Arza Demi, the Volunteer Coordinator at C4R, was responsive, patient, and thorough in helping me get onboarded as a volunteer, walking me through the orientation process, and easing me into the plethora of volunteer opportunities available.
Due to the pandemic, C4R led the way in moving most of their core trainings, volunteer activities, and group support meetings online, making it safe for their coaches, volunteers, and peers.
When I completed the 46-hour training by mid-July, I started attending almost all of the nearly 30 online group support meetings that C4R provides weekly for the entire recovery community. I learned that many of the group meeting facilitators were volunteers at C4R, several of them were graduates of the RSPS training and were volunteer interns at C4R as a way to both contribute to the recovery community and to gain the necessary hours of experience for state certification as a Recovery Support Peer Specialist.
I immediately applied for a volunteer position at C4R and was thrilled when I was accepted! Arza Demi, the Volunteer Coordinator at C4R, was responsive, patient, and thorough in helping me get onboarded as a volunteer, walking me through the orientation process, and easing me into the plethora of volunteer opportunities available. She started me out as a co-facilitator of a few of their weekly group support meetings, and as I became more comfortable, and skilled at leading groups, I was assigned more meetings as co-facilitator, as well as a few meetings as the primary facilitator. I must say that I was very nervous when the training wheels came off during the first meetings that I led. But Arza would attend many of these meetings to provide guidance and support, helping me grow my comfort level.
I greatly appreciate the learning opportunities, the contribution opportunities, and the extremely supportive flexibility that was afforded me by the C4R volunteer program under Arza’s guidance, leadership, and management.
I could write so much more about how amazing and rewarding life has been since I discovered Communities for Recovery and was able to participate in their inspirational recovery support volunteer program.
I wholeheartedly endorse and recommend their program, both for those seeking support for their own recovery, as well as those seeking to grow and develop their own recovery support contributions and vocation.
Dallas Snell
Recovery Support Peer Specialist
Texas RSPS | California CPRM
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