We are so proud of our June 2021 Volunteer of the Month, Peggy! This dedicated volunteer goes above and beyond each month, often leading with her number of volunteer hours.
We sat down with Peggy to do a brief Q&A:
NRS: What made you decide to volunteer with NRS?
Peggy: Prior to COVID, I volunteered for Road for Recovery, driving cancer patients to and from treatment in IL and FL, which ended in March 2020. Due to the pandemic, I was looking for remote opportunities and found NRS in mid-2020. Reading about the organization, I jumped at the chance to volunteer. After raising three kids, I knew that I wanted to offer support to young people looking to move in a more positive direction in their lives and NRS seemed like a great fit.
NRS: What keeps you coming back to volunteer, week after week?
Peggy: I continue to come back and pick up extra shifts in the hope that the connections made with chatters can make a difference. Any situation is important, whether figuring out their current home situation, giving them resource info that may allow them to get the help they need, or getting them home with Home Free. I just keep my fingers crossed that each chatter becomes more empowered than they were when they first reached out to NRS. My favorite compliment was “there should be more people like you in the world,” and that’s what NRS is all about.
NRS: Tell us something you’ve learned from your experiences volunteering with us?
Peggy: I am consistently impressed with the politeness of the majority of the chatters I have connected with. Every ‘thank you’ or ‘have a great day’ as chat is ending leaves me with the sense that they feel like they can move forward with a clearer head. Seems like Chatters often just want someone to talk to about what’s going on in their life, to be heard.
We are trained to speak with open-ended questions, and it’s always great to see a chatter coming up with solutions on their own. and sometimes being surprised that they did.
NRS: Give us a fun fact about yourself that you don’t think someone could guess just by looking at you.
Peggy: When I’m in the groove, I’m pretty darn good at axe throwing!
NRS: What would you say to someone who was thinking of volunteering with NRS?
Peggy: I have and will continue to recommend volunteering at NRS because of the incredible support system the staff offers to the volunteers. Staff members are always available for a quick question, support during a chat, or to offer advice on how to handle a specific situation. Even while remote, it feels more like we are all on the same team helping those who have reached out. Also, the training! With no prior experience with kids thinking of running away or who have, I wondered what I was getting into. However, going through the Volunteer Training, I felt very prepared when I hit the lines.
Thank you so much Peggy, for your time and dedication to the young people and families that we serve! Since moving to fully remote services, our volunteers have been an incredible source of support for the Crisis Services Center and we are incredibly grateful.
If you are interested in volunteering, check out our current opportunities by clicking here. You too could help make a difference in a young person’s life, when they need it most.
