Volunteers

Training for prospective volunteers for the Peace at Home Family Shelter is held at semi-regular intervals. Any individual wishing to serve as a crisis line volunteer or an adult or children's services volunteer must complete 6 hours training and 4 hours of staff shadowing. To register for an upcoming volunteer training, please contact Melissa Hughes, Operations Manager at (479)444-8310  or email.

Training Dates in 2010:

January 16th: Saturday 9:00 to 3:00pm
April 19th: Monday 6:00 to 9:00 and April 22: Thursday 6:00 to 9:00pm
August 14th: Saturday 9:00 to 3:00pm
October 25: Monday 6:00 to 9:00 and October 28: Thursday 6:00 to 9:00pm

Current Volunteer Opportunities

The following volunteer opportunities are available to those who have a few hours to share and want to assist the victims of family violence:

• Crisis Line Volunteers: responding to calls from victims of domestic violence seek help, safe shelter of information (10 hour training is mandatory); must have a land line telephone (no cell phones) and call waiting;

• Thrift Shop Volunteers: processing donations, assisting customers, maintaining shop appearance;

• Legal Services / Court Watch: assisting victims of domestic violence with divorce, custody and other issues; monitoring domestic violence-related court activities;

• Pick-Up / Delivery Volunteers: picking up/delivering items being donated to the thrift shop and/or shelter;

• Knit One, Purl Two Volunteers: creating handcrafted hats, mittens, booties, slippers and scarves for the "winter woolies" basket at the shelter (remember victims often come to shelter with only the clothes they are wearing);

• Clerical Volunteers: assisting with copying, filing, general office work;

• "Blanket the Shelter": crafting adult and children's quilts for client rooms, which they will take away with them when they leave;

• Graphic Arts Volunteer: creating attractive signage and posters for thrift shop and for the Shelter's special events, as well as the website;

• Community Educators: staffing health fairs, community expos, public exhibitions and speaking engagements;

• Window Dressers / Merchandising Specialist: creating a more attractive and shopper friendly thrift shop atmosphere;

• Children's Services Volunteers: providing childcare services for children of victims while moms participate in support group activities (6 hours training mandatory);

• Sign Language Volunteers: providing assistance to victims with hearing impairments during Shelter in-take process;

• Computer Hardware Specialist: assessing the condition of computers donated to the Shelter and thrift shop (this may be done on a bi-monthly basis);

• Antiques / Collectibles Specialist: identifying antiques and collectibles from the donations received at the Thrift Shop and assessing their worth for placement in the new Unique Boutique section of the Shop;

• Spanish Language Teachers: teach shelter staff basic Spanish language skills;

• Court Watch: attend court in Washington, Madison and/or Carroll Counties and take notes on domestic violence cases (minimal training required). Currently taking applications - must be available between 8:30 and 11:30 Monday, Wed., or Friday..

• Statistics Gathering: work with County Clerks in Washington, Madison and/or Carroll Counties to find out how many Orders of Protection have been petitioned for, how many have been granted, etc. (minimal training required).

• Court Companions: attend court hearings with women seeking Temporary Orders of Protection. (minimal training required - does require "on call" status). Currently building program & taking applications - not ready at this moment to get started.

For additional information contact Melissa Hughes, Operations Manager at (479)444-8310 or email.

Please fill out our volunteer application online today, as we have lots of opportunities for you!

As a volunteer for Peace at Home, you must have a current TB test; do you have a current TB health card? If so, you will need to bring it in for us to make a copy of to put in your volunteer file. If you do not already have a TB health card, you will need to make arrangements to get the test and bring us the card as soon as possible. You can get the test for $5 at the local Health Dept. Thank you!