Thornton is the Director of Outreach Services at Anchor House, where he runs the organization's drop-in center and leads a street outreach team focused on finding youth that are homeless and directing them to coordinated entry services. Thornton has more than 20 years of experience working with runaway and homeless youth and their families. As Community Partner-in-Residence, Thornton met with students, led trainings on how to enter the community and work with minors, and planned events to bring youth and community expertise to campus.