What could you do more of?

I’ve spent over half my life volunteering & I think it’s critical not only for our community but also for the people we’re trying to help.

When you volunteer you make a difference in someone’s life & it can either be a moment or long term. You make a difference by helping people when they’re in a crisis or when life takes a more serious turn.

I answered a local hotline for a long time & a majority of the calls I’d receive were people who were on the brink or the precipice of life. Often crying or suicidal I had to convince them that they needed to call for help. The hardest calls were people that hadn’t filled their medication or weren’t able to make sure they were out of it.

Both scenarios are not good. Most of the time I had to talk people off the ledge & urge them to go to the hospital or emergency room. This may sound easy but believe me it’s not. When a person has lost hope you need to find out if they have a plan.

If they have a plan the urgency to get help is graver & time may be of the essence.

Enough about tough phone calls, I think it’s made me a better person & a stronger person. How do you give back to your community?