POD volunteers do more than just provide service; they run the organization. POD members both provide services in the community and act as our Board of Directors.
All members must first undergo a rigorous training in order to prepare them to both be outreach workers and administer the organization. In order to be considered for the training you must first complete an orientation, application and interview.
The POD Board of Directors is in turn overseen by our Community Advisory Board (CAB) made up of experts and interested others who audit decisions made by POD’s board.
For more information please see:
Orientation
Training
Membership
Testimonials
Qualifications & Experience
Application
We have introduced a monthly orientation to our intake process for new volunteers. The orientation is designed to give you an overview of the work we do, the training we provide, as well as a hands-on introduction to the materials we give out to our participants. The orientation takes place on the second or third Monday of each month at 7:00pm and lasts about two hours. You must RSVP to volunteer@pointsofdistribution.org in order to attend an orientation.
Below is the schedule for the coming months-
- January 30, 7:30pm
- February 20, 7:30pm
- March 12, 7:30pm
- April 16, 7:30pm
To participate in an orientation please email us at: volunteer@pointsofdistribution.org for location and directions.
Our training is one of the core components of our organization and everyone who wants to be a member of the organization must go through it (please see the section on Qualifications & Experience for potential grounds for exceptions).
We offer trainings twice a year. In order to be considered you must complete an application and interview process. The training is very rigorous and takes place during four to five weekends over eight-weeks and includes:
* In-Person Classes
* Self-Guided Homework
* Independent Project
* Hands-On Training on Shift
Interested applicants MUST be prepared to commit to serving as members for a minimum of one-year after they complete the training.
Classes include:
* Outreach Theory and Practice
* Safer Injection Practices
* Harm Reduction 101 and Syringe Provision
* History of Drugs and the War on Drugs
* O.D. Prevention & Response
* Civil Liberties and De-Escalation
* Sex Work 101
* Motivational Interviewing and Communication Skills
* Vicarious Trauma & Self Care
As well as many others…
Once you have satisfactorily completed the training you are required to maintain minimum requirements in order to maintain your enfranchisement and ability to provide services. Membership requirements include: 6 outreach shifts and 2 business meetings per quarter and 8 hours of “off-shift task work” per month. In addition members must participate in in-house continuing education in order to maintain their skills.
The POD training grows out of the tradition of educating lay-people to provide services established by libratory health programs and clinics such as the Berkeley Free Clinic, the Women’s Community Clinic and others. As such our training is rigorous and quite demanding. At the same time most of the members who have tackled this challenge have found it incredibly valuable:
“The training was soo important. I got passionate and hooked day one. It’s a ton of vital information, and with all this new knowledge comes this feeling of ‘i gotta do something!’.. and that’s right where POD comes in and provides a great opportunity to do so. It reminded me what’s worth fighting for.“- Hannah
“In my opinion the training itself was worth joining POD. It’s intense and demanding and covers much more than you would expect. We developed into a fantastic team that gave each other support at any time (sometimes during this experience you’ll need it) and all of us were sad when the last training week-end ended.“- Sabine
There are no specific skills required to participate in the training; we teach you everything you need to know and then some.
Though there are no specific skills required previous experience working in HIV prevention, medical care, mental heath care, harm reduction &/or with marginalized populations such as homeless folks, active drug users or sex workers &/or life experiences with injection drug use, incarceration, sex-work, homelessness etc. are all extremely beneficial and may, at our discretion, make you eligible to have some or all of the training requirements waved. Please let us know before the interview process if you would like to pursue a waiver and we will discuss the process with you during the interview.
Statement of Non-Discrimination: For the record POD does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, current or former drug use history, political affiliation, incarceration history, disability status, mental health history, HIV status, size or any other class.
Our next training is scheduled for Spring 2012. You may download the application here:
Please note that if you submit your application more than 30 days before the next training we will hold your application & interview closer to the start date of the training. For questions or more information about the training please email us at: volunteer@pointsofdistribution.org