Thank you for volunteering! Please make yourself familiar with the training provided within this post and within this website. As you know, Middle Way House is not your typical destination point, and there are specific requirements regarding how to respond to people calling or coming to the front door.
A good starting point in training yourself for working the front desk is to review our page on Telephone Etiquette.
Some additional critical points to review immediately are:
One rule that must not be broken is that we never let people know who is in shelter. Period. And we also never let them know if someone is NOT in shelter. If the wrong person is in possession of that information, a potential exists for harm to happen to an individual.
Neither Confirm Nor Deny Procedure:
If a person calls or comes to the front door and wants to speak with someone they believe is in shelter you must give a very close version of the following statement to them: “I can neither confirm or deny if >>>>>>>is here; What I CAN do is leave a message so if that person should happen to be here they will have a chance to respond to it. We wish to be as helpful as possible, but we can never guarantee that this message is received, just as we can neither confirm or deny if that person is here.
This rule must be consistently followed.
If someone seeking services comes to the front door, do not require them to sign in. Ask for their first name, and ask if they have already spoken with someone over the phone. If they are here to see Legal, page legal. Legal staff usually come up front to retrieve their appointments. If a client comes in wishing to speak with a legal advocate without an appointment, simply ask them to wait in the sitting area and retrieve a legal advocate if one is available, and if they aren’t available write down a message in the message book for the legal advocate to return a call to the client.
If the person coming to the front door is seeking shelter services or crisis services of any sort, as before, ask for their first name and ask if they have spoken with anyone in shelter prior to coming. If they haven’t, assure them that this is okay. Depending on how they present themselves, it might be an appropriate time to let them know that you are sorry they are going through whatever it is they present with. Be aware that a person coming to us for services may be blunt, disoriented, or extremely nervous about coming to the front door and in whatever way you know how to show compassion for them, please do so. However…..if they start to share their story with you, give them the kindness of assuring them that an advocate will be here to listen to them and that it is best for them to wait and share their information with them. People who have experienced trauma should not have to talk about their trauma any more times than necessary. You serve them best by encouraging them to wait to present it to the advocate who will meet with them.
Bring the person to the back intake room (commonly referred to as the spa room). The basic all day volunteer training does not grant you access to the shelter, so if you have not had the additional crisis training offered by the Crisis Intervention Staff, you will not be able to enter the shelter to ask for an advocate. It is best find another staff person in admin who has that access, or to directly call the intercom number of an advocate to let them know there is a client in the spa room. Give their first name and let them know if the person stated they had spoken with anyone prior to arriving.
Please refer to the page on responding to law enforcement when a law officer comes to the front door. Also refer to notes on ICE.
Please follow the Neither Confirm Nor Deny Procedure mentioned above when dealing with other community agency members, including DCS (Department of Child Services). Be kind while standing your ground.