FAMILY CRISIS CENTER, INC.

The Family Crisis Center (FCC) welcomes the valuable contribution of volunteers. The agency is flexible in terms of time commitment, requesting part-time, seasonal and full-time help. Volunteers are an integral part of FCC, helping us meet our goal of preventing domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, human trafficking and stalking. We are grateful for the time and effort volunteers dedicate to making our community a safer place to live.

WHO CAN VOLUNTEER?

Women, men, teens from every ethnic background, race, lifestyle and religion can volunteer. There are no minimum work or educational requirements to volunteer. FCC staff conduct a background check and an interview with each volunteer candidate.

ARE THERE TRAINING REQUIREMENTS FOR VOLUNTEERS?

FCC staff members want to ensure that volunteers are well prepared to do their jobs. Most volunteers are required to participate in an orientation program to enable them to acquire privilege for confidentiality, and to provide them with background information on our services. FCC staff members work directly with volunteer candidates to find a suitable placement for them within the agency.

WHAT KINDS OF VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES ARE AVAILABLE AT FCC?

The agency’s needs change over time, but in general we have volunteer opportunities in the following areas:

General

§  Advocates - working directly with clients by providing court accompaniment, emotional support, answering phones;

§  Education and training - assisting in the preparation and facilitation of training sessions to the community and professional groups, (trainings must be co-facilitated with an FCC Staff member);

§  Clerical work - contributing to the filing, record keeping and general daily office duties;

§  Special Events - helping with fundraisers, and commemorative events to raise community awareness about domestic violence, and;

§  Grant researchers - finding funding opportunities via library and internet research.

Shelter

·         Advocates - working directly with victims of domestic violence of all ages by answering the crisis hotline, providing crisis counseling and referral services, providing coverage in the shelter for evenings, weekends and holidays (contingent on work experience and time constraints);

·         Job Skills Trainers - providing training for individuals and groups in such areas as interviewing skills, typing, computer literacy, basic accounting, cooking, and other trades;

·         Gardeners - assisting the maintenance staff with landscaping around the shelter;

·         Special Maintenance Projects - assisting with ad hoc repair and maintenance projects.

HOW DO VOLUNTEERS GET STARTED?