Delaware Behavioral and Emotional Support Team (DE BEST)

Volunteer Onboarding

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do I need to go through the Onboarding Process?

As part of a Medical Reserve Coros (MRC) unit, we are required to pre-credential and pre-train volunteers according to the required competences identified by MRC and our state’s unit (called RespondDE). Information, documents and trainings allow volunteers to be able to efficiently and effectively provide service to our community in the event of a disaster – a time when they are most in need.

Volunteer Onboarding Checklist

What are roles do DE BEST Volunteers have?

Engage other volunteers and community members
Share the opportunity to become a DE BEST volunteer with others
Distribute preparedness, mental health, and substance use information and resources
Spread the word about Delaware’s 24/7 emotional support “HopeLine”: 1-833-9HOPEDE
Provide Psychological First Aid support for responders and survivors during a response

When can I start volunteering?

Volunteers may participate in team meetings, appreciation events, and most trainings after they have completed the minimum requirements, which includes developing a DETRAIN profile with the “National/Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) / Region 03 (III)/Delaware/[your county name] County MRC” group, then digitally signing two “Surveys”, including: RespondDE MRC Code of Conduct and Waiver and RespondDE MRC Photo Release Acknowledgement.

However, DE BEST Volunteers are NOT AUTHORIZED to participate in community outreach events or deployments until the following are successfully completed:

What are DE BEST Volunteer responsibilities?

Maintain SERVDE.org & linked DETRAIN and FEMA profiles
Submit to Background Check
Complete Onboarding Process, i.e. Qualificaitons and Skills
Update and Monitor Confidential Volunteer Portal
Reply to every “Call Down” (annual drill)
Report Hours and Shift Activities
Debrief after Deployments
Practice Self-Care and Be Prepared

Why do I have to set up profiles on other websites?

We work closely with many mental health and disaster preparedness/response organizations, during onboarding you will create several accounts on several different portals.

Meeting MRC competency requirements requires several trainings, of which various Disaster Response partners host. Some partner sites are integrated with the Emergency Registry of Volunteers and Healthcare Personnel for Delaware (SERVDE.org) and some are not. We apologize for the inconvenience of the process, and we are here to assist.

Thank you for choosing to be one of DE BEST!

"Volunteer, start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can."

arthur ashe

"Volunteerism is the voice of the people put into action. These actions shapte and mold the present into a future of which we can all be proud."

Helen Dyer

"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does."

William James

Volunteering is an act of heroism on a grand scale. And it matters profoundly. It does more than help people beat the odds; it changes the odds.”

William J. Clinton

"It is not enough to be compassionate, you must act."."

Dalai Lama

"Volunteers are not paid - not because they are worthless, but because they are priceless."

Sherry Anderson

"Without volunteers, we'd be a nation without a soul."

Rosalynn Carter

"Volunteering is at the very core of being a human. No one has made it through life without someone else's help."

Heather French Henry

"Pin your hopes on something good - a volunteer."

Sally Painter

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”

Gandhi

“Help one another. There’s no time like the present, and no present like the time.”

James Durst

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Margaret Mead

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”

Helen Keller

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they have the heart.”

Elizabeth Andrew

“As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands — one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.”

Audrey Hepburn

“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.”

Muhammad Ali

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”

Leo Buscaglia

“Every person can make a difference, and every person should try.”

John F. Kennedy

“The quality of your life will be determined by the quality of your contribution. When you work to improve the lives of others, your life improves automatically.”

Kurek Ashley

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

Theodor Seuss Geisel

“The heart of a volunteer is never measured in size, but by the depth of the commitment to make a difference in the lives of others.”

DeAnn Hollis

“Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”

Steve Jobs

“Volunteers wear working boots but leave a trail of angel footprints.”

Terri Guillemets

“Volunteering is the ultimate exercise in democracy. You vote in elections once a year, but when you volunteer, you vote every day about the kind of community you want to live in.”

Author Unknown

“There is no better exercise for your heart than reaching down and helping to lift someone up.”

Bernard Meltzer

“What is the essence of life? To serve others and to do good.”

Aristotle

“If every American donated five hours a week, it would equal the labor of twenty million full-time volunteers.”

Whoopi Goldberg

“An effort made for the happiness of others lifts us above ourselves.”

Lydia Maria Child

“To ease another’s heartache is to forget one’s own.”

Abraham Lincoln

“How can we expect our children to know and experience the joy of giving unless we teach them that the greater pleasure in life lies in the art of giving rather than receiving.”

James Cash Penney

“I slept and I dreamed that life is all joy. I woke and I saw that life is all service. I served and I saw that service is joy.”

Rabindranath Tagore

“The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches but reveal to him his own.”

Benjamin Disraeli