SAVI provides free and confidential services to survivors, include counseling, referrals, and support services. It also trains volunteer advocates to respond to provide “immediate crisis intervention, emotional support, and information” to survivors in the emergency rooms of Elmhurst Hospital Center, Queens Hospital Center, and The Mount Sinai Hospital of Queens and, in Manhattan, Harlem Hospital, Lenox Hill Hospital, Metropolitan Hospital, The Mount Sinai Hospital, and North General Hospital.
“The SAVI program could not exist without the volunteers,” said Lauren Moran, the volunteer program coordinator at SAVI.
Moran explained that volunteers work overnight and weekend day time shifts, which are times when the hospitals don’t typically have a social worker on call, and are on call once or twice a month. As advocates for the survivors, the volunteers help with a variety of tasks, whether it be helping them through medical exams and tests or making a phone call for them.
SAVI outreach and training program coordinator Angela F. Cummings explained that all of the advocates go through a 40-hour training program that is certified by the New York State Department of Health. It is conducted over the course of two and a half full weekends and one week night.
In large group sessions, potential volunteers learn about things like the psychodynamics of sexual violence and intimate partner violence, working with specific populations, legal options and protocols. There are also smaller groups that include hands-on activities such as role playing.
Volunteers, who must be at least 21 years old and live in Queens or Manhattan, must attend all training sessions. They also have to be cleared by Mt. Sinai and go through a phone screening and interviews before doing the training.
“It really is all about the survivor and our job is to make sure that we are bringing in the best possible candidate to come into our training,” Moran said.
Cummings said, “It takes a very special person to do this type of work because it truly is a very selfless act on all levels.”
Jamaica resident Rosetta Garrett began volunteering with SAVI about five years ago and has been working as an advocate. She said she wanted to be able to “let the survivor know that he or she has a choice and has a voice.”
Loretta Morris began volunteer about two years ago when she moved to Elmhurst. Along with being an advocate, Morris has been a small group facilitator during training and will be “troubleshooting” beginning in October, where she will help newer volunteers.
“It’s just something I think is very important and to give back in any way that I can is just a really great thing to do,” she said.
Garrett said that her work with SAVI has enhanced her life and that she is proud of it. She said the most rewarding part is knowing that she has made a difference in the survivors’ lives.
Morris said, “Leaving that emergency room and knowing that you have at least done one positive thing for that person at probably the most terrible time in their life is very rewarding.”
Moran said that the volunteer advocates are “the heart and soul” of SAVI.
The program is currently recruiting more volunteers, particularly in Queens. SAVI can also use volunteer advocates who are multi-lingual. The deadline to contact SAVI for training that will begin in mid-October is September 30.
Anyone interested in becoming a volunteer advocate or exploring other volunteer opportunities with the SAVI Program can call 212-423-2140 or visit www.mssm.edu/savi.
