Join The M:W Team

 
 
 

Volunteers and Staff

We welcome short-term volunteers to come camp at the sanctuary any period of time up to several weeks (commonly one to two weeks). If you are interested in becoming Mission: Wolf Staff but have never been to the sanctuary, this is a great way to start and can be treated as an informal “working interview”.

Core Staff are leaders in the Mission: Wolf community. There are four Core Staff who live on site and oversee daily operations and community living at the sanctuary: Animal Caretaker, Education Caretaker, Refuge Caretaker, and Operations Caretaker.

Assistant Staff and Summer Staff support the Core Staff to keep the wolves, visitors, and fellow staff members on-site healthy and happy. 

You can learn more about applying for these different roles below.

Overview:

Mission:Wolf is operated by volunteers who live and work together with the common goal of caring for the animals who call the sanctuary home. This unified purpose has formed a cooperative community which offers experiential education that encourages respect for animals, sustainable ways of living, and environmental stewardship.

Mission:Wolf is very isolated. Success living and working at the sanctuary depends largely on an ability to (1) not scare the wolves and (2) live and work in a diverse group of humans. We strive for a healthy, open environment that empowers our volunteers and promotes personal growth.

Relatively speaking to other animal care environments like dog shelters, there is little direct contact with the wolves. They are naturally weary of us, especially if they experienced trauma on their journey here. Mission:Wolf strives to offer them a peaceful life with limited human interaction. A few wolves seem to enjoy when we come around but they are the unique few.

  • * We expect staff and volunteers to be hard-working, highly self-motivated in initiating and following through on projects, and adaptable to change.

    * Volunteers live outside with limited facilities. We use solar panels for electricity and a solar-pump for our well water. We have very limited electricity and water available for personal use, especially on cloudy days. Staff members shower and wash clothes once a week or less. We cannot offer shower or laundry facilities to short-term volunteers.

    * Most staff live in tents or tipis. The tipis on property are generally reserved for long-term Sanctuary Caretakers, but a tipi will sometimes become available as time goes on and staff members leave.

    * Mission:Wolf is not completely out of touch; we have a phone with long distance and limited international calling, wireless internet, and a few community laptops available for our support staff. The weather can affect our phone and internet connections, so volunteers should not expect communication to be totally reliable.

    * We expect staff and volunteers to be sensitive to the needs of the humans and animals in our community.

    * We expect conflict to be resolved early by direct communication between involved parties.

    * We expect every person to help create an inclusive community where all volunteers can feel comfortable, welcome, and physically and emotionally safe.

    * We do not tolerate violence, discrimination, aggression, passive aggression, and defensiveness in any interactions.

    * Language and actions rooted in racism, sexism, homophobia, ageism, transphobia, ableism or prejudice based on ethnicity, nationality, class, gender, gender presentation, language ability, sexual orientation, asylum status, or religious affiliation are unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

  • No two days are the same at Mission:Wolf. All staff need to be flexible, self-motivated, energetic, adaptable, and passionate about the work that we do. Our responsibilities include, but are certainly not limited to:

    * Community chores: Daily and weekly chores include washing dishes, taking out the trash/recycling/compost, sweeping paths, shoveling snow, and much more. Duties are spread between all staff and every community member contributes to maintaining and improving our living and cooking quarters.


    * Cleaning: We deep clean all community spaces, work spaces, and vehicles once a week. We also expect every volunteer to tidy up after themselves immediately after every project and task (including cooking meals), keeping the entire sanctuary clean and organized.


    * Tours: We provide all visitors and groups with a thorough educational tour of the facility. We interact with visiting groups of youth and adults daily. A stay at Mission:Wolf is not an escape from working with people.


    * Water for the wolves: When our pipes freeze during the colder months, we haul water to the wolf enclosures and greenhouses in five-gallon buckets. A full load of water weighs over 60 pounds (27 kilograms).


    * Processing meat: Food for our wolves comes in the form of donated horses and other livestock that have died naturally, or that are very ill and need to be put down. Multiple times a week, we process deceased livestock to feed to the wolves.


    * Feeding days: We feed our wolves every Wednesday and Saturday, hauling large buckets of raw meat and throwing it to all of the animals.


    * Working with people: Our primary work is not with wolves, but with humans. The wolves attract a wide variety of people and personalities. You will be expected to integrate into a diverse community of volunteers who share a kitchen and bathroom. Every day, we interact with and lead work projects for visitors who come to the sanctuary.


    * Self-starting and completing projects: Mission:Wolf has an informal, unstructured work environment. You will be expected to oversee and complete projects independently. Everybody needs to be flexible and help with all aspects of our operations. In a single day, you might be expected to cut meat, help with data entry in the office, haul water and firewood, plant seedlings, cook dinner, and greet visitors. Much of the work we do involves heavy lifting and hauling.


    * Long work days and living on-site: Volunteers live and work in the same place, which means that we are on call 24/7 for any animal emergencies that may arise.

  • * People who demonstrate competence and experience in one or more of the following areas: animal care, experiential education, non-profit management, general tool use and maintenance (especially automotive, carpentry, and welding), communications/scheduling/marketing, and sustainable systems.


    * Well-rounded people who can excel in a variety of situations


    * Leaders who know the limits of their own knowledge and are willing to learn


    * Highly self-motivated project starters and finishers


    * Clear and direct communicators


    * Open-minded, accepting, and adaptable community members


    * Individuals who are prepared to commit long, full, hard-working days to caring for these animals and supporting the refuge

Interested?

Click below to learn more & apply for a position as Mission: Wolf Staff:

Summer Staff (May 15-September 15)

Summer staff join for the busiest time of the year and work heavily to support the sanctuary’s experiential education program. They play a large part in ensuring the wolves are well taken care of while things are busy.

Assistant Staff (six month minimum)

Assistant Staff support Core Staff in maintaining and improving the sanctuary.

Core Staff (one year minimum)

Long-term Core Staff demonstrate outstanding leadership and communication skills. They are responsible for oversight of one of the four key work areas of Mission:Wolf.