In the past year, the Merryman House has served 53 men, 910 women, and 117 children. We have fielded 610 domestic violence calls and hosted 6,449 in-person individual and group counseling sessions. And, we couldn’t have done any of it without the help of faithful volunteers.
On average, 100 people donate their time each month to help make our domestic crisis center a safe, healing place for trauma survivors. Some come for short periods of time for college credit or serve for a day or so with a church group. Others undergo 20 hours of training to become regular volunteers so they can show love to our clients every one or two weeks.
We value each moment a volunteer chooses to serve. Helping one trauma survivor requires a lot of time and attention, so the more time we have, the more survivors we can help.
“Volunteers bring a lot of relief to us because there’s no other way we could get everything done that we have to do,” Volunteer Coordinator LaVonna Willingham says. “We need someone to come alongside to lift that load.”
The men and women who serve with us perform a variety of vital tasks that help Merryman House operate smoothly each day. These tasks include…
- Administrative duties: filing, assisting our receptionist, entering data
- Shelter support: opening the medicine closet for clients, handing out supplies, babysitting, cleaning bathrooms, supporting employees during crises
- Prepping food in the kitchen
- Providing assistance during child group therapy sessions
- Other areas where our volunteers have passions and skillsets that can be utilized!
Plus, the Merryman House receives grant money for the volunteer hours it logs —so not only do volunteers help run our programs but they help fund them, as well!
If you would like to serve trauma survivors as a Merryman House volunteer, please email LaVonna at lavonna@merrymanhouse.org or fill out our online volunteer form.
We’ll help you find the perfect role that suits your skills and passions.
