Volunteer

The ultimate goal of a sexual assault advocate is to provide support and foster an environment of independence, helping victim survivors gain confidence in their choices. The advocate is a facilitator, sharing knowledge, giving choices, and acting as a guide.

Our next in-person volunteer training is scheduled for October.
We will begin the interviewing process in September.

If you are required to attend the 40-Hour Training on behalf of another agency, please do not fill out the volunteer application. Send us an email at [email protected] to get connected.

If you have any questions about becoming a sexual assault advocate for Sexual Violence Center, contact us at [email protected].

Our trainings are structured in compliance with Minnesota State Statute §595.02, with more than 40 hours of training over the course of several weeks to build your competency in sexual assault advocacy.

We will help you prepare to provide direct services to victim/survivors of sexual violence, including answering our crisis line and supporting victim/survivors. We offer additional training options for volunteer advocates interested in one-to-one peer counseling, facilitating support groups, teaching about sexual violence in schools, and legal advocacies.

• Complete SVC’s Sexual Assault Advocacy Training
• Volunteer for office shifts four hours a week (for the first 6 months)
• Attend monthly supervision sessions facilitated by SVC staff
• Respond to crisis line calls for support and hospital advocacy requests for two or more on-call shifts per month (including overnight & weekends)
• Attend a minimum of four in-service continuing education trainings per year
• Work with people of all cultural backgrounds, racial backgrounds, sexual orientations, gender identities, abilities and socio-economic backgrounds

• Crisis phone counseling (including overnight/weekends)
• Hospital advocacy (including overnight/weekends)
• Participate in community education by facilitating discussion around sexual violence
• Collect and record accurate victim survivor data
• Hold in confidence all agency and related business
• General administrative tasks and special projects

With additional training, you can help support our mission in the following ways:

• Short term one-to-one peer counseling
• Support group facilitation
• Legal advocacy: criminal and civil justice support
• Community education events, tabling, speaking
• Board or committee memberships and special projects