Caucasian woman with brown hair wearing glasses and a hand brace holding a black cat with green eyes

P.A.W.S. Volunteer Program

AWA is grateful to have partnered with community and service-based organizations to provide valuable life and job skills to teens and adults with developmental disabilities.

What is the P.A.W.S. Program?

P.A.W.S. stands for People Achieving With Support, and that is exactly what AWA hopes to achieve with the P.A.W.S. Program. P.A.W.S. volunteers are teens and adults with developmental disabilities who are earning service hours while gaining job and life skills.

The Importance of the P.A.W.S. Program

AWA wanted to create a mutually beneficial relationship with service-based organizations in our community, including Yale School, Bancroft of Burlington County, Kingsway Learning Center, Division of Children and Families School and more. Our goal is to provide opportunities to individuals who are developmentally disabled and continue our mission of not only caring for animals, but also benefiting people in our community.

P.A.W.S. Volunteer Opportunities

These volunteers help with a variety of tasks at both AWA’s Adoption Center and Pet Clinic! These tasks include:

  1. Creating dog, cat and small animal treats called enrichment
  2. Cleaning windows and other spaces in the Adoption Center and Pet Clinic
  3. Folding brochures and coloring books
  4. Socializing cats
  5. Working with dogs on good behavior in the kennels
  6. And more!
Volunteer for AWA PAWS program holding up snuffle mat made for dog enrichment.

P.A.W.S. Art Gallery

Check out some of the amazing artwork that many of our P.A.W.S. Program Volunteers have created over the years!

View Gallery

Become a Part of AWA's P.A.W.S. Program

If your school or organization is interested in becoming a part of AWA’s P.A.W.S, please contact AWA’s education department at education@awanj.org  today!

Frequently Asked Questions

Does AWA provide aides or one-on-one support for individuals in the P.A.W.S. program?
At this time, AWA is unable to provide aides or one-on-one support for individuals in the P.A.W.S. Program. Individuals that volunteer through this program must be accompanied by an aide/guardian, and groups that participate through a school or organization must be accompanied by instructors and/or job coaches. In the future, AWA hopes to grow this program and have the ability to provide support for individuals that would like to be involved with the P.A.W.S. program.
Can an individual get involved with the P.A.W.S. Program without being part of an organization?
Yes! Individuals who would like to get involved with the P.A.W.S. program are welcome to do so along with a job coach and/or guardian. Both individuals must fill out the Volunteer application, which can be found here.
Will P.A.W.S. volunteers get hands on experience with the animals?
There is a multiple step training process for all volunteers to go through prior to completing hands on tasks with the animals. If an individual and a job coach goes through this training, they will be able to handle some animals at the discretion of the Adoption Center. For more specific questions, please email volunteers@awanj.org.

Please Note: The Adoption Center and Pet Clinic can be high-stress environments when busy and can become very loud. This may make individuals with sensory processing issues uncomfortable and overwhelmed. AWA will do our best to place every individual where they are most comfortable. Please discuss this with the education department prior to your first visit.

If you have questions about the P.A.W.S. Program, please contact AWA’s education department at education@awanj.org.

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