Our Community
We partner with Quaker meetings / churches and are supported by local Friends in Atlanta, Boston, Twin Cities, Philadelphia, and Portland, OR. QVS Fellows live in intentional community, sharing day to day life and supporting each other throughout the year. Fellows receive support from QVS staff and spiritual nurturers.
Our History
We are part of a long history and tradition of Quaker service, and we see ourselves as a contemporary expression of that much older stream. After many years of consultation and discernment, the first QVS house opened in Atlanta in 2012 and we have been growing ever since.
Join Us
We invite young adults to apply to become a QVS Fellow. An ideal applicant brings an openness to working with diverse community members, a willingness to explore questions of faith and spirituality, and an ability to function well in a professional setting. Application Deadline is March 15th.
“I feel really thankful to be in this community that is supporting my social justice work and spiritual growth.”
“The young people I work with this year in the QVS program are valued treasures. They inspire me to stay idealistic in my endeavors toward social justice and they embolden my committment to Quaker values. As I reflect on the political moment at hand with strong emotions about the future for women… I am thankful for the Light they bring.”
“I am also glad, very glad to see such deeper reaching and very promising renewal projects such as… Quaker Voluntary Service, which is attracting and cultivating a new generation of Quaker leaders.”
“QVS provided an experience where my [Quaker] faith and spirituality became intertwined with my home life and work life, namely in my relationships and practices.”
Quaker Voluntary Service is an experiment at the intersection of transformational spirituality and activism, a year-long program for young adults.
Sam Downs grew up in Frederick, MD and graduated from The University of Alabama with a degree in Civil Engineering. During college, Sam was on the junior board of Sweet Water Outreach, a non-profit focusing on health, sanitation, and water access in Kenya and Tanzania. He also enjoyed helping run a weekly dinner for international students, to welcome them to campus, and build lasting friendships. He is excited to work with QVS and gain new intentional relationships while growing spiritually.
Paloma Collazo-Vargas is from strawberry-town, Watsonville, CA. Her parents immigrated from Mexico, but met here, in hopes of a better life—as the oldest of the family; she is the first for graduating high school and recently, graduated from Earlham College, IN, as a McNair Scholar. Paloma majored in International Studies with a concentration of Latin America in hopes of working in diplomacy.