St. Francis Counseling Service offers sex abuse crises training program

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Sexual violence advocates are needed to help.

Individuals motivated to provide guidance, support and information to victims of sexual assault and abuse and who would like to volunteer as a confidential sexual violence advocate in the community are encouraged to apply for the St. Francis Counseling Service’s Sexual Assault and Abuse Training Program.

Training will begin Sept. 8 and will be held every Monday for 12 weeks at Southern Regional High School in Manahawkin, from 6 to 9 p.m. A second training will also be held in January.

“Volunteer your time to provide survivors of sexual violence the support they need,” urged Erin Borysewicz, sexual assault/abuse prevention outreach coordinator at St Francis Counseling Service. “Our volunteers provide crisis intervention, information and support for survivors. We believe awareness will create action to combat sexual violence in Ocean County.”

After completing the training program, volunteers will be on-call to provide crisis intervention, information and referral services to sexual assault victims by phone and in person. In addition, advocates may also respond to a victim for accompaniment at one of four Ocean County hospitals, including Southern Ocean, Community, Kimball and Ocean medical centers, as well as the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office and any police department within the county.

To pick up an application and schedule an interview, call 609-494-1554 or email Borysewicz at e.borysewicz@stfrancislbi.org.

— Kelley Anne Essinger

This article was published in The SandPaper.