Volunteers help to deliver critical services to those who are in need or at risk for suicide. Volunteering is a great way to help others in your community. But why volunteer? According to the University of California:

1. It’s good for you. Volunteering provides physical and mental rewards by helping to reduce stress and can help you feel better.
2. It saves resources. Volunteering helps save money so that more resources can be put into helping those in need.
3. Volunteers gain professional experience.
4. It brings people together. Volunteering helps to bring people from different backgrounds together for a common cause.
5. It promotes personal growth and self esteem by helping volunteers understand community needs which helps foster empathy and self-efficacy.
6. Volunteering strengthens your community.
7. You learn a lot. Volunteering can help you discover hidden talents.
8. You get a change to give back.
9. Volunteering encourages civic responsibility.
10. You make a difference!

All of volunteers are trained to:

• Assess services needs by applying listening skills;
• Utilize agency resources to match callers with needed services and information to provide appropriate referrals;
• Recognize and respond to persons in crisis, including callers with thoughts of suicide;
• Document call reports with an eye to detail and accuracy of information entry –utilizing a computer entry system to record each contact with client.

Volunteers should have excellent communication skills, computer literacy, and reliable transportation. Bilingual skills across all languages welcomed!