Volunteering for Our Communities

We’re joined by Rose, Marc, and Jesse, three Thorne Harbour Health volunteers to hear about the volunteer moments that have stuck with them, from welcoming people newly diagnosed at the Positive Living Centre to running red ribbon stalls and corporate workshops. We unpack why volunteering at an event can be more rewarding than simply attending one, and how a regular shift can become a fixture you can really miss. Jack also speaks with them about how the organisation’s history shapes its work today, from its founding as the Victorian AIDS Council to its evolution in a PrEP-era landscape. If you’re curious about becoming a vollie but unsure how to fit it around work, study, or life, we pull practical advice from their combined decades of experience. Chapters 00:00 – Intro 03:30 – Meet the volunteers and their origin stories 07:30 – Roles at the Positive Living Centre and Hoddle Street 12:00 – Event volunteering versus attending as a guest 17:30 – From the Victorian AIDS Council to today 22:30 – How motivations change over time 27:00 – An antidote to disempowerment 31:30 – Corporate volunteers and red ribbon workshops 35:00 – Memorable moments on the volunteer floor 39:00 – Advice for first-time volunteers All chapter timecodes are approximate. Want more Well Well Well? Check out our other JOY Podcasts for more on LGBTIQ+ health and wellbeing at joy.org.au/wellwellwell. If there’s something you’d like us to explore on the show, send through ideas or questions at [email protected] Find out more about LGBTIQ+ services and events in Victoria and South Australia at thorneharbour.org. Produced by: Jack Crnjanin