Potential crisis line volunteers go through an initial screening interview to see if we can meet each other's needs; it takes approximately one hour and can be scheduled for the daytime or early evening.
Following the screening interview, you must attend training sessions. The training for the Crisis Line program is 30 hours, which does not include independent reading time. The training sessions take place Saturday mornings from 9am-12pm. We offer women an excellent training program and a supportive and fun environment to learn in. A variety of learning tools are used including group activities, guest speakers, role-plays, independent reading, games, and group discussions. Each session focuses on a different training topic: sexual violence, oppression, feminist crisis counselling, recent sexual assault, childhood sexual abuse, suicide, coping strategies, and self care. We cover difficult topics such as suicide, multiplicity, ritualized abuse, and self injury. The training spans three months and occurs every fall, winter and spring. There is a fee of $40 for the training materials – this fee is non-refundable. The fee for training will increase to $50 for the September 2013 session.
The final stage of the process is an evaluation which takes approximately one hour; it includes three role
plays which are done over the phone with a worker from the ORCC.
After volunteers have finished their evaluation we ask for a commitment of one year. Volunteers are expected to work 21 hours per month on the crisis line; volunteers choose the shifts that they work. One three-hour volunteer meeting is held every other month – volunteer meetings provide skill-building workshops, guest speakers, peer support and social events. Volunteers receive regular supervision and support.
Our training and volunteer programs are well respected in Ottawa and spaces fill up very quickly; if you are interested in volunteering please call to arrange for a screening interview. If you need any information regarding this please contact Josephine Basudde at 613-562-2334 Ext: 22, email: jbasudde@magma.ca
