I graduated from the University of Dayton which has a summer program called UDSAP, University of Dayton Summer Appalachian Program, and one of my biggest regrets was not participating in this summer of service, so CAP summer camp sounded great to me; although nothing and no one could have prepared me for what I experienced my six weeks in Jackson County, Kentucky. I arrived on my birthday, the next day learned what chiggers are, and the day after that I woke up with a sunburn that bubbled. Throughout the summer I had a total of 392 bug bites, picked countless lice bugs and eggs out of little girls’ hair, got four bee stings, two splinters and a pretty nasty case of poison ivy. Sounds terrible right?

Last summer was without any doubt in my mind the best six weeks of my life. I have never been with such different people that come together and work so well together. I have never felt more needed and more appreciated than I did at Camp Andrew Jackson. Miss Nina, the fabulous chef of Camp AJ, was an inspiration to me. She had no idea who I was but every day, from the very first to the very last, she would always make sure I got a hug. Miss Connie (another camp employee) would always shout, “Oh yea Miss Gracie, Rock Star!” when I walked by. I could make you a list far longer than I’m sure you would want to read that would describe people like Miss Nina and Miss Connie. It’s the love and affirmation that I received from the staff and from my peers that made all the bug bites and the heat not even matter. We were there for the kids, we were there for each other, and we had more fun than anybody could imagine.

There was one particularly hot day, and I was just not feeling well at all. We had been trying to keep the kids cool all day so we were rotating between arts and crafts and the waterfront; I was sick, I was tired, and I just wasn’t having a good day. Well one of my Middles (at camp, we divide campers into Youngers, Middles and Olders), a little boy named Brian, stood up on one of the tables in the cafeteria during snack and screamed, “ATTENTION CAMP AJ, I WOULD LIKE TO SING A VERY SPECIAL SONG, FOR A VERY SPECIAL LADY, MISS GRACIE…” And he started singing, “We love Miss Gracie, a deep down in our hearts…” and the whole camp joined in. Now I come from a very loving, crazy, affectionate home, but I have never felt as loved as I did in that moment.

I have seen the magic of summer camp, I have been touched, and I want to continue to be a part of the wonderful work CAP does so that maybe one day I can make somebody feel as appreciated and loved as those kids and those counselors made me feel.

Gracie P. was a 2011 summer camp volunteer at Camp Andrew Jackson. She is now applying to be a long-term volunteer, and this post was excerpted with permission from her application essay.

“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within” (Elisabeth Kübler-Ross).

There were a myriad of factors that led to my coming to Christian Appalachian Project. Just like a stained-glass window is made of an assortment of colored glass fragments, so were the pieces of my story that lead up to me choosing CAP. As the quotation suggests, the important part is the light from within, therefore: what did God want me to do? The exact question I had been pondering my whole college experience. What should I do with my life? It turns out I had been asking too broad of a question, God simply told me to trust Him and soon enough He would let me know what I would do in my first, post-college year.

But in my chaotic, impatient human mind, I had to know it all right away. I worried about where I would be, what I would be doing, if I would like it, if I would have friends, and if I would make enough money to travel. Amidst this disarray of playing God, I realized that college didn’t really prepare me for the “real world”. I spent all of my growing up and school years preparing for college. College taught me what I chose to learn, but it didn’t prepare me for finding a job or even knowing what kind of job to find.

On the surface level, college seemed like a waste of time for me [though deep down I knew that it was beneficial to be well-educated]. I questioned why I should memorize random facts about who knows what, when truly, many of them would disintegrate after the final exam. Why must I study Freudian and Jungian theories when I could be serving the homeless or befriending the lonely? Those questions nearly suffocated me as I persevered through the nonsensical busy work and dreadful group projects.

