Volunteering Will Change Lives - Yours Included
Alternatives to violence project
How it Works
Becoming an AVP volunteer is incredibly rewarding. Like anything worthwhile, it requires time and effort. Here's a look into how the process works.
The Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) is an international program which provides experiential learning to people focusing on the power within all of us to seek non-violent solutions to every day difficult situations. Please refer to the Program page to learn further details about how the program is executed.
Within correctional facilities, workshops are held on pre-selected Friday, Saturdays and Sundays in coordination with the CT Department of Corrections (DOC). Each correctional facility that offers AVP has a coordinator on the outside who works with DOC to present scheduled workshops.
Alternatives to Violence Project workshops are available outside of prisons including programs for community groups, youth, and support agencies.
Pre-Approval
You will be required to apply for approval from DOC which includes a background check. People who have been formerly incarcerated are encouraged to apply. DOC has a requirement that person must have been released at least 3 years prior to the application date and not be on parole or probation.
Please be honest about criminal history. If you are interested in applying, please send a request to AVPConnecticut@gmail.com providing your name, address and phone number.
Post-Approval
Once approved, you will attend the Basic and Advanced Workshops as participants. You will then attend a training-for-facilitators. Upon completion, you can volunteer as little or as much as you want. Facilitation of these workshops are conducted in teams which include inmates who have gone through the programs and the training-for-facilitators as well. Also, DOC will meet with you before your first workshop to inform you of the rules and regulations within the correctional facility.
Have a Safety Concern?
One may have concerns about volunteering in a prison due to what they heard or have seen in the media about the prison environment. The Department of Corrections is totally committed to ensure the safety of volunteers. A corrections officer is assigned to each workshop and monitors the workshop (visual – no audio) from outside the room. The climate in the classroom is one of safe space. The lessons of AVP, the style of delivery of activities (experiential) coupled with gratitude from the participants to the volunteers result in a climate of mutual respect, collaboration, attentiveness and support for one another.
The current 5 AVP Coordinators have a combined total of 71 years of volunteering for this program. They will tell you that this is the best volunteer work they’ve ever done. That’s why they stay.
Soul Filling Work
“[As a facilitator] I learn as much as the participants from this work. It’s so rewarding to watch the participants learn and grow over the course of the weekend. It’s soul filling work.”
Michelle P.
Let's Make a Difference
Volunteer
Fill out the form to get in touch with one of our coordinators. We look forward to hearing from you!
