Organization is seeking volunteers to help victims of sexual abuse

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX — The purple door has a team of advocates who specifically work with survivors of sexual abuse.

Those advocates make up the sexual abuse response team, or SART, which right now is under staffed.

Maribel Arredondo, with the purple door says the volunteers are trained to be the first line of support for victims.

“You’re just there as a moral support for the survivor letting them know what their options are and letting them know they’re not alone,” said Arredondo.

Volunteers take on their choice of an 8-hour shifts where they are on-call to perform tasks like accompanying a victim to the hospital after they've been abused.

“Be there to support their survivors as they're getting their exams done,” said Arredondo.

Volunteers can also accompany victims of sexual abuse to court proceedings if the victim chooses to press charges.

“They go to trial or they go to court proceedings, then the volunteer who showed up at the hospital we try to have them also show up at the court, so they've got that consistency of support,” said Arredondo.

Volunteers do need to complete two trainings before joining SART, one course focuses on the services the purple door offers.

The other is a 40-hour training program from the Attorney General’s office and takes 4 weeks to complete.

Arredondo says anyone with a willing heart can be a volunteer.

“Some are students, some are full time employees, some are retired,” said Arredondo.

You can sign up to become a volunteer by calling 361-248-3383