Volunteers can train online for youth helpline

HAZLET — Making a difference in a child's life just got easier.

The nonprofit 2nd Floor, a toll-free, anonymous and confidential helpline for children and adolescents in New Jersey, has made training for volunteers more accessible via online courses.

The helpline is a program of 180, Turning Lives Around and receives thousands of calls each month from young people needing help with peer relationships, substance abuse, family difficulties, dating relationships and a host of other problems that they face on a daily basis.

Phone lines are staffed with master's level counselors, who are assisted by volunteer advocates.

Volunteer advocates can now train online using an e-learning course, followed by 20 hours of hands-on training at the call center located in the Bayshore area.

Those interested in joining the helpline's mission can e-mail www.2ndFloor.org and click on the adult volunteer "button" or contact volunteer coordinator Regine Tollefsen at 732-264-4111.

For more than 30 years, 180 Turning Lives Around, a private nonprofit, has been dedicated to providing shelter, counseling, protection, support, prevention, education and advocacy for residents of Monmouth County who are affected by domestic violence and sexual assault.

Victims of domestic violence can call the confidential, domestic-violence hot line at 732-264-4111, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For additional information, visit www.180nj.org.