Sheronda

24-Hour Hotline Volunteer, Twinsburg

When Sheronda was exploring her employer’s volunteer link webpage, she knew that Cleveland Rape Crisis Center would be the perfect place for her to give back to the community.  “I’m very passionate about this cause, and believe deeply in the work we do here at the Center” she explained.  In the past, human trafficking was a cause she had become interested in through the Polaris Project, and she saw helping sexual assault survivors as a natural fit for her.

Sheronda called CRCC, volunteered to work answering calls on the 24 hour hotline, and got involved.  She was impressed from the start. “I was really blown away by the level of training they gave us leading up to working the hotline,” she recalled.  After eight weeks of instruction on how to deal with callers whose emotions may run the gamut from anger to despair, Sheronda began giving at least 20 hours a month to CRCC.  She has helped survivors and their families, professionals, and more by connecting them to services and offering a willingness to listen.  And from Sheronda’s perspective, “sometimes the most important thing you can do for a caller is just listen, and give them a place to voice their pain, anger, fear, and frustration.” 

In her hours of hotline time, Sheronda has picked up the phone and listened to nurses looking for resources for patients suffering from sexual assault, long-term survivors experiencing flashbacks and nightmares, and individuals who have just been assaulted.  She recalled one particularly stressful call where she had to help a mother whose daughter had accused her son of rape.  Sheronda served as a sounding board for a parent who felt helplessly caught in the middle, and then worked to refer the family to the proper next steps to get the situation safely resolved.

Sheronda has also received unexpected personal benefits from her involvement: “This work has really opened my eyes, enlightened me, taught me to be more safe in my own life, and talk issues over with my children.”  With her first year of hotline work now under her belt, Sheronda intends on being a volunteer for the long haul. “My work at the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center is challenging, but always fulfilling, and I love what I do.”