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Keeping families safe is an ongoing priority for Women’s Protective Services (WPS). The mission of WPS is to reduce and prevent the incidents of family violence in West Texas by providing emergency shelter to women and their dependent children. In addition, they try to help clients build healthy and promising futures by providing them with the emotional support and life skills to overcome the pattern of violence that has dominated their lives. For 26 years, WPS has been providing life saving services to over 5,000 women and children each year who are desperate for safety and the hope of a new and non-violent future. Services are offered to victims by WPS without regard to income; they are free, confidential and include:

24-hour crisis hotline and emergency transportation

• Food, clothing, shelter, and medical attention

• Individual and group counseling

• Employment and housing referrals

• Legal advocacy

• Counseling for children

• Support from other women who share similar experiences

• Parenting programs

As federal and state budgets for family violence programs are being continually cut, Women’s Protective Services becomes more and more reliant on volunteers in order to continue to provide the essential services for victims of domestic violence. Whether your talents are cutting hair, public speaking, shopping, or working with children, all types of volunteers are needed to help with all of their programs and services. A spring volunteer training will be held in a few weeks in which you will learn valuable information including an overview of WPS, domestic violence 101, crisis intervention, advocacy, active listening and volunteer opportunities. Each day of training covers a different aspect of the agency and domestic violence. The training is free and no experience is required. All volunteers are required to undergo a background check. Please consider being a ray of hope in the storms of life for these families. “When a tree is healthy, it shades and protects. But when it is battered and broken, it dies from the inside out. A woman is like that too.”

OTHER VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: 

GRACE HOUSE, 6502 4th Street, is organizing a new volunteer corps for several needs, most of which can be done on your schedule. They need Readers to read aloud to seniors who can no longer read for themselves; Arts and Crafts people who would like to help provide interesting and creative activities for their residents; Games player who would like to involve people in various games, call Bingo, or just play cards; Musician to lead the hymn singing on Sundays; and Visitors to simply visit and talk with the older people at Grace House who might like to share their lives and experiences. If you would like to look over a beautiful home for seniors, think about helping out at Grace House.

LUBBOCK AREA COALITION FOR LITERACY in the Mahon Library will train volunteers to tutor adults who need to learn to read, to prepare for the GED test, or to speak English. You will work one-on-one with your student at a time and place to be decided between the two of you. Tutor training will take place on Saturday, April 30 from 9:00 a.m. until noon at the Mahon library, 1309 9th Street. 
The program is also looking for men and women willing to help dyslexic adults learn to read. Volunteers are needed either as one-on-one tutors or as classroom facilitators using The Scottish Rite videotapes of master teachers. Because the Coalition is the only facility offering help for dyslexic adults in our area, the need for tutors and facilitators is great. If you can read, you can help!

To volunteer, or for more information about these or other volunteer positions, please call the RSVP office at 742-2423.

HOW do I join RSVP?
Becoming a member of RSVP is simple as long as you are at least 55 and have some time to volunteer. Just call the office at 742-2423 and chat with Ronda Casey or Bonne Phillips about your interests. If you are not certain what you would like to do, we can mention several current volunteer opportunities and send you a list of the sort of jobs which RSVP members are presently doing to whet your appetite. If you have a special skill or talent that you would like to utilize, we will search to find just the right job for you. Just mail in the enrollment form (requires Adobe Reader) and we will call you!