Information for Volunteers
Mercy Care's core business is to support women and their children so we have chosen to use the International Women's colours for our website which are purple, green and white.
Our volunteers provide on average 175 hours per week of unpaid work within the Metropolitan area of Melbourne.
Mercy Care volunteers have a wealth of knowledge, personal experiences and a passion for assisting women in crisis. Our volunteers commit to fortnightly / monthly sleep-overs or day rosters.
The focus of workers at Mercy Care is Crisis Intervention. Mercy Care is often the first place a woman/accompanying children come to after a violent incident. The primary purpose and goal of crisis intervention is to provide safety and security, meet immediate needs and to offer emotional support. The focus is on the here and now.
Professional development for all staff and volunteers includes attending initial and on-going training and regular supervision sessions. Critical to this training and professional development is the understanding and implementation of the Mercy Care Procedures Manual. Mercy Care has forty five women specifically trained working regularly as volunteers.
Through the volunteer role, professional development and networking, Mercy Care provides opportunities for volunteers to explore their own lives and to value themselves as agents of change. It has also enabled them to offer the often traumatized women and children support, encouragement and the opportunity to be listened to in a non-judgmental way.
Training undertaken includes internal and external programs, and in recent years it has focused on:
- Staff / Volunteer Team development
- Education and training on the issues of Family Violence
- Cultural sensitivity training
- Working with Children who experience Family Violence
- Emotional and Behavioural Implications of Family Violence
The main role of volunteers involves:
- Answering referral phone calls from Women's Family Violence Crisis Service
- Welcoming women and children at all hours of the night
- Sitting with women and listening to their stories in a respectful manner
- Listening to women as they discern their future options and make decisions
- Liaising with Refuges
- Assisting the women to move to a refuge
- Assisting with preparation of meals
- Providing a safe place for accompanying children
- Ensuring the women and children have clothing, sleepwear and toiletries
- Preparing the accommodation for the next woman who will seek refuge at Mercy Care
In 2002 Mercy Care was the State winner of the National Community Link Volunteer awards for Community Service.
Becoming a Mercy Care Volunteer
All volunteers are interviewed by the Volunteer Recruitment Coordinator employed by Shekinah Homeless Service Inc of which Mercy Care is a member. The interviewing process is a formalized procedure in which the volunteer's level of understanding and experience of family violence is ascertained. This assists in determining the applicant's suitability and highlights the training requirements for further professional development.
To enquire about becoming a volunteer please contact
The Volunteer Coordinator
Shekinah Homeless Services Inc
shekinah@pacific.net.au