Village News ~ Spring 2004

Changing Lives One Volunteer at a Time
By Emilie Bromet-Bauer - St. Vincent de Paul Village

A young woman, a volunteer, creates a better filing system to help staff at Father Joe’s Villages work more efficiently. At the Toussaint Teen Center, an older gentleman, a volunteer, leans in to help a young teenager sound out a difficult word.

A woman in a maroon vest, a volunteer, guides a group of visitors through St. Vincent de Paul Village, pointing out the organization’s history of successes and explaining with enthusiasm its philosophy.

In the dining room at Martha’s Village & Kitchen, a man and a woman, both volunteers, one at each end of a table, together move it in preparation for serving hungry families.

The individual acts of these typical volunteers are often small and inconspicuous and even mundane. But they are many and they build upon each other. Together these many, simple – and sometimes not so simple – acts of volunteerism work the miracle that is the true story of Father Joe’s Villages.

Volunteers plus staff plus residents equal positive change and growth for everyone. Volunteers are truly intergral to achieving the goals of the Villages, to changing the lives of people in need and helping them break the cycle of homelessness.

For the last four years I’ve had the privilege of working with thousands of the most generous, committed people in San Diego, the volunteers and staff of Father Joe’s Villages, as the program manager for volunteer services. It is now time for me to move on; and I do so with many mixed feelings, of excitement, sadness and hope.

I have not only seen the impact that thousands of small acts of voluntary giving has on changing peoples’ lives, but I have experienced it first hand – for I have also changed and grown. Thank you all for the opportunity to serve you. And good luck to each and every volunteer at Father Joe’s Villages as you carry on Father Joe’s good work.