In high school we had this event called “Imagine It Day”. On this day we would dress up professionally, and be interviewed by people in the professions we aspired to be in. I chose Photographer and Veterinarian. Neither of these professions did I study in college, but interestingly enough both have become valuable assets at CAP. I work in the Elderly Services program in Jackson County. Many of my participants have dogs or cats. One participant in particular, has a dog that is quite ill. She is so sickly that she receives an IV treatment 3 times per week. My participant’s son would usually do the treatment, but during his business trip to China, someone else needed to take over – thus I offered. Veterinarian – check. My passion for photography serves my participants as well. As they are low-income, many don’t have a camera, or many pictures of themselves. They enjoy when I ask to take their photograph and are delighted by the hard copies they receive shortly after. Photographer – check.

My first job in high school was working at a movie theatre. I loved this job, or at least the benefits of this job. Employees received discounted popcorn and pop, and were able to view movies for free. Movies are one of my favorite entertainment experiences. In those two hours that lapsed during a film, I could escape to other worlds that I wouldn’t normally adventure to. I could travel for free and learn about people from many different cultures. Unfortunately, post-movie depression hit and I had to return to my plain-jane life. Working at a movie theatre taught me one thing for sure: I wanted to travel. I wanted to experience the world in person.

Not only did I want to travel, but I wanted to live in a culture long enough that I adopt their traditions and become a member. I wanted to leave the below-zero temperatures of northern Minnesota and live a little. During the junior year of my college experience, I studied in London for a semester. It’d be an understatement to say it was the best time of my life. While I enjoyed my orientation week as a tourist, seeing all the sights and taking all the cliché pictures, deep down I was yearning to become one of them. I wanted to know their culture so well that I wouldn’t stick out as a silly American tourist. I thrived on the moments when people would ask me directions proving to myself that I knew the city well enough to direct others around; knowing that they thought I belonged.

The summer after I graduated high school, I went on two mission trips. One to Honduras with my pastor and a small group of adults, and the other to Beattyville, Kentucky, with my church’s youth group. Mission trips combined my yearning to travel with my passion to help people. Though I may not have become a part of the culture during these trips, I learned the difference between economic poverty and poverty of the Spirit. Both struck at my heart-strings. With this in mind, when I heard about CAP from a friend I decided to give it a chance.

I knew about CAP for approximately two months before even looking at the application and I kept the application in my possession for nearly four months before finishing it and sending it in. Though I searched for jobs that would actually pay me a livable wage, nothing seemed as worthwhile as spending a year volunteering and serving low-income individuals. The benefits of money is nothing compared to helping out those less fortunate than I.

Now that I’m here, I can’t picture myself anywhere else. I have never been this blessed in my life. No, I’m not making my millions, but I have a nice house to live in with everything I could possibly need provided for me: bedding, food, and an amazing family of co-volunteers. I live in a community that challenges and prospers me both personally and spiritually. I serve a humble, gracious, and generous group of elderly who are not only helping me grow and become a stronger Christian, but are also introducing me to their culture, their history, and their life.

Of course there are some difficult and exhausting days when I wish I lived on my own. Let’s be real, work can be rough especially in moments when the participants, for example, are demanding groceries from three different stores. Then again there are those unexpected times when I feel unqualified for my position, such as when a participant kindly asks me to take over her dog’s IV treatments. Finally, one can always depend on some tough times in a large community, namely when it’s nearly time to start cooking dinner and ingredients are missing because housemates either already used them or forgot to buy them. But for each of those difficult situations and then some, there are those moments when, post-work craziness, I am greeted by amazing hugs from housemates, bonding time on the couches, and late-night back-rubs — In those moments, I know that I am exactly where God wants me to be. And in the grand scheme of my life, that’s all that really matters to me. As Elisabeth Kübler-Ross suggested, if the light is shining from within, then true beauty shines even in the darkness.

Sarah S. is a long-term volunteer in CAP’s Elderly Services program. She is a member of the Jackson Volunteer Community.

