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Grief Support Facilitator

IMAGINE IS A CENTER FOR COPING WITH LOSS

Become a Volunteer Facilitator

Volunteers must be 18 years of age or older and must attend our three-day facilitator training (with course fee). All potential volunteers are interviewed prior to registering for the training. Completion of training is not a guarantee you will be accepted as a facilitator. 

The training is followed by an individual placement interview. Placements are made after considering schedules and the volunteer needs in the groups. After the training and if you are selected to be a facilitator, a background check will be performed before you begin volunteering.

For more information, please contact us at abigail@imaginenj.org or 908-264-3100.

2023 Facilitator Trainings

Facilitator Training
November 3-5 , 2023
9am-5pm

Register Here

Youth Facilitator Training 
September 10, 2023
9am-5pm
Ages: High school age students

Facilitator Training
August 18-20, 2023
9am-5pm

Important Details:

  • Our Volunteer Facilitator Training is for individuals who intend to volunteer for at least one year.
  • If you have experienced the death of a significant person in your life within the last year, we ask you to discuss this with us before applying, since this training can be an intense experience for newly bereaved persons.
  • Attendance at all training days is required.
  • References and background checks are required for all volunteers.
  • You must be able to commit to volunteering every other week for one year, excluding July, August, and the Holiday Season. Volunteer Facilitators who miss more than three Nights of Support will be asked to step down as a Facilitator and find another volunteer job at Imagine that is a better fit.
  • There is a required fee for the training. Scholarships are available. Please contact us if this fee is a deterrent to your participation.

Volunteer Facilitator FAQs

Not necessarily. While 99% of those who take the training go on to become active volunteers, occasionally trainees are not a good fit for our program. The training is a time for the staff and trainees to evaluate this fit. Don’t worry, training is not a “test.” Instead, it is an opportunity to determine if you are comfortable with our model. We also do a criminal background check that must be cleared before you can start volunteering.
Groups meet once a week, every other week from 6:00-9:30 p.m. from September through June. Groups take an eight-week break between early July to early September. We do not meet during spring break or the two weeks of the end of the year holidays.
The groups are split into three parts: 1 hour pre-meeting for volunteers and the staff, 1.5 hour session  for the children and families, and 1 hour post-meeting for volunteers and staff.
Your consistency in attendance is critical to the effectiveness of the program. While we understand that life happens and occasionally volunteers need to miss due to illness, vacation, and work, we ask that, when you agree to a group time/day/location, it is one you a) can make a regular commitment to and b) will make it a priority to attend on a consistent basis. If more than three sessions are missed in the course of a year, Imagine staff will speak with you about finding another day/time/location that works better with your schedule or another volunteer position at Imagine.
support-group

Life Transforming

“You hear about how the training is life transforming, but, until you experience it, you don’t really get it. It was one of the most powerful experiences of my life.”

– Board Member and Facilitator

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908-264-3100

info@imaginenj.org. 

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2023 Facilitator Trainings