When participants in the Community Day Services program at St. Coletta’s of Illinois volunteered recently at My Joyful Heart in Mokena, the initiator of the idea couldn’t have been more pleased.
“My Joyful Heart was something that (spoke) to me,” said Nick T., who is one of about 180 adults in the program at St. Coletta’s that helps people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. He’d found out about the opportunity via a Google search.
Nick came up with the idea of helping a charity after hearing about St. Coletta’s staff members who volunteer at Feed My Starving Children. “I feel like giving back is the best thing with all the negativity” in the news, he said. “I’m trying to turn it into positivity, giving back. I like helping people out.”
After taking a tour before St. Coletta’s fully committed to the project, Nick was certain it was the right place to help. “When I was growing up, it was hard for me and my family,” he said. “It’s better to give than to receive. I feel like my heart is where it should be and to help people out. … Just go out there to do what I can to help people in need – that’s where the heart lies.”
Through My Joyful Heart, children in need receive necessities such as clothing, hygiene products and food five times throughout the year, as well as personalized letters of encouragement.
The crew from Tinley Park-based St. Coletta’s spent a day there helping sort and organize clothes as well as creating hygiene packages and gift bags to be given to area schools.
Tamika Readus, activity/production assistant at St. Coletta’s, thought it was an “amazing idea” to pair up with My Joyful Heart. “The clients where we serve are more on the receiving end of things, and to be on the giving end and volunteering their services I thought was awesome,” she said.
Volunteer Cortney J. enjoyed the experience and “making new friends,” he said with a smile. “People were nice to us. I’d like to go back and give back to my people. I liked doing it, helping people.
“It really put a smile on my face when I walked in there.”
Cortney has some other ideas to help others, such as volunteering at a shelter and passing out “food and groceries for homeless people.”
“I want to give back. I hate seeing people like that.”
Rakeeta Johnson, a training specialist for St. Coletta’s, was on hand to help on the day of volunteering and said it took her a bit by surprise.
“I wasn’t really expecting that we’d be working. I thought we’d just do a tour,” she said. “They had us doing a couple of things like putting clothes on hangers. … They had people who fill the orders. They had a nice pile when we got there. Cortney J. and another person, Noah W., worked so fast.”
Helping her charges volunteer instead of just participating in an outing to see different things made Johnson happy. “I’ve been wanting them to do something. It filled my heart,” she said, adding that giving “time and energy and not just your money” is meaningful.
“The ladies there, we were helping get through their orders laughing and joking,” she said. “They told us we can come back.”
The volunteers from St. Coletta’s were so helpful that they will indeed be invited back to My Joyful Heart. Another session is scheduled for later this month.
“They were an absolute delight to have here. We were extremely impressed. We haven’t worked with them before,” said Erin Burns, director of operations for My Joyful Heart. “When we found out it was the clients that put this together, we were very impressed. The questions they asked were very thought-provoking. … They just kept asking questions and getting to know the organization a little more.”
Burns and her staff can’t wait for their next meeting. “We’re very excited. They are phenomenal workers. They bring a little bit of fun and excitement because they want to be there, they want to help,” she said. “They are willing to do whatever.”
She hopes to have more opportunities for nontraditional workers. The organization opened a boutique last summer to sell things not given to the children they serve, with the proceeds going to buy hygiene products. “We’re trying to find grant money to fund the boutique, trying to bring in transitional students who might not have the chance to work at a nonprofit,” Burns said.
It sounds like she shouldn’t have much trouble finding workers.
“One of the young ladies (from St. Coletta’s) here helping us pack hygiene packs, she said ‘Could I get a job here? I love it here,’” she said with a laugh. “It’s neat to see how God works and to see him bring the people we need. He’s aligning it to have it work out for us.”
She said it lines up with the group’s values. “That is our mission in life – to help others. If we can help kids and we have people who want to continue helping us, we’re all doing the right thing.”
Heather Benedick, CEO of St. Coletta’s of Illinois, is thrilled this opportunity came up. “The organization was founded on the mission of serving populations that are underserved, meeting the needs of the community no matter what they might be. My Joyful Heart is on that same path, charting the same course, helping those in the community who are in need.”
Eventually, she and Readus hope to set something up with Feed My Starving Children for the Community Day Services participants
“We’re open to any opportunity that we find because it does seem to help the individuals that we service,” said Benedick, who’s been with the organization almost 22 years. “Everyone wants to live a purposeful life — it’s innate in all of us – so we always seek opportunities for them to be part of our larger mission.”
Melinda Moore is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
