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Ashgrove Haven
Volunteer

Volunteering: some roles start with forty hours.

About forty trained volunteers keep the helpline answered at night, sit with people at the courthouse, and run the store. Every role is below with what it asks of you; the ones that involve the people we serve begin with the advocate training and a background check.

A week of volunteering

About 40

trained volunteers, beside fourteen staff. Three kinds of week, from the roles below:

The helpline, at night

Staff advocates answer by day; volunteers cover the night shifts from home, after the forty hours.

The courthouse, in the morning

Protective-order hearings are heard in the morning. A court volunteer sits beside the person, and says nothing to the court.

The store, Tuesday to Saturday

Sorting, the till, the back door. No training course, no contact with the people we serve, and a fifth of the budget.

The roles

What is open

Helpline volunteer

4 places open

Overnight and weekend shifts on the helpline, from home or the office, with a staff advocate on call. You listen, you safety-plan, you know when to call the shelter.

Two shifts a month, six hours each · 40-hour advocate training first · background check

Court accompaniment

2 places open

Sitting with a person at the courthouse on the day of a protective-order hearing, so nobody waits alone. The legal advocate briefs you; you never give advice.

Weekday mornings, about once a fortnight · 40-hour advocate training first · background check

Shelter evening helper

Full · we keep a list

Cooking dinner with residents, sorting donations, keeping the house running on a weekday evening. Never alone with a child; never asked about anyone's story.

One evening a week, 5 to 8 · 40-hour advocate training first · background check

Children's room helper

3 places open

Homework, drawing, board games in the children's room, always alongside the coordinator.

One afternoon a week, term time · 40-hour advocate training first · background check

Thrift store

6 places open

The till, the racks, pricing and sorting. The store is public and cheerful; it funds a fifth of the budget.

A half day a week, Tuesday to Saturday · No advocate training needed · no background check

Drives and deliveries

5 places open

Collecting donations, delivering bedding and kitchen boxes to a first apartment, the store's furniture runs. Your own car or the van.

As needed, a few hours a month · No advocate training needed · background check

The training

Forty hours, and why

Oregon law defines a certified advocate as someone who has completed at least 40 hours of training in advocacy for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking, approved by the Attorney General, and who works or volunteers with a qualified victim services program — ORS 147.600. What a person tells a certified advocate is privileged under ORS 40.264. That is why the helpline, court and shelter roles start with the forty hours: the privilege rests on it.

We run the training twice a year, evenings and two Saturdays, at the office. It is stated here as the law reads; nothing on this page is legal advice.

The background check. Every role that goes near the shelter or a child needs one, run by an outside screening service through its own form. We keep only “cleared” and the date; this website asks for nothing that check would need.

A handmade patchwork quilt in muted lavender, sage, cream and plum squares spread over a plain single bed, a second folded quilt on a wooden chair beside it, soft light from a window.
Donated quilts, washed and folded for the next family. Shelter volunteers learn the house’s address on their first shift, from a person.
A wooden garden bench under an ash tree in a small walled garden: a gravel path, lavender and sage in raised beds, a watering can, climbing roses on a high fence, late afternoon light.
The garden behind the office, where the Saturday training breaks for lunch. No one is ever photographed here.
Interest form · demonstration

Tell us you are interested

This form asks how to reach you and which role — nothing about you beyond that, and nothing about anyone else. Demonstration: it sends nothing and stores nothing.

A children’s corner in a plain living room: a low round table with sheets of blank paper and a jar of crayons, a basket of wooden blocks, a small shelf of books and a soft rug in morning light.
The children’s room at the shelter, stocked from the wishlist. The volunteer here needs the training, the check, and patience.
The children’s program

Eighty-eight children stayed last year

Counted once per stay, alongside ninety-eight adults. The children’s program coordinator runs the room in the shelter, keeps school going where it can, and is the person a child volunteer works beside. No child is ever named, photographed or described on this site.

The program cost $84,000 last year; the Financials page has the line.

Ashgrove Haven · domestic-violence services for one county in the Willamette Valley, Oregon · EIN 00-0000011 · [email protected]

The shelter’s address is never published, on purpose. Office visits by appointment through the helpline.

A sample organization on a demonstration site: every person, number and group is invented. Demonstration · Demo tour → · Built by connectNPO →