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Ursuline ministries volunteers get more than they give
By LINDA M. LINONIS
youngstown
Volunteers in ministries sponsored by the Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown recount various reasons why they’re involved but share one result: They feel they get more than they give.
Four young adults assist Sister Norma Raupple in a Beatitude House program. While 13 mothers participate in the English as a Second Language program offered through Potter’s Wheel, their children have fun in a summer camp. Potter’s Wheel is the educational arm of Beatitude House.
Other volunteers are involved in ministries with senior citizens, children and families dealing with HIV/AIDS, church and community.
Sister Norma, education director at Beatitude House and coordinator of the volunteer program, said the six-week camp is from June 14 to July 26.
“The purpose is to provide an educational opportunity for women,” she said of the classes. The women, challenged by a language barrier, hail from such places as Guatemala, Peru, Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Morocco. They can concentrate on their studies and know that their children are in a safe and productive environment.
That’s where the volunteers come in. They are Carly Conklin, 19, a speech-pathology major at the University of Akron; Maryann Hudak, 22, a graduate in English from Hiram College; Haley Kline, 19, a psychology major at Youngstown State University; and Ben Smith, 19, an international-businesss major at YSU. Hudak is an intern with the Ursulines, living in the community with them. She heard about the summer program when Sister Norma spoke at her church, St. Ambrose in Garrettsville.
Conklin read about the need for volunteers in the newspaper. Kline heard about it when she was in a religion class at YSU and told Smith.
Their motivation to help others brought them to this ministry. “I love to volunteer and look for opportunities,” Conklin said. “There’s satisfaction in it, and that’s payment enough.”
“It’s part of what I do,” Hudak said, noting it’s about “sharing yourself.”
“Helping people is important,” Kline said with Smith agreeing. Both concurred that working with kids was the bonus. They plan to return next summer.
“I speak Spanish, so I can translate,” Smith said, adding that being bilingual comes in handy in a program with children from various backgrounds including Hispanic.
The young people said they divide the activities — Smith handles sports; Hudak, math and reading; Kline, crafts; and Conklin fills in where needed.
The camp for 5- to 12-year-olds is in session from 9 a.m. to noon Tuesdays and Wednesdays and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Beatitude House’s Potter’s Wheel, 145 N. Glenellen Ave., and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursdays at Grow Camp at Villa Maria Farm in Villa Maria, Pa.
This week’s activities have focused on learning about U.S. currency, denominations of coins and paper money, and the children made red, white and blue paper lanterns.
“You can give individual kids attention. ... It helps them,” said Hudak.
Sister Norma said the volunteers “get experience and try out college skills.”
Carl Jacobson is director of Potter’s Wheel, where there is permanent supportive housing, English classes and career education. “The Ursulines think ‘outside the box,’” said Jacobson when it comes to responding to community needs. An example is Beatitude House’s Green Clean, a cleaning co-op.
Other volunteers are Caitlin Yager at Ursuline Sisters Motherhouse Health Care; Christina Penza at Casa Madre, where children infected or affected by HIV/AIDS are mentored; Amy Doverspike at Beatitude House; Lauren DeLuca at Beatitude House administrative office; and Mary Rizzo at Potter’s Wheel and Ursuline Health Care.