Medical Advocate/Rape Crisis Counselor

Volunteers are needed to work with survivors of sexual violence in hospital emergency departments throughout Chicago. Volunteers are required to commit to sharing 288 hours on-call with Resilience (a minimum of 24 hours per month for one year). Our volunteers become certified Rape Crisis Counselors (after completing 60 hours of training) and will sign up to be on-call for at least four 6-hour shifts per month. Volunteers will provide in person crisis counseling, support, medical/legal advocacy, information and referrals to sexual assault survivors in any of our 14 contracted hospital emergency departments throughout Chicago. With the survivor’s permission, advocates are expected to remain with the survivor throughout the medical examination and/or evidence collection in the hospital. Volunteers must complete intensive virtual 60-hour training to serve as a Volunteer Medical Advocate in the state of Illinois. Training sessions are held 3-4 times per year.

Please consult our website at www.ourresilience.org/get-involved/volunteer/ for more information about upcoming training dates and deadlines for applying to becoming a volunteer.

Due to rise of COVID-19 in our community, all of our trainings are now offered virtually. Volunteers are provided face masks, hand sanitizers and alcohol wipes in our to provide in-person services at our partner hospitals.

For more frequently asked questions, check out https://www.ourresilience.org/get-involved/volunteer/volunteering-faq/. You are also welcome to email volunteer@ourresilience.org - we'd love to connect with you!