I spent the last week at CAP orientation. It seems a little weird to “get oriented” after being here for three weeks, but they wait until they have a decent size group to go through the orientation. It was held up at camp, which was both a good thing and a bad thing. It was a conveniently short trip, but it would have been nice to get away from the place where I work. Still, I really enjoyed early mornings sitting on the dock, drinking tea and watching the steam on the lake. I can see why so many people have said that Camp AJ is their favorite place on earth.

Orientation week was pretty exhausting. There was so much information to take in, and so many people to meet. I’ve decided that I really don’t miss sitting in a classroom all the time, but I did like meeting all the other new volunteers. If I could say one thing about CAP, it’s that the organization attracts really fantastic, passionate people. It was sad saying goodbye to everyone at the end of orientation. I felt like it was the end of an epic, week-long party at my house. CAP is divided into two regions – Cumberland Valley (where I live) and Sandy Valley (the “other side”) – and some of the volunteers from the other side are more than two hours away. It still kind of blows my mind how far apart things can be and still be in the same general region of Kentucky. I’ve also realized that CAP time is a lot different than real time. Orientation felt like it lasted for much longer than 5 days, and it feels like I’ve been in Kentucky for ages. I don’t mean that in a bad way, it’s just hard to wrap my mind around my new perception of time.

Hot air balloons!

Yesterday was the annual Spoonbread Festival in Berea. I had never heard of spoonbread, but it turns out it’s something like mushy cornbread.  The best part of the day was the hot air balloon ride we went on in the morning. Riding in a hot air balloon was something I’d wanted to do for awhile – it was on my bucket list – and it was free at the festival! It was a really short ride, and we didn’t travel very high off the ground, but it was still a very cool experience.

Knowing that I’ve only committed to spending a year in Kentucky is an interesting feeling. It means that festivals like Spoonbread will happen exactly once in the time that I’m here. It gives a new meaning to treasuring the moment and taking every opportunity that presents itself. When you know that you’re going to be in a place for awhile, it’s easy to tell yourself that you’ll do something “eventually.” There are so many things in Chicago that I told myself I would do, and I still haven’t gotten around to them. Being here for only a year makes me forget all the excuses I would normally give not to do something. It doesn’t matter that I have to wake up ridiculously early to ride in a hot air balloon or drive 40 minutes to go roller skating – these might be the only chances I have to do these things.

Another important lesson I’ve learned this week is that giving something, no matter how imperfect or incomplete, is better than not giving at all. A couple weeks ago, I volunteered to play the piano for Mass at the local church. It’s been years since I’ve played piano regularly or taken lessons, but the music situation was so bad that I figured I’d be able to help out a little. I should have started playing last weekend, but I felt like I wasn’t ready. I wanted to sound better and be able to play more complicated music first. But sitting in Mass, listening to the congregation struggle through the opening song, I realized that the little bit that I could do for the church was better than not doing anything. So this morning I sucked it up and played. It certainly wasn’t perfect, but it was something. I could tell that people appreciated the music, no matter how rough I thought it sounded. One man asked if I was going to be around for awhile because I had improved the church’s music by 1000%. It felt really good to push past my fear of not being good enough and just do the best I could. I’m never going to be perfect anyway, so what was I waiting for?

Other things I’ve learned this week:

• CAP is the 146th largest 501(c)(3) (nonprofit) in the country. Pretty impressive considering it only serves one region of the country.
• There are 13 Appalachian states, and West Virginia is the only state completely in the Appalachian region.
• I am much better at 4-square now than I was as a child.

“We cannot do everything, and there is a sense  of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it well.” – Archbishop Oscar Romero

Erin Cusick is a long-term volunteer at Camp Andrew Jackson. She lives in the Jackson Volunteer Community.

