Care Capsule
 

You Can Give Care & Kindness

—— Dr. Bill Gaultiere
Executive Director of New Hope

As a New Hope Counselor, you can make a positive
difference in the world — one dialogue at a time.

 

Marion Bower came all the way from New Zealand to the Crystal Cathedral to participate in the New Hope Pre-Conference and the International Conference on Care and Kindness. Others came from England, the Netherlands, Canada, and all across America.

Why did these people come so far?
They wanted to take New Hope’s lay counselor training program and then to have an opportunity to use it back home! You may want to join New Hope also.

New Hope has over 400 volunteers — seniors, adults, and teens from all walks of life. They give eight hours a month to extend caring ears and kind words to 150 anonymous strangers in pain who contact us every day.

Most New Hope Counselors are here at the Crystal Cathedral answering the cries for help that come into 714-NEW-HOPE and our toll free line for teens, 888-747-TEEN.

Here’s what New Hope Counselors say about their experience:

• “I had a void in my life. I wanted to help others so I joined New Hope and it’s changed my life!”

• “Right at home from my computer I’m able to offer help to people from around the world.”

• “My life has greater meaning when someone says: “Thanks for listening. I feel better now.”

• “I prevented a suicide. And all I did was listen!”

• “I feel the warmth of God’s presence.”

• “Helping hurting people with their problems helps me. I learn from their experiences and grow in wisdom so that I make better decisions.”

• “It’s a joy to give something back.”

Other counselors are spread across 16 states and three countries, using their home computers to volunteer in our private chat room on www.NewHopeNow.org. There they exchange typed messages with visitors, offering care and kindness to needy hearts by putting into practice basic New Hope Counseling techniques like active listening, brainstorming, encouragement, prayer, and offering referrals.

Recently, the Orange County Register featured an article on one of our New Hope Counselors named Glenn Gorman, a man who transitioned from cop to crisis counselor. More than that he says, “I went from a `bottom-line’ kind of guy to someone who can listen – really listen . . . I’ve learned to respect other people’s feelings.” As a result he’s connecting with people in extraordinary ways. They feel cared for and helped and he feels a new sense of fulfillment.

Even when away from New Hope, working in his Auto Body and Paint shop, Glenn listens to people’s hurts. Glenn said, “Everyone has to tell their story about their accident: ‘You won’t believe this! The skids were forty feet long!’” Most people in Glenn’s line of work would tune these stories out because they’ve heard them all before, but through New Hope Glenn has learned to listen and to offer words of comfort.

That’s what New Hope is about. Giving people like you the training and the opportunity to make a positive difference in our world — one dialogue at a time. It means connecting with people in pain and experiencing a new sense of meaning in your own life. It means giving care and kindness to one of society’s outcasts – victims of abuse, the mentally ill, and people forgotten by their families. It means preventing a suicide.
I hope you’ll consider joining New Hope. The best way for you to get started is by attending the upcoming New Hope Pre-Conference, followed by the International Conference on Care and Kindness.

If you can’t attend, check out our online training program at www.NewHopeNow.org.

New Hope Counselor Training
Pre-Conference
March 14-15, 2001

Take New Hope Crisis Counseling’s life-changing training program in just four days by participating in the Pre-Conference and the Care Conference. Then volunteer for New Hope as a telephone counselor at the Crystal Cathedral or as a chat room counselor from your home computer!

For more information call Sara at (714) 971-4308 or go to “Volunteer” at www.NewHopeNow.org.

 

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