The Life of a Youthliner

Hi All! It’s your loyal Youthliner, L!
Today I’m going to talk about what it’s like to be a volunteer on the Youthline. I’d be lying if I said that it’s heart-pounding, passionate work 100% of the time, but it’s still very rewarding. Did you know that some volunteers (including me) travel over an hour to get to the YL office? That’s a long time to be stuck on a bus or in a car. But, in the end, it’s worth it. We get to work with some amazing people at Oregon Partnership, and of course we get to talk to the youth of Oregon. Before we even take a single call we have to go through 25 HOURS of training. We talk about everything from how to fill out call reports to protocol if someone calls who’s thinking about ending their life. I personally found the training to be really helpful, especially the guest speakers. After the training is done, each Youthliner is assigned one three hour shift per week. We’re usually paired up with one other person, a shift partner. Mine happens to be a super awesome girl who runs a website all about suicide prevention called The Ending Suicide Project (check it out on Facebook below!)There’s also an hour overlap between the afternoon shift and the evening shift, so we can have as many as five people in the Youthline room at a time! It gets a little crowded. One of the coolest things about volunteering for Oregon Partnership is the awesome people you meet. Even the adults are really cool. All of our coordinators go to PSU, and feel really passionately about the work they do. The OP intern is a good friend of mine as well. I can’t count the hours I’ve looked over his shoulder helping him make creative decisions about the OP Website and blog. He’s a whiz with HTML and other computer code. We have a joke that he even sleeps here. Want to come and meet some of these awesome people? Our next outreach is Scream At The Beach (details below). Youthline is a really direct way to make a difference in the lives of youth all over the state. Need community service hours? Looking to put something on college apps? Want to change a life? Click on the volunteer link on our website for information. And, as always, call us if you need us! We listen, we advise, and we keep it to ourselves.
Have a great week!
L
Links:
Scream At The Beach:
When: Saturday, October 22nd, 6:00-9:00 PM
Where: Scream At The Beach (1802 Janzen Beach Center, Portland OR 97217)