VOLUNTEER PROGRAM PROMPTS CHANGES
by: John Franko

Change a Heart gives young adults a new outlook on life

Nancy Stabley had just finished her undergraduate studies and had a year off before she began medical school.

In the interim, she wanted to do meaningful work for a non-profit organization and learn what it meant to be a Christian in the medical world. Through the Change a Heart Franciscan Volunteer Program, she spent a year working at the East Liberty Family Health Care Center, working in administration and shadowing the doctors.

“Through this I learned about holistic patient care and the importance of meeting the patient where they are at, not where you think they should be,” she said. “That was definitely a conversion experience for me. I would say my medical philosophy changed.”

Stabley, 23, of Lock Haven, Pa., was one of five young adults who recently completed the Change A Heart program, a ministry of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities.

The program empowers single men and women ages 21-30 to live simply in community while ministering to the needs of a vulnerable population. They live on a small stipend and receive room and board in an urban neighborhood. They share meals several nights a week, an activity once a week and prayer.

The volunteers are matched with an agency, based on their education and interests, as well as the needs of the social service organization.

“Living simply is meant to help participants define a lifestyle always conscious of the poor,” said Kelly Caddy, director of the program. “The commitment is more than attempting to live within a monthly budget, it is more a shift in focus. Spending a year centered on less money and consumption can free participants to appreciate the value found in simple pleasures, conversations and their own creativity.”

Joining Stabley for this year’s program were Alana Rabe, Jacquelyn Pyrdek, Diana Pascoe and Kathleen Judge. The five were recognized during a sending-forth prayer service July 24 at the Mount Alvernia Chapel of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities in Millvale.

During the service, Caddy pointed out that the gathering was a reminder of what it means to be a follower of Jesus, adding, “These young women before you are true examples of what it means to be a disciple.”

Caddy noted that she was particularly close to this group of volunteers because they each shared much about themselves — their struggles, challenges and joys. They also displayed a deep desire to serve others, while having the ability to find humor in God’s plan for them.

“That is the reason for the name of our program — not for you to change someone’s heart, but because yours is changed in the process,” she said. Other organizations helped by the program this year included the Catholic Charities Free Health Care Center in Downtown Pittsburgh, Angel’s Place on the city’s North Side and Sisters Place in Clairton.

Organizations helped in the past have included Focus on Renewal in McKees Rocks, the Catholic Youth Association, Goodwill Industries, Jewish Children and Family Services, and the Emmaus Community of Pittsburgh.

The Change a Heart program was founded in 1999 by the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities to share their charism in a new way.

Some 80 percent of the program’s alumnae continue to work at nonprofit agencies or in volunteer positions, and 34 percent remain active with the program itself.

Interested people may apply for the program online at www.changeaheartvolunteers.org

 Information on the program is also available by calling 412-821-0861, or by e-mail at volunteers@sosf.org.