“Since I first talked with you, I’ve been praying for you. I know who to call if I need someone.”
Someone – not something.
This was a statement that an under-resourced neighbor shared with Anne, a Connection Center volunteer at Love Your Neighbor, after just one phone call offering connection. It has stuck with Anne as she has continued serving over the last 6 years in a ministry space that received almost 2,000 calls asking for assistance or support just last year alone.
Love offers many tangible resources to meet the needs of under-resourced neighbors, but often times it’s even more critical that volunteers offer connection.
Most people looking to volunteer would not pick the Connection Center, as it can be a high-pressure position where your main job is to answer the phone and navigate the needs of people who are often in a state of survival mode.
“I’m a retired nurse, so it kind of fit in with what nurses do. Answer the phone, deal with issues, see who needs what, and how I can help meet those needs.”
Anne also sends handwritten encouragement cards to people who borrow our medical equipment, helps file away item donation receipts, and more. But the responsibility she favors is completing intakes with people who are seeking support – being the first person someone meets when they come to Love for help.
“Their stories would so touch me that I would almost be crying. I would always ask if I could pray with them. And that really got me crying. Some people have real tangible needs, but a big thing was just listening to people.” She liked the Connection Center from the get-go.
The open-ended questions helped Anne to understand what’s really going on behind each person’s presented need. As Anne says, “It made me fall in love with Love.” Anne gives each person the opportunity to share their story. “If you show Christ’s love, even if you don’t use His name, people can tell that there’s nothing selfish about it and that you’re interested in them as a person.”
Anne’s newest role is being a Care Coordinator for Love’s transportation ministry. When someone receives a free ride for medical reasons, other additional needs are often discovered by our volunteer drivers. Anne calls those clients to see how else we might be able to help.
“There’s a lot of value in just listening to stories, and just encouraging people to talk about them. When things are not going well in our lives, we’re reluctant to share. We don’t want everyone to know our tough stuff. So just doing that and seeing how we can help people is really encouraging to me.”
When we mentioned how much being a Care Coordinator must bless people who are under-resourced, Anne interjected and said, “Honestly, it means a lot to me. To just talk to someone on the phone- and now she’s praying for me. She’s giving something to me. God is in this whole thing.”
What a tangible example of what we teach – we all have something to offer, and what we often don’t admit– we all have needs.
One question Anne always asks during intakes is, “Do you have a connection to a church?” Love Your Neighbor is always trying to connect back to the community already there if it exists. Often times, people haven’t even talked to their church about their hurts or needs. When possible, Anne also talks about the opportunity of the Life Skills Program.
At Love, transformation is happening everywhere. “It’s showing us that God’s over this whole thing, and you can see His touches here and there. If it’s all about Him and we’re being obedient to Him, He’ll bless us. And He is. And sometimes He makes it really obvious.”
Are you someone who can listen to others’ stories? There are many ways for you to volunteer with Love & we hope you’ll join us: [email protected]
We’ll be sharing 40 stories of transformation leading up to our 40th Celebration Block Party on September 24th. Please join us!