OPPORTUNITY: Trauma Intervention Program Seeks Volunteers

This is the year! In 2013, make a difference by volunteering to become a shoulder to cry on for those in the local community affected by death, crime, fire, accidents, or other life-altering heartbreak.

Gina Magee, who serves as executive director of the Trauma Intervention Programs of Southwest Riverside County and is the wife of Lake Elsinore Mayor Bob Magee, is inviting residents to take part in a training program to become a volunteer for Trauma Intervention Programs of Southwest Riverside County.

“It takes a special person to take on someone else’s pain,” Gina Magee has said of the volunteer work. “You need to be able to connect. You need to be able to cry.”

explained.

Once TIP volunteers step in, first responders are more able to do their jobs, she added.

To qualify to be a TIP volunteer, applicants must graduate from the TIP Training Academy; pass a Department of Justice background check; have a working vehicle and current driver’s license, along with valid auto insurance; have an email account and a cell phone.

TIP volunteers are required to sign up for three, 12-hour shifts per month. There is also a mandatory continuing education meeting each month.

Once training is complete, volunteers serve TIP in Southwest Riverside County. The fee for training course supplies is $50 per person, due at orientation.

January training will take place at Rancho Springs Medical Center located at 25500 Medical Center Drive, Murrieta, CA 92562. The schedule is as follows:

1/17/13 Orientation 6 – 9 p.m. at RSMC Admin. #2

1/18/13 Victimology 6 – 9 p.m. at RSMC Admin. #2

1/19/13 1st four EFA Skills 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at RSMC Admin. #2

1/20/13 5th EFA Skill 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at RSMC Admin. #2

1/23/13 Working /Emergency 6 – 9 p.m. at RSMC Admin. #2

1/24/13 Street Smarts 6 – 9 p.m. at RSMC Admin. #2

1/25/13 Dealing with Death 6 – 9:30 p.m. at RSMC Admin. Big

1/26/13 Policies/Procedures 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at RSMC Admin. #2

If you or someone you know is interested in becoming a TIP volunteer, call the TIP message center at 951-698-2453, or contact Gina Magee at 951-226-6793; visit www.tipnational.org for more information.