JANET WILSON

The Women’s Resource Center of the New River Valley is a private, non-profit human service that provides programs and services for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Janet Wilson has been involved with the Women’s Resource Center since 1990.

Her initial involvement with the organization began with an unpaid college internship. Once her internship was complete, Wilson was employed as the Community Resources Specialist under a short-term grant. Although it is rare for former staff members to return to the status of volunteer, Wilson continued to volunteer with the program for a total of 874 hours. She had been trained as a WRC Crisis Intervention Volunteer and has now reached Advanced Volunteer status.

The Women’s Resource Center provides emergency shelter to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault for more than 100 families every year. There are more than 3,000 phone calls per year received on the 24-hour hotline. The organization relies on the support of many university students to answer the hotline and provide support at the shelter. As a community resident, Wilson has made it a point to help when the Center is in the greatest need – when the other student volunteers are off on breaks. She fits volunteering in despite many professional and family commitments. Wilson is one of the rare volunteers who will come out in inclement weather (such as ice storms) to cover the hotline. It is not unusual for her to work six- or seven-hour shifts on her days off from work.

Wilson has taken her own personal life experiences and applied them to her volunteer work. As a single parent of two children (one with cerebral palsy), Wilson learned quickly to be an advocate for her family. She goes the “extra mile” to support clients and empowers them to speak up for themselves.

Wilson has been a Women’s Resource Center volunteer since 1990, logging more than 874 hours. She continues to look for ways to increase her involvement such as through the Volunteer Mentor program. In addition to being a Crisis Intervention Volunteer, Wilson is an ambassador for the Women’s Resource Center. Recently, Wilson accepted a new volunteer position of Volunteer Mentor Program Coordinator. She will facilitate the program, which is designed to foster relationships among volunteers and to provide peer support for them in their work.

Through her professional life as a Head Start teacher, she often refers people to the Center to receive services, makes referrals to other professionals, and speaks well of the Center’s services in the community. Throughout her years of service at the Women’s Resource Center, Janet Wilson has remained constantly dedicated to the mission of the agency – ending violence against women.