Volunteers Needed for Townhall II Help Line

It's been described as "the toughest job you'll ever love."

And Townhall II needs your help to do it.

The agency needs volunteers to help answer telephones for the 24-hour help line, which takes calls from people who are depressed, struggling with a substance abuse addiction or contemplating suicide.

"It takes a certain type of personality to be wired correctly to do what we do," said Paul Dagas, emergency services coordinator at Townhall II. "I know we are helping people. The people who work in this department are fantastic."

Dagas manages about 36 volunteers and 12 paid staff members who answer the Help line 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Lately they have been busier than ever.  Call volume is at an all-time high this year.

During the last fiscal year, from June 2009 to June 2010, the agency received 5,102 calls to the help line. In the 2008 calendar year, the agency received 3,965 calls compared with 2,972 in 2007.

The increase in volume comes as the emergency services department deals with recent layoffs and, like many non-profit agencies, tight budgets.

Each volunteer receives about 80 hours of training. The training is free, but Townhall II asks for 200-hour commitment in return.

"Which, for most people, works out to a four-hour volunteer shift per week, per year," Dagas said.

He described the training as both intense and emotionally draining.

"We want everybody to know as much as possible before they actually start answering the lines," Dagas said.

Dagas said the stress is well worth it every time a volunteer helps talk someone out of a dark place.

"Most anybody who's ever volunteered . . . have described how it's changed their own lives," he said. "In our job, we're mostly just paid in 'Thank Yous.'"

Interested volunteers can call Townhall II's training coordinator at 330-678-3006. The next upcoming volunteer training session is set for February.