Locals Train to Help Victims of Violence
By: Brendaliss Gonzalez
Updated: April 14, 2012
They received hands on training for helping victims of violent crimes.
The center is celebrating its 35th year in providing twenty four hour telephone support for any victim of violence or sexual assault.
They have some 50 volunteers who work round the clock and are specifically trained to help others dealing with emotional trauma.
"We could not do this work without the volunteers," said executive director Diane Dotson,"These are trained victim advocates. They commit to three shifts a month. They commit to multi-years of service many of them, we have volunteers to have been enrolled for 20 years, 25 yerars, even 30 years."
The two week training includes a very thorough screening of all volunteers.
The organization helps some 1300 victims a year, one in four of those victims are children.






