CONTACT of Mercer County, a non-profit community agency serving the people of Mercer County since 1976, is offering a free training course for prospective Crisis Hotline volunteers. Classes teach compassionate non-judgmental listening techniques as well as crisis intervention skills. Speakers from a variety of Mercer County Human Service Agencies are presenters.

Training classes start Sept. 14, and meet weekly through Dec. 7. There are two courses available: from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. The classes are held in Trinity United Methodist Church, 1985 Pennington Road, Ewing. To register, visit www.contactofmercer.org or call 609-883-2880 for more information.

CONTACT of Mercer County was started in 1976 as an outreach of the Methodist Church, and it was based on core Judeo-Christian values of acceptance, love, and service. There is no preaching on the hotline phones, but many of the dedicated volunteers are motivated to serve through their personal faith experience. This is a ministry of presence, and there is no requirement of personal religious belief. Volunteers come from all walks of life, faith backgrounds, education, and are diverse in age. Volunteers must be at least 18 and there is no maximum age.

Callers to the hotline include people coping with mental illness, in crisis, suicidal, drug addicted, grieving, and those who feel left out and very lonely. CONTACT offers three additional programs: Telephone Reassurance for the Elderly: Volunteers place daily calls to people age 60+ living alone in Mercer County. These calls offer a short telephone visit as well as a daily safety check.

RSVP: The Retired and Senior Volunteer Program supports volunteers in more than 30 Mercer County non-profit organizations.

Amachi-Break the Cycle: This program is part of RSVP and provides mentors for children of incarcerated parents. Amachi-BTC partners with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mercer County and Boys & Girls Club of Trenton & Mercer County.

According to Eleanor Letcher, director of CONTACT of Mercer County, it is the dedicated volunteers “who are at the heart of our agency.”

“They have turned their faith into action to make our community a better place. We welcome new volunteers!” said Letcher, adding that “CONTACT saves lives! By volunteering, you can help us to help others.”

Does your parish, school or group need volunteer assistance? Put out a call for volunteers through the Faith in Action feature of The Monitor. Send all requests to [email protected]. Type FAITH IN ACTION into the subject line.