Volunteers must attend all CORE training sessions.

True North’s volunteer training course consists of six classroom sessions to complete the course. The dates of the classes are set for:

Tuesday, 1/23/24 from 5:15 pm to 9:15 pm

Thursday, 1/25/24 from 5:15 pm to 9:15 pm

Tuesday, 1/30/24 from 5:15 pm to 9:15 pm

Thursday, 2/1/24 from 5:15 pm to 9:15 pm

Tuesday, 2/6/24 from 5:15 pm to 9:15 pm

Thursday, 2/8/24 from 5:15 pm to 9:15 pm

Children’s Services: Volunteers help provide much needed on-site childcare for the women living in shelter or accessing our services. Volunteers can play games, read stories, create art plus many more activities while their mother may be in a counseling session, meeting with their case manager, or just enjoying some peace and quiet. Volunteers are needed 7 days a week in the morning, afternoon and evening.

Hospital Advocates: The hospital advocate is an on- call volunteer position. When a victim of domestic or sexual violence seeks help at any Columbia hospital, True North is responsible for sending an advocate out to meet with that person. The volunteer is responsible for responding to the hospital within 30 minutes of receiving the call to provide comfort, support, crisis intervention and safety planning to survivors of domestic and sexual violence.

Residential Assistants: Volunteers primarily provide much needed on-site assistance answering our 24/7 crisis hotline and assisting victims prepare paper work to obtain an ex-parte (Order of Protection). This paperwork is very detailed and critical information and can take from one hour to several hours to complete depending on the situation. Residential Assistants may also help with other office duties at the Shelter as needed.

Special Projects: Throughout the year we host and attend special events including fairs, supply drives and tabling events that we need assistance with. Volunteers help ensure the success of these events by helping with set up/clean up, greeting participants, collecting and or organizing donations. We utilize volunteers for administrative office support as well.

Our volunteers are required to complete our core training followed by additional specialized training(s) before providing services. This training is conducted twice each year. When you fill out an application it will be kept on file and you will be notified when the next training is scheduled.

To begin the process of becoming a True North volunteer, please complete and return the volunteer application and background screening form. The nonrefundable $50 registration fee for administrative and material costs is due prior to the first day of training.

Please mail completed application to:

True North
Attn: Volunteer Training
PO Box 1367
Columbia, MO 65205

Or you can email completed application to
MaggieF@truenorthofcolumbia.org