Thank you for your interest in volunteering at The Other Side Academy’s thrift boutique. For those of you unaware, The Other Side Academy is a 2 year residential facility for ex cons, substance abusers and the chronically homeless. We accept no government funding and cost nothing to our students. Instead, we generate all of our funds by operating social enterprises such as the #1 rated moving company in the state, and the #1 rated thrift in Salt Lake City.

We operate in a high-accountability, hard working environment. This is not a “stand around and chat” social volunteer situation. You will be in the thick of our processing procedures, working hand in hand with our student population.


This means two things:


 1) You will be expected to follow our community guidelines and rules. Prior to your first shift, you will have an orientation with our staff where we will do our best to establish ground-rule boundaries, but we have more “rules” than we could possibly expect you to memorize. Subsequently, you will likely experience what we call a “pull up” which is when one of our students says “hey, they ask us not to _____” and you will be expected to simply say “ok” and to stop doing the ____. This can range from swearing, talking about drugs, asking students about their pasts  to more procedural “pull ups” such as how you are hanging clothes or carrying furniture. If you would be bothered by being told what you can and can’t do or say, this is probably not the right volunteer opportunity for you.

2) We work hard. You will leave a volunteer shift fully confident in your quantifiable contribution to our organization. Expect to sweat, get your hands dirty, see a mountain of work become a tidy completion. You will hang clothes, clean knick knacks, move furniture or any number of other tasks.


Now that the disclaimers are out of the way, onto the perks! Our students are some of the most honest, grateful and fun people you will ever meet. We would love to shatter your perception of what the face of an ex-con or addict might look like. Come be a part of our solution to one of society’s greatest problems. We guarantee you will leave secure in the knowledge that your time was well spent!