The Assault Care Center Extending Shelter and Support (ACCESS) coordinators say their volunteers are the reason they can extend a helping hand. Volunteers are now needed and Iowa State students are encouraged to apply.

“Our volunteers are what keep us open 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” said Liz Fitzgerald, ACCESS volunteer program director.

“Without them, we would not be able to offer these desperately needed services,” Fitzgerald said. Last year, ACCESS sheltered more than 200 women and children.

The ACCESS Care Center, a shelter and support service for battered and sexually assaulted women, will have volunteer training sessions Jan. 25, Jan. 26 and Feb. 1-2.

ACCESS coordinators say there are many opportunities for people to help the program remain successful.

Personal interaction with the victims include counseling, listening, answering the Help Line and playing with children. Some jobs may require a volunteer to follow the progress of a victim from the initial arrest of his or her assailant to the prosecution of that person.

Domestic violence is the number one cause of injury to women, higher than the number hurt or injured during car accidents, according to the ACCESS brochure.

The brochure also states that 78 percent of all rapes are perpetrated by someone the victim knows.

Between January 1990 and January 1995, at least 43 Iowa women were murdered by a husband or boyfriend.

ACCESS officials said as a result, the victims need a place to go to where their assailants cannot locate them. ACCESS in Ames provides this shelter. According to the brochure, a rape is committed every 40 seconds in the United States.

The dangers are great, especially in a college community where one in 12 college males self-report having committed rape and one in three women will be raped in her lifetime.

Students can show their intolerance by participating to help stop these acts of violence to make their campus safer.

Members of the community such as police officers, judges and lawyers also volunteer at ACCESS to educate volunteers on the law and proceedings.

They also teach the policies of the agency, emphasizing communication and sensitivity skills.

Coordinators say college students with busy schedules can work as little as four hours a week. Internships and college credits are also available.

If interested in volunteering, contact Liz at 232-5418. Male or female volunteers welcomed.