Sarah has been with Operation Come Home for a while. She has worked her way up from a dedicated volunteer doing just about everything, to a position with OCH that involves, in part, being the volunteer coordinator. These are her words:
“Volunteering has always held a special place in my heart, especially following my placement experience at Operation Come Home (OCH). Throughout my time as a volunteer, I’ve helped cook the hot breakfast, sort through and put away donations, provide ID support for youth through the morning drop-in, provide general housing search support, etc. Not only was it rewarding to give back to the community, but it was primarily an eye opening experience to the potential positive impact volunteers have on agencies and the population they work with. In fact, I realized, due to capacity limitations, that agencies don’t always have the means to complete little things that matter so much, such as having the time/staff to cook meals, sort donations, clean the space, etc. These are little things that contribute to the larger mission and values.
Shortly after graduating from my B.S.W., I was offered the Volunteer Coordinator position at OCH. Without a second thought, I accepted the position and was excited to continue supporting both the youth and the people who were donating their time, hard work and talents. Thanks to our 36 weekly volunteers, 17 event volunteers and 28 group volunteers in 2018, OCH was able to provide 12 682 meals to homeless and at-risk youth accessing the Drop-In and Resource Centre. In total, these community members contributed 1 223 hours of hard work and dedication. Volunteers are an essential part of our successes and we could not accomplish the services we offer to the best of their abilities without them.
It has been such a heartwarming experience working with OCH, let alone working with volunteers, and I couldn’t be more grateful to work in correlation with other community members. Volunteers come from all different paths of life, whether it be business management, administration, social work, property management, etc. Regardless of our background, we all have at least one thing in common – a passion for community. That is why I love working as the Volunteer Coordinator at Operation Come Home.”
We thank Sarah for her years of incredible work both as a volunteer and as a coordinator. And in the nine other hugely important roles she currently plays at Operation Come Home!