Spruce Run and Womancare will offer joint training in March

    DOVER-FOXCROFT — The Penobscot and Piscataquis domestic abuse prevention resource centers are happy to announce our first joint volunteer training. We will alternate training locations and provide carpooling opportunities. Beginning March 25 the training will meet twice a week for six weeks from 3 to 6 p.m.  on  Mondays and Tuesdays. Both centers are currently accepting applications.

    Volunteers are central to our work. We couldn’t provide the services we do without you. If you’re willing to give us some of your time and talents, we need you. No matter when the phone rings, a helpline worker is there, ready to listen, offer support and provide information and referrals to other needed services. As a helpline worker, one of the things you’ll do is assist in providing our core service:  answering calls that come in to our 24-hour hotline. Although it’s not easy, answering the helpline is one of the most rewarding jobs we do. You are often the first contact someone affected by abuse has with our organizations, and often the first voice someone hears as he or she reaches out for help.

    Our volunteer direct service workers complete a training of about 40 hours of class room instruction.  The training is designed to prepare folks to talk with those needing services on the phone, or to meet with them in person at one of our resource centers, in shelter or at court, when accompanying them to a court hearing. Advocates support and validate a caller’s feelings, identify and explore options, make referrals, and assist with safety planning. 

    Training topics include dynamics of domestic abuse, elder abuse, effects of family violence on children, relevant legal and social issues, safety planning and crisis intervention.  Upon successful completion of the training four CEU’s will be available from the University of Maine. The training is offered free of charge with the expectation of a volunteer commitment. 

    If you live in the greater Bangor area please call Catherine at Spruce Run at 945-5102 ext. 32, or you may go to Spruce Run’s web site at www.sprucerun.net to complete an application online.

    If you live in the greater Dover-Foxcroft area please call Ginger at Womancare at 564-8165 or e-mail her at ginger@wmncare.org.