I was blessed to serve in Immokalee, FL, for most of 2001-02, and finished my year with two months at Villa Maria, working on the organic farm.
I learned two valuable life lessons during my volunteer year with the HMs (well, more than two, but there are two I'll talk about here). The first was about not being afraid to ask for help when you need it, and the second was about being open to what God has in his plan for you (even if it seems wildly different than what you have in mind).
During my year in Immokalee, though I loved the work I was doing at the after-school program, with the domestic violence shelter, and with Habitat, I was struggling. I felt overly emotional, exhausted, and cranky - all the time. It was hard to complete daily tasks, and I was not the roommate I wanted to be for my community members. Eventually I realized that I needed to leave Immokalee and come home to Ohio - and figure out what was going on. It was a hard decision - I felt embarrassed about how difficult I had been to live with, and felt like I'd somehow failed by not making it through the year in Florida. But asking for help was the best thing I could have done - it turned out that I needed to begin taking medication for anxiety and depression. Sixteen years later, I still take medication, and I am willing to share this experience with others who might be hesitant to address their own mental health issues.
And asking for help led me to spending the last two months of my volunteer year working on the organic farm at Villa Maria. The Villa is just 20 minutes from my parents' home outside Youngstown, so it was perfect - I could be at home with the support of my family, and still complete a full year of volunteer work. To be honest, I don't remember being really excited about the idea of working on the organic farm. But that's what God had in mind - and, as usual, he was right. Spending my days planting pumpkins, weeding vegetable beds, braiding garlic, and soaking in the chance to be outside all day long was just what I needed. And I was lucky enough to develop close relationships with other farm volunteers, and with Frank Romeo, who is one of the world's sweetest and gentlest humans. God knew exactly what he was doing.
I learned two valuable life lessons during my volunteer year with the HMs (well, more than two, but there are two I'll talk about here). The first was about not being afraid to ask for help when you need it, and the second was about being open to what God has in his plan for you (even if it seems wildly different than what you have in mind).
During my year in Immokalee, though I loved the work I was doing at the after-school program, with the domestic violence shelter, and with Habitat, I was struggling. I felt overly emotional, exhausted, and cranky - all the time. It was hard to complete daily tasks, and I was not the roommate I wanted to be for my community members. Eventually I realized that I needed to leave Immokalee and come home to Ohio - and figure out what was going on. It was a hard decision - I felt embarrassed about how difficult I had been to live with, and felt like I'd somehow failed by not making it through the year in Florida. But asking for help was the best thing I could have done - it turned out that I needed to begin taking medication for anxiety and depression. Sixteen years later, I still take medication, and I am willing to share this experience with others who might be hesitant to address their own mental health issues.
And asking for help led me to spending the last two months of my volunteer year working on the organic farm at Villa Maria. The Villa is just 20 minutes from my parents' home outside Youngstown, so it was perfect - I could be at home with the support of my family, and still complete a full year of volunteer work. To be honest, I don't remember being really excited about the idea of working on the organic farm. But that's what God had in mind - and, as usual, he was right. Spending my days planting pumpkins, weeding vegetable beds, braiding garlic, and soaking in the chance to be outside all day long was just what I needed. And I was lucky enough to develop close relationships with other farm volunteers, and with Frank Romeo, who is one of the world's sweetest and gentlest humans. God knew exactly what he was doing.
After that year, my path took me to Denver, then to St. Louis for graduate school, and back to Ohio, to Cleveland, where I started my career as a Licensed Social Worker. In December of 2016, I became the Director of Clinical Services for the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center. We serve survivors of all ages with individual and group therapy, court and hospital advocacy, outreach in the community, and prevention programming for middle and high school students. I am certain that my HM year has greatly influenced the decisions I've made in the time since, and will continue to do so long into the future. And I continue to remember to ask for help when I need it, and to trust God's plan for my life.
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