Volunteer

The purpose of the volunteer position is to answer calls or text/chat conversations from community members seeking support.

Responsibilities

This role will support the Crisis Line or the Text Line by providing service on one 4-hour shift per week for a period of at least 365 days. This role is responsible for upholding standards of care for Crisis Support Services of Alameda County and all of its associated partner agencies and accrediting bodies by providing call (or chat-and-text) -based crisis counseling with a focus on suicide prevention. This role will collaborate with team members on a weekly shift via video and chat, maintain thorough documentation of contact with clients, and simultaneously utilize multiple tools to meet the needs of callers (or texters) and their shift.

Skills

Strong verbal and written communication skills, desire for and openness to receiving constructive feedback, ability to learn and navigate multiple web-based platforms simultaneously, flexibility in adapting to changing needs of each shift, willingness to engage in self-reflective work, timely adherence to deadlines, commitment to displaying empathy and attunement along with effective engagement/connection skills toward callers (or texters). Demonstration of respect for individuals and cultural responsiveness for callers/texters and folks working at our agency as staff and volunteers.

Applicant A.I. Disclaimer

Each application is read and reviewed by human beings! Please avoid using A.I. when answering application questions. We ask for these application materials so that we can get to know each individual applicant better. We've heard enough from artificial intelligence language models and want to hear your voice. For this role, evident use of A.I. in your application decreases your likelihood of being selected to move forward in the application process.

Benefits

Our first training cohort of 2027 is taking place in January, with an application deadline of Monday, November 16th. Any applications submitted after 11/16 will be considered for the 2027 spring cohort beginning in April 2027. Please review the schedule (linked in the document below) for the January 2027 cohort before applying.

Training cohorts for 2027 will take place as follows:

Q1: Training starts in January and ends in March

Deadline to apply is November 16, 2026

Q2: Training starts in April and ends in June

Deadline to apply is Februrary 17, 2027

Q3: Training starts in July and ends in September

Deadline to apply is May 17, 2027

Q4: Training starts in October and ends in December

Deadline to apply is August 2, 2027

View all 2027 training dates here