About a month ago, I was running through the woods of Jenny Wiley State Park, enjoying the scenery while watching out for snakes on the path and batting spider webs and gnats out of my face every few steps. At the same time, I was distractedly mulling over whatever thoughts came into my head, and I found myself thinking about my CAP time. I arrived at CAP on September 3^rd, 2010, all fired up to become an Elderly Services caseworker. I find it hard to believe sometimes, but that was almost a year ago. And one thought that really hit me that day on the trail was that even though the time has flown by, it has changed me more than I ever expected. The September-2^nd-2010 me would not be on a hiking trail by herself, battling the July heat and humidity of her own accord. I would certainly not be enjoying it. When I really stopped to think about it, I realized how much I have grown during my year in Kentucky. I’ve learned new skills, experienced new things, and gained a good amount of understanding that I didn’t have before.

I started making a mental list of these Kentucky lessons and “firsts.” Some of them are less significant than others. For example, I went on my first truly rustic camping trip while I was here: no restrooms, no running water, no modern conveniences. I learned to like hot sauce from my housemates here at Floyd House. I started running more seriously than I ever had before because the closest gym is 20 miles away. And there are a million other little things I could think of here. But the most important thing I’ve learned is how to connect with people who seem very different from me; and not only deal with the differences, but embrace them and find a common bond. My elderly participants have taught me so much in this area. At first, I found my position as a caseworker a bit awkward. I was giving, giving, giving to people who had plenty of need, but also plenty of pride. How was this supposed to work out? But the more I developed relationships with the people as individuals, the less I saw it less as a one-sided transaction. The age and culture differences didn’t seem so big anymore. Little by little, the walls broke down and I developed more reciprocal relationships—rather, friendships—with my participants. For example, I stopped trying to change the conversation when one lady, Edna, would ask me about my family and my life at CAP. I realized it was okay to let her offer me advice and support. In fact, it helped me understand her and her family better.

Another participant, Clarence, has cerebral palsy. He is in a wheelchair, and I often have difficulty understanding him. Clarence and I got along pretty well from the beginning, but I had to work hard to earn his trust. One of my most memorable and special moments at CAP occurred a few months ago while I was painting Clarence’s kitchen. We had been having a great day, listening to old-time country music and trying to identify the singers for each song (Clarence knows almost all of them). Out of the blue, he told me, “I’m proud to call you my friend.” This really touched me, and I love the fact that I could honestly say the same back to him! He and so many others I have met in Kentucky have taught me so much. My service here truly has been full of unexpected lessons. And I’m not done yet!  I’m here until January, and I can’t wait for the new experiences I still have to enjoy in Kentucky.

Jane is a long-term volunteer in Elderly Services. She lives in Floyd Volunteer House.

I came to the realization a few days ago that I have been with CAP just shy of six months. The time span of six months to me has always signified the end to an incubation period of sorts. After six months somewhere you’ve generally developed a daily routine, learned the ins and outs of your job, or fostered close personal relationships. In fact it had been six months from the time I graduated from college until I received my CAP acceptance. I look back to the cold January afternoon I waved “see ya later” to the mountains of my Pennsylvania home and departed for the mountains of my new Kentucky home-away-from-home.

When I would explain my CAP plan to folks from home, the standard reaction became “Kentucky?” in the same half-incredulous guffaw you might come to hear at any seemingly poor life decision.  I’m happy to say that CAP received me as part of a package deal. My lovely girlfriend of two years, Meghan (shout out) is a volunteer at the Eagle Child and Family Development Center in McCreary County.  Actually, one of the first things we ever bonded over in the early days of our relationship was our mutual desire to do a year of service. I owe it to Meghan for getting me excited about CAP. We were both eager to learn as much as we could about the plight of many Appalachian people and we wanted to do whatever we could to help improve people’s lives.

I have a unique position as a volunteer within CAP in that I neither serve participants directly, nor do I spend the bulk of my working time actually in Kentucky. As a part of CAP’s Community Development Program, I work to spread the message of CAP to the people of Southern West Virginia. In a nutshell, Community Development provides capacity building to smaller, grassroots nonprofit organizations in 19 West Virginia counties. This entails providing educational and material support to organizations who might not have been operating for very long, or that may lack the know-how needed to properly sustain them financially.

