Who
We Are
MARCH
2003 VOLUNTEER TRAINING
Team HOPE
is a part of the National Center for Missing & Exploited
Children's Family Advocacy Division. Team HOPE volunteers are
mothers, fathers, siblings and extended family members, who
have had (or still have) a cherished missing child. We are
ordinary people who one day were forced to live this nightmare.
We know the pain, the fear, the frustration and the aloneness
of having a missing child. We are courageous, determined,
intelligent and empathetic. We have demonstrated the ability
to turn our personal tragedies into vital lifelines of support
for other families.
Established
in 1998, Team HOPE matches searching families with experienced
and trained volunteers who have had or still have a missing
child. Because they speak from firsthand experience, these
volunteers offer emotional support, compassion, guidance, empowerment
and assistance in ways no other community agency can.
Team
HOPE volunteers include parents, grandparents, and other family
members. Nominations of potential volunteers originate from
active volunteers, the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children, State Missing Children Clearinghouses, nonprofit
organizations dealing with missing children issues and law
enforcement officials. Nominees have demonstrated the ability
to turn their personal tragedies into vital lifelines of support
for other families. Potential mentors are screened and trained
before becoming Team HOPE volunteers.
Coping with the trauma
of having a missing child demands courage and determination
from parents and other family members, who often feel isolated
in the face of fear and frustration. Because our volunteers
had or still have a missing child, we are able to provide compassion,
counsel and support in ways that no other agency can.
Over 14,000 families have
been referred to Team HOPE. Our volunteers offer families of
missing children encouragement, empowerment, and support. It
enables us to share our knowledge and thus help others. Law
enforcement, social services, and other agencies also have
gained valuable insight and assistance from Team HOPE volunteers
in helping families of missing children.
- We instill
courage, determination, and hope on the part of parents and
other family members.
- We take
away isolation in facing their fears and frustrations.
- We provide
compassion, counsel, and support drawing from our training
and personal support.
- We provide
resources and refer to AMECO members and other missing children
non-profit agencies worldwide.
If you would
like to refer a family to access Team HOPE as a support resource
or if you would like to refer a parent to become a Team HOPE
volunteer, please call. We will help.
1-866-305-HOPE
| When
times are tough, it's easy to shut out the rest of the
world. And sometimes it is necessary to turn inward, feeling
the depth and breadth of our sorrow so that our wounds
can heal. But, ultimately, we need to come back out into
the light, scars and all, and allow our suffering to make
us more compassionate toward others. Precisely because
we have known pain of those around us; we can offer the
example of our own journey to healing as encouragement
for those still taking the first steps. In so doing, we
not only inspire fellow sufferers, we make sense of our
own pain. Rather than close off our hearts and sink into
despair, we can let hardship hone us into a vessel overflowing
with wisdom and compassion. And there's no doubt that the
world could use more of that! |
MARCH
2002 VOLUNTEER TRAINING
OCTOBER
2002 VOLUNTEER TRAINING |
