At the time when I joined, support groups were ANAD’s standout service, and the helpline was my desk phone. I started my days by returning voicemails and working to get out any referrals, and paused my work supporting volunteers to answer when it rang. It was manageable, but over time, calls came in frequently enough that I needed help. We brought on an intern, who I trained using all the information I’d wished I had when I started. Later on, after joining the staff, she turned around and made that training even better before we decided once again to lean on volunteer support for the eating disorders helpline, too.
It was while we were formalizing that new volunteer training that COVID hit. I couldn’t bring the desk phone from the ANAD office to my home, so we set up forwarding to a google voice number. The staff traded that number around between our cell phones, texting one another to make sure that it was handed off successfully.
That was a stopgap. Our google voice number could not keep up with the demand that the pandemic unveiled. Eventually, ANAD moved the helpline to a formal hotline service that allowed us to truly share the line remotely for the first time.
While exploring the technology needs of the hotline, we were also expanding our training procedures. With the incredible professional community around us, we created online training modules with a virtual roleplay component. We also made sure that our volunteers would be connected to each other, supported by the staff, and had the tools to take care of themselves along with the callers.