I like to think of myself as the roving volunteer within Community Development. I spend a good deal of time traversing the back roads of West Virginia with a truckload of items ranging from office supplies to diapers. I love being on the road and visiting new places, but the most fulfilling aspect of my job so far has been seeing the spirit of excitement alive in these organizations. I’m always happy when I see a community coming together to help their own neighbors. I’ll attend Family Resource Network meetings in towns that may have a total population of about five hundred, but the enthusiasm around the prospect of a community holding their first farmer’s market or receiving a bus stop is absolutely electric.

I’ll suffer the cliché by saying my CAP experience so far has been one of self-discovery. Six months in and I’m starting to look at living and working here less and less as temporary. I caught myself offhandedly referring to the Johnson House as “home” the other day, and that’s really how I’ve come to view Kentucky as a whole. Living in a part of the country with such a vibrant sense of community and mutual accountability for one’s neighbors has not only been refreshing, but has helped me to shape how I view my place here in our wonderful organization.

Chris is a long-term volunteer in CAP’s Commmunity Development program. He lives in Johnson Volunteer House.

WorkFest (our alternative spring break program for college students) has come and gone, and it was everything, and so much more, that I thought it would be. It all started with my housemates and I moving out of McCreary House and into a dorm area at Camp Andrew Jackson. Camp is beautiful, but I was so worried about the upcoming weeks that I only noticed in passing. The following day, after church, I met Jay. He was pretty much as promised—an older Army vet who was eager to see the job site, meet the family, and get going on our job. We went out to the job site, looked around for a bit, and then headed back to camp. Our site was about 20/25 minutes away from camp—one of the closer sites. The story there was so sad. It is a family of 6—2 parents and 4 young kids. While the family was out one day, the water heater caught on fire and the house began to burn. Just about everything that didn’t burn was water damaged when the fire was being put out. Our job was first to finish gutting the inside of the house, and to tear down the addition to the house—only the bones remained there anyways. After that, we would start to rebuild.

Next thing I knew it was Monday morning, and I was racking my brains to figure out what to do. We had met our crews briefly the night before, and today was it—the beginning of it all. I was the assistant crew leader to the purple crew, and I was feeling shaky at best. Well, I was lucky that week—all 3 weeks really. I had a great crew, which included 2 people who pretty much knew what they were doing. Day 1 and 2 we got to do all demolition, which everyone loved. The first day we tore down all the remaining drywall and insulation inside and went back to camp looking like coal miners. Then, disaster struck. Jay had an infection in his foot, and it wasn’t responding to the antibiotics he had been given. He went in to the hospital Tuesday night for them to look at it, and didn’t come back! He was sick, his wife was at camp cooking, and was stressed, and I was flying solo. Luckily, another CAP person (former volunteer, now employee) (Mike!!) was up for the day, and I hijacked him into my crew. Kevin (my normal crew leader) was also there, and held off on running the dump trailer back and forth for the day. So, day 3: shaky, but doable. Then, Thursday, I was pretty much on my own. Kevin needed to get to Shanna’s site, and Mike had to go back to work. Again, I was so lucky that the 2 guys had an idea of what they were doing, and that the whole crew was so flexible and supportive of each other and of me. It all worked out in the end, but I won’t lie, I was relieved when the week was through. Especially because my site would be changing again. In addition to Jay getting sick, we found out on Wednesday that the septic tank at our site was no good, so the site had to go on temporary hold until the tank situation could be rectified. So much change, and I’m no good at change!!! I was sad to see my crew leave on Friday, but I welcomed the down time and the chance to reflect on the week in preparation for the next 2 weeks to come.

