Salem-based HAWC seeks volunteers for hotline

SALEM n Salem-based Healing Abuse Working for Change (HAWC) is seeking volunteers to staff its 24-hour hotline or assume other duties within the organization.Being a HAWC volunteer can give you the opportunity to help create peace in the home for every child and adult on the North Shore,” said Cassie Desir, HAWC’s coordinator of volunteers.”Every year, HAWC volunteers help over 5,000 people looking for assistance. As a HAWC volunteer, you can answer our 24-hour hotline, become a court advocate, co-facilitate a support group and/or work with children in our shelter and more. It’s a unique opportunity to help people in a very real way,” she said.HAWC provides a 40-hour training program during which volunteers are informed about the causes of domestic violence. “The training will equip you to do direct service work with people in abusive situations. You will learn how to assist adults in breaking the cycle of violence, how domestic violence impacts children, how to access resources within systems on many levels, and how to help individuals identify types of domestic abuse,” she said. “Once trained, you can answer the hotline from your own home.”Anyone interested in volunteering should attend a one-hour orientation session to learn more about HAWC and its volunteer program. The next sessions are: June 23, July 22 and August 20 at 6 p.m. in HAWC’s main office in Salem.To register for an orientation session, contact Desir at 978-744-2299, ext. 11 or email to [email protected] volunteers are interviewed and a Criminal Offender Record Investigation (CORI) will be conducted before anyone is allowed to participate in the training.The acronym HAWC formerly stood for Help for Abused Women and their Children, but the organization has expanded its scope to include men, gays and same-sex couples into its service domain, a decision that resulted in the necessary name change.