Volunteer Spotlight: Ann and Keith
Staff at UST Toledo have the privilege of working with many great volunteers, and we’re taking time right now to highlight two of them: Ann and Keith, our location’s married volunteer power couple. Ann and Keith have both been volunteers for about five years at the Toledo office – long enough to remember the old building Toledo staff worked in – and long-time staff are always excited to see them when they stop by.
“We want to help out … and we wanted to share the love of Christ with other people,” Keith said, explaining why they chose to volunteer with US Together.
“We lived overseas,” Ann added. “We had other people help us, take us under their wing, so we wanted to do that for other people.”
Long-term volunteers, Ann and Keith
Keith serves as a transportation and social integration volunteer, while Ann helps clients as a social integration volunteer and a conversation partner. While those are the positions they do officially, the couple really just found a way to go all in, working with families to mix all those different services together, turning the experience into less a job and more of an all-inclusive relationship with refugee clients.
“We lived overseas. We had other people help us, take us under their wing, so we wanted to do that for other people. ”
“I’ll end up taking the wife and kids to a medical appointment. I won’t rush off afterwards; I’ll go in and have tea, get to know everybody. I don’t really like tea,” Keith said, laughing a bit.
“We enjoy going beyond just the task,” his wife said. “Just build a long-term relationship. They know they can count on us.”
The couple make their marriage and partnership a point of strength throughout their volunteer hours.
“Most things, we do together,” Keith said, and Ann explained that while they do separate tasks at times, they don’t really think about it all that much. “We just do whatever. When we enjoy doing what we do, it’s a help to our marriage,” Keith explained.
Some clients also come from backgrounds with less than ideal family or spousal circumstances, and some people, particularly women, have been abused by their partner. Because of that, Ann also believes it’s important for her and Keith “to exemplify what a loving marriage could be” to them.
All-in-all, the couple enjoys their volunteer service, despite the minor challenges that have come along throughout the years.
“They enrich our lives – it’s not just a one-way thing,” Keith said. His wife agreed, saying, “Mostly, I would say, our engagements are just a lot of fun. We love learning about their cultures.”
As for advice to new volunteers, Keith said, “First piece of advice is: Do it.”
“Little words mean a lot,” Ann also said, reminding volunteers to think about the language barrier when communicating with clients.
And how can volunteers tell they’re making a long-term impact?
Well, when volunteers are greeted by staff the way Ann and Keith were before this interview, with all excitement and smiles, that’s how they can tell.