Pam
Natalie
We volunteer to hopefully keep impaired drivers off the road. VIP (The Victim Impact Panels) help keep the message going; public awareness of the impacts of impaired driving. There are a lot of ads against drunk driving, yet there’s nothing like telling a personal story to drive that impact home. Yes, billboards are fine, yet looking at one does not bring that public awareness like attending a VIP where the messages are felt, and they can hopefully learn or, “We will see you again.”
I thoroughly enjoyed my VATI (Victim Assistance Training Institute) training. The MADD host was awesome! I honestly didn’t think that doing it online was going to work. The host was wonderful with helping everyone stay on track, was great viewing the graphics and all of the educational resources. My first experience with VATI was in Ohio (2013) amongst a huge crowd. I learned more from an intimate virtual training, with the host as a facilitator because there were less distractions and more space to ask questions. I also enjoyed the homework activities; the training was all very well done.
Natalie
Something has to come that’s positive out of these experiences we had - because they are too gut-wrenching and destructive. Volunteering helps keep the soul alive to move on to help the next person. It’s overwhelming sometimes. Victims and survivors don’t have to be alone during these challenging times.
Pam
The online part afterwards was very fun, too. We had like twelve hours of online training afterwards that we learned a lot of information. VATI was very helpful for us as volunteers.
“ ... I realized I could not do the walk alone so I recruited Natalie to be Co-chair ... and we have been side by side ever since . ”
December 2022
23
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