Volunteer Opportunities
Volunteer Opportunities
Volunteering with Transition House is an opportunity to make a very worthwhile contribution to your community. Each volunteer receives extensive training about the issue of abuse and on-the-job training for their specific role. Following is a description of the types of volunteers we require:
The In-House Volunteer Program
In-House Volunteers support the shelter, residents and staff. Since there is a wide range of tasks that need doing to keep our House running smoothly, volunteers can choose how they would like to help. Some tasks include housework, cooking, childcare, and sorting donations. Although In-House Volunteers do not provide counselling for residents and may not always interact directly with the residents, the tasks the volunteers perform support the House in many ways.
In-House Volunteers at Transition House work one three-hour shift each week. It is preferable that this shift be at a regular time each week, however, we do our best to accommodate everyone's schedule. We ask that each volunteer commit to at least 150 hours, which takes approximately one year to fulfill.
The Crisis Line Volunteer Program
Each year our crisis lines receives over 1,500 calls - for support, assistance and information. Crisis Line Volunteers are relied upon by the Shelter counselling staff to share in the answering of crisis and information-seeking phone calls. These volunteers work on the phone with women requesting safe emergency shelter, women needing support and information, as well as people concerned about family and friends living in abusive relationships. These phone calls last anywhere from ten to 30 minutes.
Crisis Line Volunteers are required to work one four-hour shift each week, mostly weekdays and evenings. Each volunteer is asked to work at the same time weekly. We ask that each volunteer commit to at least 200 hours, which takes approximately one year to fulfill.
Office Volunteers
Office Volunteers provide administrative support at the Community Office or Shelter as required. Some basic office and computer skills are required, as well as the ability to serve clients, staff and the community effectively. A solid knowledge of the agency is required, along with an acquaintance with community resources.
Special Service Volunteers
Some volunteers provide unique services on an ad hoc or one-time basis. Please discuss your particular skills or services with our Volunteer Program Coordinator to determine if they can make a difference at Transition House.
Board Volunteers
Our Board of Directors is comprised of 10-14 women. Each year the Board conducts a recruitment, interview and selection process to engage candidates for the Board. Board Members are elected at each Annual General Meeting in June and serve two-year terms.