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 Sometimes, a soothing voice on the other end of the phone can make all the
difference between anxiety and reassurance, between fear and strength, between
feeling alone and being supported. In Boulder County, a victim who is facing the
fear and uncertainty caused by a trauma may answer the phone to discover Boulder
resident Frank Hagin providing that soothing voice of calm and comfort.
Five
years ago, Frank Hagin answered the call to “reach out and touch someone” when
he learned about the Victim Assistance Program of the Boulder County Sheriff’s
Office. The Victim Assistance Program is one of several programs run by the
Sheriff’s Office using the skills, caring and dedication of volunteers.
Volunteer victim advocates provide support, referrals, resources, information
and advocacy to victims of crime or trauma.
Frank
and his wife re-located to Boulder in 1994, after he retired from teaching math
at the Colorado School of Mines. In 2003, Frank joined the Victim Assistance
team as an on-scene advocate, responding to pages from law enforcement and
showing up at the scene of events to provide in-person comfort and support to
victims. When time constraints limited his ability to go out on calls, he
shifted to the outreach branch of the program, in which volunteers call victims
to check in on their well-being and offer information and referrals.
Frank recalls one memorable
call he took, in which he was following up with a couple that had just
experienced a burglary. As he listened to the wife tell her story, he learned
that her greatest concern wasn’t the burglary – it was the health of her
husband. Her husband had been involved in a motorcycle accident and was facing
the possibility of losing his leg. It became clear to Frank that this woman
wanted and needed to talk about this emotional and life-changing issue. Frank
used his skills as an advocate to listen to her compassionately and reassure her
that she wasn’t alone.
Frank
is married and has three daughters, six grandchildren, and one very photogenic
cat. In his spare time, he likes to do renovation projects, furniture building
and woodworking. He is just one of more than two dozen other volunteers in the
Victim Assistance Program, which is currently recruiting for new volunteers.
“Our volunteers find that this is such a wonderful
opportunity to provide compassion and aid in our community, while at the same
time growing and learning as individuals,” said Donna Foster,
coordinator of the Victim Assistance program.
The
program will offer a free, 40-hour training in April in which volunteers learn a
breadth of useful information and skills. The deadline to apply for the program
is March 14.
For
more information, visit
www.bouldersheriff.org.
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