It's a service that many women turn to in their time of need. Now, the Shasta Women's Refuge Crisis Line is in need of volunteers. But it takes dedication, more than 60 hours of training is required before volunteers can even pick up the phone.
Volunteers are so dedicated because their work is so important. They are not just answering phones but counseling victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.
The phone calls don't always come at convenient times, after hours and on weekends is when volunteers pick-up.
“Some days you get nothing and other days its pretty funny, you will just get one call after another,” said Beth Brower, who worked the crisis line for about a year.
“You know it is really rewarding, you feel really good about helping people in the community,” said Brower.
That feeling is what convinced Beth to go through the daunting 66 hours of training required to become a volunteer.
“Working on our crisis line is definitely a serious commitment, you do have to go through rigorous training and it does take a certain personality to do this work,” said Caedy Minoletti with the Woman’s Refuge.
In the end volunteers are more than volunteers, they are licensed advocates.
“Its a state certification that you have to get through to be a domestic violence and sexual assault crisis intervention counselor and we do that here locally,” said Minoletti.
Its not just taking calls, volunteers at the crisis line also respond to Shasta Regional Medical Center for cases of domestic abuse and sexual assault.
“We go to the hospital and we are there as an advocate just for the person, the victim and we just help them with whatever they need,” said Brower.
The crisis line currently has about 40 volunteers, but it needs 60 to be fully operational. Organizers hope that rewarding feeling will draw people's attention.
“I even still sometimes give up my evenings and weekends to volunteer my time on our crisis line because you get to meet amazing people,” said Minoletti.
If you are interested in lending a helping hand, you can call the Crisis Line at 244-0117
