Mercy Corps volunteers find rewards in sacrificing

A future doctor, an industrial engineer, a social worker and an established psychologist have something in common: Each spent the past eight months as a Mercy Corps volunteer in the Albany Diocese.

Mercy Corps is a lay volunteer ministry program sponsored by the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas. The three components of the program are compassionate service, community development and spiritual growth. This is the first year volunteers have served in the Diocese.

While each participant shares an interest in volunteering and is working in a Catholic Charities agency, the Mercy Corps program has been a unique experience for each woman.

Listening

Sara Lindquist, a native of Duluth, Minnesota, works at Mercy House in Albany as a residence counselor. Mercy House is a shelter for women in crisis run by Albany Catholic Family and Community Services.

She describes her job as "a lot of listening. It's hard, frustrating -- like a regular job. I'm learning about the workplace."

Despite the hard work, she enjoys interacting with the women and reports that they have a lot of fun. "You learn something new everyday."

Year to give

With plans to go to medical school, Ms. Lindquist surprised her friends when she decided to do a year of service. They told her, "Just get on with your life," she said.

A Habitat for Humanity volunteer, an Emergency Medical Technician and former oncology clinic volunteer, Miss Lindquist knew giving a year of her life in service was the right thing to do. "It was a gut feeling rather than a conscious decision," she reported.

The service experience has given her greater insight into the plight of the poor. Her rent is paid by Mercy Corps, and she receives a monthly stipend of only $200. While it can be challenging to live on that amount, working at Mercy House has helped her put it into perspective.

"They get $40 every two weeks," she said of the women at the shelter. "It really makes you think. I'm gaining perspective."

Growing experience

For Toni Platte of Erie, Pennsylvania, the Mercy Corps experience has led to personal growth. A volunteer since high school, she majored in mathematics and minored in Spanish while in college. As graduation approached, she knew she wasn't ready to enter the world of work or graduate school and became interested in a year of service instead.

She works for diocesan Hispanic Outreach Services providing translation and advocacy services as well as tutoring students who are having difficulty with English as a second language.

"It was a good time to do this," said the woman who will begin working on a master's degree in industrial engineering in the fall. "I decided to do it now before I had more commitments."

While she was looking forward to this experience, it wasn't what she had anticipated, noting: "I expected to make a huge difference."

While Miss Platte hasn't made the impact she thought, she has noticed some changes in herself. "The most rewarding part has been changes in myself," she said. "I'm more patient, more independent and am learning more about different cultures."

Challenges

While the agency she volunteers with primarily serves the Hispanic population, it also serves some immigrants from around the world. That has presented Miss Platte with a challenge. It is difficult to help a child with their English if the student and tutor do not share a common language.

"The hardest part is working with a student when I don't speak their language," she said.

During this year, she has found that she has relied on her faith. "Faith has helped me get through the harder times," she explained. "I ask for patience and courage to deal with what I have to deal with."

Right choice

Despite the challenges she has faced in volunteering over the past several months, she has no doubts that joining Mercy Corps was the right thing for her.

When she first started investigating service programs, she didn't even consider Mercy Corps. After having difficulty finding a program, she met with a Sister of Mercy working at Mercyhurst College where Miss Platte was a student. The nun told her about Mercy Corps and she was interested, but she had missed the deadline. She was accepted anyway.

"The Mercy Corps decision felt right," she said. "It must be the right choice, what I'm meant to do."

Positive results

For Holly Schubert, the Mercy Corps experience has led to a permanent position. The Mercer, Pennsylvania, resident volunteers for Community Maternity Services at both the Maternity Center and Heery Center for Young Families in Albany. When her volunteer commitment is finished, she will work at the Maternity Center as an overnight residence counselor.

The Mercy Corps experience has been positive for her. "I've been grateful to be exposed to different situations," she said. "It's been great to get experience in a real-life situation."

She has been most pleased with the opportunity to meet people. "The people I work with, the volunteers and clients are great," she said.

Working with teens has been the most challenging part of her service. "They're like adults and like kids," she said.

In retirement

Lois Holbrook's Mercy Corps experience is somewhat different from that of the other women in that she is a recently retired psychologist from Vermont. Last June, she retired from Trinity College and wanted to do a year of volunteer work.

Involved in many volunteer activities, she hoped her Mercy Corps experience would help her discern the type of activities she wanted to be involved in during her retirement.

She splits her time between the education program and foster care program at Community Maternity Services.

"I wanted to do hands-on work," she said. "It's been a wonderful experience. I've met new people and been exposed to the Mercy charism. This has been the highlight of the service."

(To learn more about Mercy Corps, call (215) 641-5535.)

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