Editor’s note: This is the first of a five-part series on volunteer opportunities in Ames. Anyone interested in volunteering can call the Volunteer Center of Story County at 232-2736, the ISU Volunteer Placement Center at 294-5254, or ACCESS at 232-5418.

Iowa State students can find career experience, a sense of involvement, or simply something to do while volunteering for ACCESS in Ames.

ACCESS, the Assault Care Center Extending Shelter and Support, is a 24-hour crisis intervention service that offers aid to survivors of battering and sexual assault.

According to the 1997 ACCESS volunteer manual, volunteers, many of them ISU students, provide over 20,000 hours of time during nights and weekends.

Sara Junck, sophomore in family services and a volunteer at ACCESS, said she was able to make a difference in another woman’s life through volunteering.

“My first night [at the shelter], a woman called in on the crisis line upset and wanting to end it all,” Junck said. “She wanted out [of her domestic situation] and said if we didn’t take her she was going to kill herself.”

ACCESS was able to provide shelter to the woman, Junck said.

“When she got [to the shelter] she gave me a big hug and thanked me,” Junck said.

Junck said she volunteered because she was feeling uninvolved. “I was in 4-H in high school, and I was always taught that volunteering is what you do,” she said. “It seemed very natural to me to start volunteering.”

Kari Bossom, senior in family services, said she did an internship at ACCESS because she was trying to get an idea of what sort of work was available in her field.

Bossom said ISU students can get a great deal out of volunteering for ACCESS.

“You learn about working with people. You do a lot of listening, being there and being supportive,” she said.

Avery Kumsheer, senior in child and family services, said she volunteers in the shelter answering the crisis line and helping callers and shelter clients with problems they have.

“We get a wide variety of calls,” Kumsheer said. “Some women went through [a crisis] long ago and just need an extra boost. Others just went through it and need help dealing with their emotions.”

Julie DeVall, executive director of ACCESS, said most volunteers provide direct service to clients, which requires them to go through volunteer training.

“If you don’t want to go through training, you can volunteer in other ways based on what you enjoy doing,” DeVall said.

“[ACCESS] is a good program, and I’m glad ISU supports it,” Kumsheer said. “In my view, it’s ISU’s responsibility to take care of the women on this campus, and this is a great way to help out.

ACCESS is funded in part by Government of the Student Body. Additional funding comes from federal and state grants, United Way of Story and Boone Counties, the city of Ames and Story County, as well as individual donations of time and money, DeVall said.

DeVall said this funding allows ACCESS to have full- and part-time paid staff, some of whom are ISU students.

“There is a satisfaction in helping others,” Kumsheer said. “These women are happy just to have someone to talk to who isn’t judging them.”

Junck said everyone should make a point of volunteering at some point in their college career.

“You learn a lot about the world … why you’re here and who you are,” she said.

ACCESS also offers some “pretty unique” services, such as a court intervention project, DeVall said.

“We can help a woman to understand all the different systems that are going to be involved [in litigation],” DeVall said.

One of the ways ACCESS is different from other organizations is its intervention project, DeVall said.

“We are there on the site when the crisis is occurring, whether in a rape exam or with a woman who needs to get a restraining order,” she said. “We have the ability to respond immediately if a person needs help, 24 hours a day. We’re free of charge to everyone.”

ACCESS is currently looking for new volunteer advocates, and is welcoming ISU students to volunteer training starting Sept. 12.