Volunteering in the Sexual Assault Crisis Program (SACP)

VOLUNTEERING IN THE SEXUAL ASSAULT CRISIS PROGRAM (SACP)  

The Sexual Assault Crisis Program (SACP) supports people who have been impacted by sexual violence and/or intimate partner violence. Volunteering in SACP allows people to further develop their crisis counselling skills and provides volunteers with the opportunity to support clients in-person. Volunteers in SACP are referred to as advocates to reflect the additional training and specialized support they provide, both onsite and off.  Advocates work within Klinic’s multidisciplinary Hummingbird team.

ADVOCATES

  • Meet with clients in-person.
  • Offer information regarding legal, medical and counselling options.
  • Provide support and facilitate communication in meetings and appointments with other service providers. Support is most frequently provided at Klinic Community Health through a unique program called Hummingbird and may also include attending other medical facilities (most commonly the Health Sciences Centre (HSC), police settings, in court or at other community agencies
  • Provides referrals to different community resources

TRAINING

We recognize that in-person gender-based violence work is multilayered, complex and requires our staff and volunteers to have specific training and experience in order to deliver quality service to our clients and work independently in the community.

All Advocates must:

  • Successfully complete the Klinic Crisis Volunteer Training  as well as a minimum of 3 months volunteering on the Crisis Lines.
  • Attend an additional 42-hours of specialized training (12 sessions/3.5 hours per session) to learn relevant medical and legal information and to practice skills related to in-person support and advocacy. After successful completion of this extended training, Advocates are required to make a 6-month volunteer commitment consisting of 1office shift per week in the Crisis Room (4 hour shift), 2 additional on-call shifts per month, and 1 bimonthly group supervision session (1.5 hours).
  • New volunteer advocates are partnered with a mentor prior to providing support independently.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

Please contact the Volunteer Program Coordinator (volunteerintake@klinic.mb.ca).