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CAREERS FOR SINGLE MOTHERS
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Why I Volunteer
Chris Radel
from Spirituality.com
As we gathered around the table to speak with yet another troubled teen, I
asked my fellow volunteers if they ever questioned the value of what we
were doing. To a person, the answer was "Yes." But then we shared with
each other what it is that keeps us coming back. A couple of times a
month, I volunteer for the Juvenile Probation Department in Maricopa
County, Arizona, in a "diversion" program. Several states have programs
with the same basic purpose—to divert young folks charged with minor
offenses from the juvenile court system back to their communities. There,
volunteers hold them accountable and help keep a first-time offender from
becoming a repeat offender.
The committee I serve on has five regulars: Gene and Mel, retirees who
have participated for about six years now; Anna, a college student
majoring in criminal justice; Patty, the required probation officer (PO);
and myself.
We serve as a kind of
support team to the target group, talking with teens and their families.
Together, we serve as a kind of
support team to the target group, talking with teens and their families
about such things as being a member of a community, taking responsibility
and making choices. Then, along with the PO, we determine some appropriate
consequences for their first offense—community service, writing letters of
apology, attending classes, etc.
We don't often see the long-term results from what we do. But Mel told
me, "Though I don't know the outcome with any of these kids specifically,
when I consider what the love and attention given to my own boys meant,
both for the three that were ours and the two we took in, I know this work
makes a difference."
Gene said that a few years ago he had seriously questioned whether he
should continue volunteering. But at a volunteer appreciation event that
year, the program coordinator shared an encouraging statistic. Seventy
percent of the kids going through diversion did not come back through the
juvenile correction system.
While both Gene and Mel acknowledged that other factors certainly
contribute to the high success rate, it nonetheless gave them the feeling
this activity was time well spent. And at this year's volunteer
appreciation luncheon, held just a few weeks ago, we learned that the 70%
"success rate" still stands.
Another reason for volunteering that for me
goes even deeper.
And I'd like to add another reason for
volunteering that for me goes even deeper.
Recently our group met with a teen who had been arrested for fighting
in school. The police report was disturbing—his father had committed
suicide, resulting in a period of homelessness for the family and living
on the streets. The teen readily admitted to drinking and drug use.
Our committee talked with him and his mother about the fight. He told
us he knew he'd been out of control but could do nothing to stop himself.
The conversation continued and we did what we could do given the options
open to us. But there was a definite pall over the group as we filed out
that evening.
I left asking myself, What am I doing here? I knew it was
worthwhile to surround troubled youths with caring and concerned adults
from the community. But I felt my being there had to be about something
more.
In my heart I knew there must be more to these teens than just the
facts we learned during our time together. If that truly were the complete
story, then most cases would be hopeless. But fortunately there is more to
every child than meets the eye.
What was unquestionably true about this boy?
As I walked out that night, I prayed. I turned my thought
to the divine Source of each one of us, and asked God to tell me what was
unquestionably true about this boy. I knew the divine Parent didn't see
only a struggling teen about to become a statistic. A book I study
regularly, Science and Health, speaks about what God sees. The
author, Mary Baker Eddy writes, "The Scriptures inform us that man is made
in the image and likeness of God. Man is spiritual and perfect." Our
perfect Creator, Spirit, sees His perfect creation—and I knew in a flash
why I was there.
I was there to witness God's child.
I felt a renewed hope and purpose. If the true story of each teen we
meet is that they are actually spiritual and perfect, then it's my place
to hold to that and behave accordingly. I can't rewrite the story I read
in each child's file—but I can refuse to accept that as the whole story.
This is what keeps me "up" for the volunteering—the understanding that
I have a part to play in seeing what our Creator sees. God is there,
helping us care for the people we're trying to assist—100%.
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