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HelpLine issues call for volunteers Crisis service is critically short-handed By SUSAN JAY HelpLine, Jackson County's only 24-hour crisis intervention and information referral service, is in dire need of volunteers. HelpLine volunteers help callers who need someone to listen and refer them to local human service agencies. It handles 20,000 calls a year. The program has less than two-thirds of the needed volunteers to answer the 24-hour help hotline, said the new volunteer coordinator Jenny Rossow. "To effectively run a 24-hour-crisis line you need 60 to 75 people," Rossow said. HelpLine has fewer than 40 people, and those volunteers are pulling double shifts to keep the lines open all day and night. In the past, college students studying psychology and social work have volunteered at HelpLine and received credits. But when these students are through with their studies many of them leave. Rossow hopes to see more volunteers from the general community, along with students. Volunteers receive 20 hours of training, and shifts are four hours each. The next volunteer training is April 10 and 11. The first day is a general introduction to all of Community Works programs. The second day, each program has its separate training session. Community Works also plans to re-open TeenLine, a 24-hour hot line for teenagers in June. This youth hot line also needs teenage volunteers. The service was cancelled last year due to lack of funding, but Rossow said they will be able to start it up again this summer. Rossow and HelpLine's program manager, Ron Elterman, are both new to HelpLine. Rossow has worked as and will continue to be the administrative assistant to Community Counseling Services, another Community Works program. Elterman most recently was an eligibility worker for the state's Disability Services office and was a case manager in the Senior Services office. For more information on volunteering for HelpLine or other Community Works programs call 779-2393. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA