Volunteer with us!

Turn your compassion into action and VOLUNTEER with the Help Center!
We were voted the #1 Place to Volunteer in the 2021 Gallatin's Greatest! Join our team!

Volunteer Application

Please read the full position description below for our Crisis Line Volunteer position. Please fill out the volunteer application to be considered for our next training. The next crisis line volunteer training will be announced here. IMPORTANT: To be a crisis line volunteer, you must be able to come into our location in Bozeman, MT for your training and shifts.

Our next volunteer training has been scheduled for the following dates – ALL dates are mandatory to attend:
September 4th, 5:30-8:00pm
September 7th, 9am-1pm
September 11th, 5:30-8:00pm
September 18th, 5:30-8:00pm
September 21st, 9am-1pm
September 25th, 5:30-8:00pm

Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training*: Dates TBD
*This training is mandatory for all staff and volunteers to be able to answer the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

​Once you apply, we will respond within 3-5 business days with an invitation to interview, where you will learn more about the position and determine if it is a good fit. If you have further questions ,
​please email us at [email protected] or call 406-587-7511.

Volunteer Application

Crisis Intervention and Referral Specialist (Crisis Line Volunteer)
The goal of the Crisis Intervention and Referral Specialist is to use active listening skills to bring about a positive change in the emotional state of the caller from the time initial contact is made to the time the call is concluded. Callers seeking information or referral will experience increased awareness of the resources that are available in the community as a result of calling the Help Center hotline. We ask that volunteers make a 9-month commitment to us. During that commitment, volunteers are expected to come in for one 4-hour shift per week (with exceptions for emergencies, illness, vacations, etc.).​ IMPORTANT: To be a crisis line volunteer, you must be able to come into our location in Bozeman, MT for your training and shifts. Must be 18 or older.

Crisis Line Volunteer Position Description

Volunteer Training:  
For the Crisis Line Volunteers, we generally hold training twice a year, once in the fall and once in the spring. You can apply at any time, however! Please view the details of our Volunteer Training Program to understand the time commitment and training involved to become a Crisis Line Volunteer.  After completing our training program, volunteers are asked to commit to 6-9 months of weekly 4-hour shifts.

Volunteer Application

Help Center has been assisting the residents of our community since 1971. Our volunteers are people who genuinely care about their fellow human beings… people like YOU!
YOU GIVE… Caring, compassionate support to people who have an immediate need.
YOU GET… Incredible fulfillment and enhanced communication skills you will use throughout your life.
Our volunteers represent a wide range of diversity and backgrounds. What they share in common is the willingness to help others. To volunteer, you need have no previous training or experience. Training is provided in all areas.

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Other Volunteer Opportunities

​Telecare
This is a service whereby we make daily telephone calls to home-bound individuals who are typically elderly. For some, we are their only contact with the outside world and it gives us great joy to provide this for them and is also a way to prevent crisis through this consistent connection.  Once you are successfully trained, there is even an option to do this from home!  Must be available from 8am-11am one day a week.  

Resource Database Updating
The Help Center maintains a community resource database for 13 counties in southwest Montana for Montana 211.  We need volunteers to help regularly keep this information up to date in order to best serve our community members in need of services.  Minimum time commitment is 2 hours a week.  Once trained, there is an option to do this from home! 

Board of Directors
Our Board of Directors oversee all of the Help Center programs in addition to Sacks Thrift.  To inquire if we have any board member openings, please email:  [email protected]

Run for Your Life Committee
Run for Your Life is our largest fundraiser, held the Saturday before Halloween and is a 5k Run/Walk, and Kid's Run to benefit the Help Center's work for suicide prevention and intervention.  This is a fun race, to help a very deep purpose.  We are always looking for committee members to help us plan this great community event.  Email our Race Director at [email protected] if you are interested.

Sacks Thrift Store
Sacks Volunteers are crucial to our success in supporting Help Center, Inc. programs, providing vital human services to our community. Volunteers bring a variety of skills to help us make the store look great, make sure quality items arrive on the floor, and more! Volunteering with us not only benefits Sacks, but the entire community as well. Volunteers help keep our operating costs down, which translates into more funding for our community. Whether you are looking to gain new skills, build your resume, meet new people, or just give back to your community! LEARN MORE.

Volunteer your Professional Services
If you have skills or services that you think may be of use to the Help Center, please consider donating your time and energy to us! We are currently looking for professionals in carpentry, painting, and general shelter maintenance and upkeep. If you would like your service to be “on call” such as computer help, electrical problems, snow removal, roofing, plumbing etc., please let us know.

What our volunteers say about their experience:

​"I felt drawn to The Help Center in 2006 after a lifetime of wondering why people always felt compelled to tell me their troubles.  I always thought I must have had some gift.  When I read in the newspaper that the Help Center was looking for volunteers, I applied, knowing that if they would have me, I had found a home. Four years later, I still enter the Help Center, wondering if this is the night I will make a difference in a life.  The things I have learned from the Help Center staff have been applied to my life over and over again."

"Volunteering at the Help Center is very rewarding.  I have been volunteering about 10 years and always look forward to my volunteer shift. The staff is a wonderful group with a big heart.  I admire how they are always are reaching for new ideas to reach the heart of people.  The staff and volunteers are a big family, working together."