Our work for the next two weeks was just 5 minutes down the road-closest job site ever!! Don and I were crew leaders, because we didn’t know if Jay would be out of the hospital yet. It turned out he was, so Don, Jay, and I were on the site. And then Kevin showed up a lot, so really it was just a big party! My crew that week was fantastic as well! They worked like crazy, and got on with each other real well. We were working with a family of 3—2 parents and a young boy, who loved basketball. We were doing a roof-over, which literally means we put a roof over the pre-existing trailer roof. The trailer roof was cracking and caving in, so we dug holes for posts, made 31 trusses, put them all up, and got half a side decked and tar papered. It was a great, productive week, despite the rain. Some moments were still tough-there was a point when I had done something Kevin’s way, and it turned out Jay had different ideas. That’s just the way it goes though-there are just so many different ways of doing things-granted, this meant the roof got measured 4 times, but, hey, at the end of the day, I climbed the hill behind camp before dinner, and sat myself in the tree at the top—it’s just perfect up there—that’s all I need, time to be alone and breathe before heading back into the melee.

That Friday I was asked to give the final reflection. I haven’t done a whole lot of large group reflections, and certainly not for a group of 100 before, so I was a bit nervous. However, I had a song to go off of (Walk Down This Mountain, by Bebo Norman) and I had full confidence from CAP people. Then, at the end, we circled up one last time, and, in imitation of the previous week’s leader, I prayed. Now, I know this sounds lame, but I don’t pray extemporaneously in front of others, it’s just not my thing. I don’t even pray aloud when it’s just Kevin, Shanna and I, but somehow, it worked. WorkFest was working on me as well. In any case, the week ended, and once again, I was sad to see my crew leave. I didn’t think it could get better.

Week 3 rolled around and I had another great crew. It was just Jay and I this week, on the same job as week 2. We finished up the roof, and put up all the fascia and soffit. This week, the weather was beautiful for the 1st 3 days—perfect for roof work!

I’ve heard it said that WorkFest is the best of what CAP has to offer. I believe it. It’s 3 weeks of hope given, and hope renewed. Of new perspectives, and new challenges. I told the students during my week 3 final reflection that I had expected them to feel changed, but somehow I also felt changed. The trick now, is to carry that change with me. For them to carry it with them. In case any of the 2011 Camp AJ purple crews are reading this—I want to thank you all for changing my life in the ways that you did.

Janean Shedd is a long-term volunteer in CAP’s Housing program. She lives in McCreary Volunteer House.

By Beth Dotson Brown

One day while in the CAP office where she had been assigned to serve, volunteer Anita Rayner heard someone say she was short a cook to prepare food for a volunteer group.  Anita volunteered to fill in. Little did she know that her offer to help would grow into a long-term volunteer commitment that has introduced her to hundreds of CAP volunteers over the past seven years.

“I love it. I get to meet so many nice people,” Anita says about her service. “I just feel blessed that CAP believes in me enough to keep me.”

CAP has seen what a dedicated volunteer Anita is, even rising long before dawn to prepare breakfast for groups who want to get out early to beat the heat. “That’s my service for the Lord,” she says.

It was 1997 when, Anita says, God sent her into the mission field after her husband died. She didn’t want to be a widow who only sat around in her senior years. “I think God has a bigger plan for us,” she says.

Anita served in Alaska, New York, Romania then in Alaska again. Both times she was in Alaska, she met former CAP volunteers who talked about how wonderful they thought the organization was. Anita took that as a sign that she should look into volunteering with CAP herself. In July 2004, she began her service.

She fell in love with the mountains and Kentucky when she moved to the eastern part of the state. Her experience has shown her it’s a place where people are down-to-earth, say what they mean and truly care about one another.

Anita has enjoyed volunteering as a cook as well as being part of the larger CAP community where she can begin the day with prayer. She considers the employees to have the same service orientation as the volunteers because she’s seen their dedication and knows they could earn more money elsewhere. “Because of their love for people and their values, they stay,” she says. She also sees CAP as being good stewards of the money it receives.

