AARC Advocates Needed | Video

Alan Miller | 3/7/2013

Domestic violence doesn`t just take place during business hours. Victim’s advocates may work in an office, but there are plenty of occasions when someone needs help at night or on a weekend. That`s why there are volunteers to be available to answer the phone around the clock, just in case.

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to volunteer for the Abused Adult Resource Center by taking this cell phone and charger, along with this file. That way, you can be there for someone seeking to get out of a dangerous situation.

"It`s definitely a field where it attracts a lot of passionate people, a lot of people who really want to make a difference in this world," says Katie Oliver, the AARC`s volunteer coordinator. "But it can be taxing on the person who gets a call at three in the morning, and has to get out of bed and, you know, deal with a situation like that."

Volunteer advocates obviously need a lot of training in order to handle any situation they might come across. So they can get that training with a hard drive they can take home a hook up to their computer.

"The success stories are the things that keep people in this industry, I think," adds Oliver. "Being able to see a person from when they first come in to getting their own apartment, which could be their very first apartment on their own. And, you know, the excitement they see when they get a kitchen table, and a dresser, and a crib for their kids is one of the most rewarding things that you can see."

The AARC has about ten advocates right now but would like to have about thirty of them, so that no one gets burned out. Some nights, you might get several calls and on another, you might get none. To find out more, call the Abused Adult Resource Center at 701-222-8370.

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