Life After CAP

For many Christian Appalachian Project long-term volunteers, the decision to come to CAP is fraught with anxiety and second-guessing. “Is this where God wants me?” “What will my family think?” “How do I know I’ve made the right decision?” After our volunteers have made the leap of faith to apply and eventually arrive in eastern Kentucky as volunteers, these previous concerns quickly become distant memories. Volunteers fall in love with these mountains, their housemates and with the people they serve, and what once seemed like the biggest decision of their life becomes the most natural thing they’ve ever done. Their families, former coworkers and classmates may still find their decision a little odd, but our volunteers can’t imagine doing anything else.
Until they have to.
Every volunteer has to move on from full-time volunteering eventually, and this realization is a bit more earth-shaking for some than others. Many come to CAP with clear plans about grad school or vacations with grandkids after their volunteer term. For others, coming to CAP was part self-discovery and vocation discernment. And of course, sometimes volunteers with set plans find themselves called to completely different vocations after their time here.
CAP alumni from the early 90's come back to Kentucky each year to catch up
Long-term volunteering with CAP, or any other organization, is not the conclusion of a discernment process, but one part of a greater journey. Whether a volunteer comes to us right after college, mid-career or at the beginning of retirement, he or she chooses to serve because of a desire for something more out of life, and a desire to leave the world a little better than he or she found it. That service begins (or continues) with CAP, but leads our volunteers in a number of different directions.
CAP alumni choose a variety of different paths after completing their term of service. Some go to grad school to study in fields as diverse as theology, social work, urban planning, law, education, medicine and nonprofit management. Some move immediately into the workforce, choosing career fields such as campus or church ministry, physical therapy, social services, psychology, teaching, counseling, public and military service, and yes, even business. CAP alumni, like Stacie West, ’03—’04, find that their volunteer experience prepared them for a variety of different paths. Memories of that year or two in Appalachia stay with volunteers decades after their service, and most point to their time in Kentucky as one of the most formative experiences of their lives, both personally and professionally.
Prospective volunteers should not view service as a “year off” before grad school or before entering or returning to the workforce, but as an opportunity to gain valuable experience in the nonprofit sector and learn skills that apply to many different fields. Choosing long-term service can require a long journey of discernment, but that service is just the beginning of an even greater adventure.