Living in a volunteer community has also been a new experience for her that she calls a work-in-progress. One of the benefits it has given her has been the opportunity to know people of other religions. When she was growing up, people in her town were prejudiced against Catholics. Two of the housemates Anita grew close to were a married Catholic couple. “They taught me so much about their faith and their religion. I learned to appreciate their dedication and way of worshipping the Lord.”

Anita has expanded her horizons through many experiences with CAP. “I think if you don’t learn something new every day of your life then you’re standing still,” she says.

When she thinks about the energy she’s devoted to CAP, she sometimes wonders where the sacrifice is because it has all felt so good. “We’re supposed to help and bless others but we’re the winners—we’re the ones who get the blessing.”

Even when Anita completes her volunteer commitment, she won’t be finished serving. She plans to settle in the area. “I’m going to become a Kentuckian after I finish. I know this is where God wants me.”

I think it emblematic of my time at CAP that I write this reflection of my life after CAP hours after having dinner with one of my housemates who lives about an hour away. After 6-1/2 years, we can still pick up like we just came in from work days in the hills and hollers of eastern Kentucky.

To say that choosing a major or post-college activity was tough for me would be a gross understatement. Despite my fondness  for trying new things and venturing down multiple paths, I don’t think I’d have believed you if you’d told me I’d someday volunteer for a year in Appalachia after school prior to a trip out to WorkFest during my junior year of college. There were too many other attractive options: work for the government, go to grad school, spend a few years working for a non-profit, live in a beach town…

I’m happy to report that I’ve done all of those things since finishing my time with CAP. I’d hate to apply the “but for” test to this, but I will: “But for my experience at CAP, I’m not sure I’d have done any of those things.” We are (mercifully) not given the chance to know how things might have turned out had we done something different in our lives, but I find that when I look back at the decisions I’ve made since volunteering, influences of CAP and eastern Kentucky are woven throughout.

When I finished my year at CAP, there were people who said, “Oh, so now what are you doing after taking a year off?” My response was usually something to the effect of, “Well, now that my year ON is over…”

Stacie in "Big Blue," her mode of transportatin as a Family Advocacy volunteer

I was initially frustrated that people didn’t really understand that what I’d done out there was actual work (that was more fulfilling than many jobs you’ll find), but I now understand that, for many people, that kind of work is very foreign. It may have been shocking to them that, in the case of my first two jobs after CAP, my experience at CAP landed me an interview. I first worked as a campus minister at a medium-sized public university. Following that, I worked as a program director for a national non-profit focused on volunteer service.

I mentioned that influences from CAP and eastern Kentucky are woven throughout my post-service career history. That may be clear in the cases of campus ministry and working for a service-oriented non-profit. My friends worried that it would be a tougher sell when I applied for a masters degree in Urban Planning. On the contrary, those influences make perfect sense (and I’m grateful to the admissions committee who agreed with me!). While in Kentucky, I learned a lot about community, the importance of land and a sense of place, and about working with people – both those who were similar to me and folks who were – on the surface – pretty different.

In all of my work experience, these life lessons have been very important. So when I sit down with old friends from my days at CAP, I look back on an opportunity that opened various doors for me, eventually leading to where I (very happily) am now. In another 6 or 7 years, I hope to sit down again, and marvel at the doors that have continued to open.

Stacie West,  CAP Volunteer ’03-’04, lived in the Jackson Volunteer House and served in Family Advocacy. She’s currently pursuing a Masters in Urban Planning and working on her “30 before 30″ list.

Devos. Every CAP volunteer knows them well. Those short little segments following dinner during which someone, often the cook of the meal still being digested, shares a bit of wisdom which they prepared days in advance.

Well, maybe. I know for a fact some people put a lot of thought into their devos, but then there are those (I’m not saying I’m not one of them) who completely forget to prepare a devo until five minutes before dinner time.

