More Deaths Phoenix

FLAGSTAFF

Contact No More Deaths Flagstaff

We are always looking for ways to strengthen our ties to the communities of Arizona. If you have ideas, please share them with us!