Longmont seeks more victim advocate volunteers

The city of Longmont Victim Advocates is seeking more volunteers as a resource to others in our community. 

Victim Advocates provide “emotional support to victims of crime and tragedy,” said Andrea Buitrago, Victim Services manager for the city of Longmont. “They do on-scene crisis intervention as well as connect victims with resources and information.”

Suheily Ordonez began volunteering several years ago. She said she was surprised by how much she enjoyed working with people in the community. Her experience as a volunteer inspired her to enter law enforcement. She is currently an intern with Victim Advocates in Longmont.

Ordonez said she found it rewarding to be able to help officers at a scene take care of the victims so the officers could do their jobs. 

Volunteers and staff are there to help when people are living one of the worst moments of their lives. Sometimes the only thing they need is someone to stand next to them as they process what happened. Sometimes people need to be connected to other services such as grief services. Volunteers provide a wide array of comfort to these people that help them begin to process the moment. 

“The impact depends on the crime,” Buitrago said.

Buitrago oversees the program and is excited to welcome new volunteers. Currently, the team has roughly 16 volunteers who take regular shifts, however, more volunteers are needed to cover other shifts, she said. 

Volunteers do not need any previous experience as they will receive three weeks of training and then will shadow other volunteers and staff to ready them to help victims. The shifts are 12 hours long from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. or 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., however, volunteers can choose to combine their shifts into 24 hours to meet the 48-hour shift requirement a month. 

If you still want to help but don’t think you can fulfill the volunteer commitments, Buitrago said there are some administrative volunteer opportunities available.

“The biggest thing about having a victims advocate unit is the relationship we are able to build with everybody on the team,” Ordonez said. 

Those interested in volunteering can connect with Buitrago at [email protected] or call 303-651-8855.