Devos are, of course, a requirement in CAP volunteer houses because they constitute the contemplative aspect of CAP’s three core values: community, service, and spirituality. Too often, however, I hop up during the awkward silence between the Amen and the Remainder of the Evening without stopping to consider the purpose of the activity.

Upon later consideration, it becomes clear. Devotions are not something we do for ourselves, though they certainly benefit us. Devos give us the opportunity to express our devotion to our Father. Devotions are for God. Devotion is love. It is submission. It is wanting to want Him, longing to long for Him, refocusing to focus on Him.

Whatever form after dinner devos take, their purpose is clear: not to make us feel warm and cozy, but to challenge us to see God in a new way. Herein lies my favorite part: were I not living in community, had I not been placed with these people, if I were to skip devo, I would not be the same. My absence from the family circle would leave me without the spiritual insight gained from just a short reflection or reading or song or whatever. Growth happens in a plethora of ways; we just have to be there to experience it.

Seth Willard is a long-term volunteer in CAP’s Elderly Services program. He lives and devotes in Jackson Volunteer House.

When applying to serve with CAP, you not only agree to serve as a volunteer but as a community member in the house in which you are placed. I have lived at the Johnson Volunteer House for a little over a year now and plan to stay until June. Needless to say, not everyone stays for a second year with CAP, so naturally the Johnson House has changed over time. The last few months have been filled with volunteers leaving to enter the next chapter of their lives, whether it be school, a job or heading home for awhile.This has left room for new volunteers to come into the house, which adds to a different atmosphere to the house. New people, new personalities.

Sometimes community isn’t always easy. You go to bed at 10:00, your neighbor goes to bed at midnight. There are lots of compromises one has to make while living in community, but that is what it’s all about. You learn about how other people are used to living and how to make it work in community. For example, everyone loads a dishwasher differently. It doesn’t sound like that would be a big deal, but when there are fifteen people in the house putting dirty dishes in the dishwasher, it doesn’t really get done if everyone is loading it differently. Last year we had to have a couple “tutorials” on how to load the dishwasher, just so we were all on the same page.

Needless to say, when you live in community, bonding happens. Sometimes group activities are planned, such as camping, a bonfire, etc. to promote bonding. However, most bonding times occur when you least expect it; with a visit to a fellow housemate’s room for a quick chat, a dinner conversation at the table, a game played after dinner. Or sometimes it is through a painting of a unicorn… At the Johnson House, we have a unicorn painting and it is not certain where it came from. However, this unicorn painting has helped to bring the Johnson House closer together. It started as a joke, telling incoming volunteers that one of the older members had painted it, and now we have a small corner of the house dedicated to unicorns- a towel, a stuffed animal, a comic strip, and a book… And there’s been talk of temporary unicorn tattoos… a little much? Maybe. But it is something that has brought the house closer together. It is in such ways that bonding can happen even the most seemingly random and unexpected ways.

A Very Johnson House Christmas

Last night I was looking at some pictures from last year and talking with a fellow housemate who is also staying a second year. There are so many stories, memories and traditions that take place within a house. Cutting down a Christmas tree, random dance parties, costume parties, Halloween and Christmas parties, camping, hiking, swimming, eating out…the list goes on and on.

In community, we eat, serve, play and pray together. The bonds that strengthen in a house allow its members to grow both socially and spiritually. Without community, you could still volunteer and do service, but the amount of growth that could happen in your life would be greatly diminished. In community, you learn new things and grow while serving, and may sometimes change the way you serve, or how you serve. Maybe you will be inspired by the faith of another housemate, or moved by the passion of another housemate and work to do more in the program in which you were placed. There is a reason why community is one of the three pillars of CAP, with the other two being service and spirituality. The three pillars together allow for a volunteer to fully grow and be successful in their volunteer life.

Jennifer Zupicich is a long-term volunteer in CAP’s Child and Family Development program. She lives with 12 people and a unicorn in Johnson Volunteer House.