Volunteer Crisis Services Responder
The Distress Services Program, accredited by the American Association of Suicidology, provides 24-hour phone- and chat-based support to the community including:
- Emotional support
- Help to navigate ongoing mental health concerns
- Management of suicide crisis
- Identifying resources for short- and long-term support
- Skills for coping with situational crises
As our service is complex and dynamic, the front-line role requires genuine compassion, combined with critical thinking abilities. Intensive training and ongoing supervision are provided to volunteers over the course of their work with us; our robust training and ongoing supervision are well-recognized by universities and helping agencies across the province.
The bulk of service is provided by volunteers, alongside several staff Crisis Services Responders.
Be part of fostering a caring and connected community!
Are you looking to:
- Gain highly valuable transferable knowledge and skills?
- Make a career change?
- Provide a meaningful contribution to the community?
- Receive relevant experience for graduate programs in counselling psychology, medical school, social work programs, nursing, genetic counselling, or another helping profession?
If so, volunteering with us could be a rewarding, enriching, and challenging experience!
Minimum Requirements/Qualifications:
- Must reside in the Lower Mainland for all training and volunteering
- Must be 19 years of age at the time the training group starts
- Ability to convey respect and care to people in crisis
- Willingness to receive and apply constructive feedback
- Comfortable and competent in using computers
- Ability to demonstrate critical thinking skills
- Ability to work independently within a team
- Proficiency in verbal and written English
- Ability to multi-task
- Willingness to engage in ongoing training for the tenure of your volunteer work with the Crisis Centre
- Willingness to align to the Crisis Centre policies and protocols
- Life experience or education that enhances the knowledge or serves the needs of the community, preferred
Readiness For the Crisis Services Responder Role:
Our work can be challenging and impactful to our service providers. Topics such as suicide, violence and abuse, mental illness, substance use, homicide and relationship issues are regularly raised or discussed.
Lived experience with suicide or mental health concerns can be an asset to this work and to our Crisis Centre community. Throughout our intake process and training, we will actively explore your readiness while keeping in mind that current mental wellness is a requirement to take on this role.
- We ask that you please consider if you have recently experienced any major life event such as death, divorce, addiction or mental illness whether now is the right time to take on this work. Some may find a 1-year recovery since experiencing a situational or transitional crisis event would be beneficial.
- We ask that you please consider if you have recently had a personal suicide attempt or the suicide death of a significant individual whether now is the right time to take on this work. Some may find a 2-year recovery since experiencing a suicide crisis event would be beneficial.
- We ask that you please consider if you have called the Crisis Centre for your own support whether you feel comfortable working alongside someone who may have answered your call. If you have called the Crisis Centre for your own support, it does not exclude you from volunteering here.
If you are unsure or have questions about your readiness for this work, we would be happy to explore this with you during the intake process.
Application Details
We are not currently accepting applications for the next training group. If you would like to be notified when we start the intake for the July 2024 training group, please fill out this form to receive an email notification (Note: this does not hold a spot for you in the group.)
Training Details
The Volunteer Crisis Services Responder training fee is $250. Fees are collected to cover some of the substantive training costs incurred, as we work hard to keep the information, training and service current and effective. Please let us know if the fee is a barrier to you volunteering here. We offer a sliding scale and there is space to discuss this further if you are offered an interview.
Due to the demand for spaces in our training groups, should you not complete training for any reason, the fee is non-refundable. Training fees are not due until you are interviewed and accepted for training.
For all other inquiries, please note that we will be holding an Info Night to answer questions as soon as your application is accepted and before we move forward with the intake process. This information session is mandatory to attend.