More Peer Supporters Needed!
Helping others creates a good feeling in us,
even when we don't know whom we're helping. If you are resigned or retired
corrections or detention staff, Desert Waters can provide you with the
opportunity to be of assistance to your brothers and sisters still in the
trenches.
Desert Waters needs peer supporters to serve as a resource for staff calling
into The Corrections Ventline. The role of the peer supporter is not to "fix"
situations, but, instead, to listen, assist fellow staff as they explore their
options, and guide them to appropriate resources. Peer supporters let staff
know that they are not alone and that they are talking to someone who has been
there and perhaps even been in the same situation. The peer supporter training
is both fun and hard work, as trainees have to learn to let go of the habit of
solving problems or advising people what to do.
It takes someone special to be a peer supporter. Time on the job is not as
crucial as the ability to care for staff and understand problems they face.
Who else but another correctional worker can truly know what we are going
through? Whether talking to an ex-Federal or ex-State employee, the caller
will know the peer supporter is "family," someone who cares and who wants the
caller to know they are not alone.
After I retired, it took me two and a half years before I found Desert Waters
and decided to give back to my other family. In the old days you just sucked
it up. If you talked about your problems you were labeled a complainer or a
crybaby. It wasn't considered the "manly" thing to do. Now people are learning
to talk and to get help for their problems. That is why peer supporters are so
important.
If you used to work in corrections or detention, please consider becoming a
peer supporter. Giving four hours of your time per week is not much to help
someone possibly keep his or her job, family or even their life.
The Old Screw
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