One of the most notable memories I have experienced this volunteer year is the priestly ordination of a young Augustinian friar. The ordination was performed by a local auxiliary bishop named Bishop Robert Barron. Bishop Barron, famous for his work with Word on Fire Ministries on YouTube, shared a profound insight in his homily that...
In college, I found myself leading a lot of different groups. I love planning and organizing events and I did so many things that I almost always had the answers to questions. My senior year of college, I received a paper plate award for “The One Who Keri’s the Team”. I love a good pun...
When I decided to do a year of service and became an Augustinian Volunteer, I will admit I was nervous to be living in a new city and to be working so closely with the homeless population in a small town in California. I had volunteered many times over the years and interned at a...
Coming into the AV experience I was most nervous for community living. I studied education in University and I was raised Catholic, so I was not concerned about the service or spirituality aspect. I had lived with four different roommates throughout my University experience. I just wanted to live with people who cared about each...
“Willingness to jump into all sorts of unexpected situations.” Though perhaps included as a catch-all in most job descriptions, as I look back at the description for my AV position at HELP of Ojai, it strikes me that this line captures an important theme – the unexpected – that has underscored my entire experience as...
Never in my life would I have ever imagined that one day I would be dressed in an Eeyore costume with a fluorescent orange vest and holding a hand-held stop sign at a K-8 school in California. Yet, that is exactly where I found myself on Halloween morning. Since it was a Wednesday morning it...
Four years of college, a degree later, and I somehow find myself back in the bustling halls of high school. It’s a Friday night and I am driving an eight passenger white van down the 101 with fifteen-year-olds screaming in the back. This is the kind of moment I dreaded when I thought of a...
On the night of Monday, December 4, 2017, I went out to get a coffee with my program director, Joanna, who was in Ventura for a site visit. When we arrived back to the house she noticed ash falling from the sky. I didn’t think anything of it. Joanna did some research and told my...
“People would ask why I let all these homeless people sleep in the church, not knowing if they would try to steal from me or the parish. And I would always respond: how could I turn away Jesus coming to my door and asking for a place to sleep or something to eat?” I heard...
“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted”. This quote by Aesop is posted in the main building of HELP of Ojai, where I have worked for the past 7 months as an Augustinian Volunteer. This quote emulates my time at HELP of Ojai working at the Community Assistance office. Whether it’s...
