SCCFF trains hotline volunteers in Plains

PLAINS- The Sanders County Coalition for Families held volunteer training for their helpline in Plains on Tuesday at the United Methodist Church.

The training lasted two days. The first day of training was an overview of all the opportunities volunteers have within SCCFF and how they can help the cause for families in Sanders County.

During the second day of training, volunteers were coached by youth outreach coordinator and advocate Chris Magdalene. Magdalene taught the volunteers how to actively listen and communicate well on the helpline.

“Our volunteers give callers someone to talk to,” Magdalene said. “We give callers a chance to vent and ask what we can do to help.”

Volunteers then participated in an active listening activity that consisted of passing a volleyball around and sharing who they are and why they are there to volunteer for the organization.

Volunteers came from many different backgrounds and areas of Sanders County.

“I just moved here,” said retired Air Force veteran Raf Viniard. “I am looking for a way to volunteer and give back to my new community.” Volunteers were taught the different types of services SCCFF has to offer to residents of Sanders County.

“Most of what we do is referrals for services,” Magdalene said. “If someone needs to know where to get food, or where to get winter clothes for their children, we do that kind of stuff.”

Magdalene said if someone is in a crisis situation they are more likely to call 911 than the hotline.

Training included ways to handle different situations as they came. Volunteers were taught not be judgmental and to keep an open mind to all callers.

Magdalene emphasized the importance of keeping personal feelings to yourself and to help point callers in the right direction for services.

“I call it the ‘oh’ factor,” Magdalene said. “It is all about how you say ‘oh’ it can be soft and pleasant or harsh and disgusted. People react differently to how you say those kinds of things.”

SCCFF has been helping Sanders County residents for nearly 20 years. Currently they have three volunteers to work the helpline. The lack of volunteers has caused many calls to go unanswered, especially on weekends.

“People usually call between nine and five,” Magdalene said. “I don’t know if that is because it’s a better time to call or what. We also get several calls on the weekend with people needing help immediately and no one is there to answer the phone on the weekend. We are down to three volunteers.”

Magdalene said weekend callers typically are searching for immediate help in their situation. No one mans the phone on the weekend because of so few volunteers. The calls get left to the answering machine that gets checked on Monday morning.

The frequent weekend calls leave a vacancy that the new volunteers hope they can fill, but not to the point of being overworked at the hotline.

“I like for volunteers to work one day per week,” Magdalene said. “I don’t want volunteers to get burnt out on working the phone line all the time.”

Volunteers do not have to use their own personal phones to get involved with the helpline. SCCFF has prepaid cell phones available for volunteers to use while working the line.

SCCFF also uses online resources to help better train volunteers. Volunteers are encouraged to take part in online training through the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.

Volunteer Coordinator Crystal Buchanan said the online training gives volunteers a better understanding of crisis management. The classes are based on modules for different types of training from suicide training to referrals of services. Volunteers can be awarded a certificate of completion from RAINN once the classes are complete.

“I know some volunteers felt they weren’t fully prepared for manning the hotline right away,” Buchanan said. “I am hoping for an additional training day in Plains.”

Training ended with crisis role-playing between “callers” and volunteers. The volunteers incorporated all of their training from the activities into crisis management situations.

Magdalene said it was important for the volunteers to ask good questions and to keep their resource reference handy to best direct the needs of the callers.

“Our volunteers are our backbone,” said Buchanan. “They are what keep us going.”

SCCFF will continue to work on providing supportive services to families and victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse to Sanders County with help from their volunteers.