September’s DIRTy Deed

Posted by Neva Geisler, Director, Volunteer Engagement

The DIRT Clods were at the Boise Samaritan Village yesterday, helping stage an on site fair for the residents who weren’t able to make it to the Western Idaho Fair. The Boise Samaritan Village is a not-for-profit assisted living and nursing facility that serves those in need of long-term care, regardless of ability to pay. This is where you go if you’re a 35 year old who’s sustained a brain injury and have no health insurance, or where you go if you need Alzheimer’s care and can’t afford it, but your Medicaid hasn’t come through yet.

You would think, given the historical nature of these kinds of places, that it might have an institutional feel–but it doesn’t. Precisely because of things like an on site fair. The staff at the Samaritan Village know their residents by first name. They joke around with them and each other. By and large, it’s a fairly happy place.

I would know none of this if I hadn’t been there yesterday, seeing inside the place with my own eyes–which is something I would never choose to do of my own accord. Those kinds of places freak me out. They make me confront my own mortality, and nobody likes to do that. And despite the happy nature of the place, and the great feeling I got from helping out, I couldn’t wait to get out of there so that I could stop thinking about scaring things like getting older and dying.  I’m grateful that places like the Samaritan Village exist, and I am in complete admiration of the people who work there everyday, but it’s not my cup of tea. I’m too scared of it.

And I’m not alone. A lot of the DIRT Clods told me they were going to sit this one out. These are great people who are committed volunteers. I mean, they’ve pulled carpet out of medical quarantine units:

(definitely DIRTy)

But direct service volunteering can be intimidating. Sometimes it’s easier to do things that help people when you’re not actually interacting with them. And I think this is one of the things that keeps people from volunteering–the intimidation factor of working with people.

So just like jobs, neighborhoods, colleges, spouses, the right fit is important, and the wrong fit feels awkward. And also just like jobs, neighborhoods, colleges and spouses; choices abound, and though some may be wrong for YOU, none of them are wrong.

If you’ve had a volunteer experience that wasn’t good, maybe it was because it wasn’t the right fit, and if you’ve never volunteered before, maybe the notion of what volunteering is seemed somehow undesireable, or boring, or scary, and that held you back. But I can guarantee  you that there’s something out there in the world of volunteer opportunities that will make your heart sing. Maybe you’re not a people person, but you can do this:

(that’s us, scraping out 30 years’ worth of bird poop from an old cell block at the Old Pen)

So if you’re not volunteering, maybe now’s the time to find your fit. Maybe you’re a Jessica, who relishes the dirty jobs but sits the people ones out (seen here with an ancient bat carcass) or maybe you’re a Frank, who loved the Boise Samaritan Village fair so much he signed on to be a regular volunteer:

Are you a Frank or a Jessica? And aren’t you kind of curious to find out?

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