Who are the Response Advocates?
Our advocates are members of the community who are committed to our mission to support, educate and empower survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. They have completed a 30-hour intensive training program and provide essential program services.
Want to make a difference for domestic and sexual abuse survivors? Become an advocate on Response’s 24-hour Crisis Helpline! As a Volunteer Advocate, you would be answering crisis calls, providing short-term support and crisis intervention for survivors of domestic and sexual abuse. To become a Certified Volunteer Advocate, you would need to complete the 30-hour intensive training which consists of online training sessions and online modules (completed on your own time), to provide you with the information and skills you would need to take calls. Once certified, we ask that you take a minimum of two shifts per month.
A Letter to New Volunteer Advocates
A Letter From a Response Advocate to New Advocates
I have been a Response Advocate for almost 12 years.
My very first day on call, within an hour of being on call, I had a call. But, I was able to help her. I was able to get this woman into a shelter and she came out the other end happy, healthy and free. I knew then I could do this, I could help people and I was good at it.
They don’t all have happy endings. Sometimes it is frustrating to watch an abused woman return to her husband because “the kids need him”. But I have found that being her advocate means that I am there to support her and make her stronger so that when she is ready to leave him she has the strength to do it. I have learned not to judge these women but to support them. I have been at women’s’ sides in the court room while facing down their abusers; I have been in the hospital with women being their advocate and voice with doctors; and I have been with family members giving them the strength to stick by an abused woman.
There are days when I think I just can’t do it anymore, I take a break, but I always go back. I go back because I have a need to help, and help is needed. This isn’t the easiest volunteer work, but it is so important. When I go back to the hotline I think about one case I had, I was able to get a woman into a safe house for a night after the police were called to a woman being beaten in a parking lot. The man (her boyfriend) ran off, but the woman was hurt and needed help. I had to change all of her flights from her vacation gone bad in Aspen. After what seemed like hours, when I wouldn’t give up, I was able to reach a higher-up at United Airlines who had been in an abusive relationship and she quickly used her powers to change all this women’s flights to get her home the next day. When I brought her to the airport a man approached her, I stood up all tall and protective in front of her, but it turned out that he was the man that had stepped in and saved her! All three of us were crying…she was so touched by all the people that did so much to help her. She broke up with her boyfriend, went home and moved on to a better life that she deserved.
That is why I am an Advocate, so I can help the people that need it the most.
Emily
For more information about becoming a volunteer for Response anytime during the year, please call (970) 920-5357 or email: info@responsehelps.org.
Previous Advocate Trainings
Join us in combating domestic violence and sexual assault. Become a Response Advocate to help on our 24-hour crisis helpline.
September Advocate Training is here!
Response's Advocate training consists of 9 hours of online courses you can take on your own and 6 in-person sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30-8:30 pm. You will learn how to respond to crisis calls from Response team members, law enforcement, treatment providers and forensic specialists.
The training runs September 10th to 26th in Aspen.
So far this year Response Advocates have donated over 2,000 hours on-call and answered over 100 calls, providing help and reassurance to people in crisis. This service would not be possible without a dedicated team of highly trained volunteers. Please consider joining us in this vital work!
Please fill out the form below, email admin@responsehelps.org, or call the office (970) 920-5357, for more information!