Whenever you choose to volunteer your time, choose something you feel passionate about. Don't choose one because it's politically correct, or the cause de jour. Pick it because you have a passionate belief in what that organization does.

Once you have chosen, please consider what your energies are, what your work/home schedule is, and realistcally determine what time and energy you can devote to your chosen cause. No one is helped by someone who is constantly on the verge of burnout, or who is burned out already.

Research the place you're thinking of devoting your time to. Is it run by reputable people? What is the organization's reputation in the community? Is there a high turn around of employees and volunteers? Is it a non-profit organization? If so get the Annual Report and the Audited Financial Statements. Do they put out a newsletter that you can read? Do they offer a volunteer training program? Do they offer "in service" workshops for further education of their employees and volunteers?

I don't say this to deter you from picking a small grass roots organization. I do this so that you can put your time toward what might be the best use of it. Most of the time, even the most small grass roots organization will have some sort of reporting system that you can check on.

The most important thing you can learn before you volunteer is how to say "No" when you want and need to and how to say "Yes" when you want and need to. Any place you choose to volunteer at will value you more if you know what you are able to, and unable to do for them. Self care should be a skill that you are continually working on. Clarity is always best.

I've done a lot of volunteer work in my life, for a theatre, for a politician, for a teacher. All of the stints gave me valuable experience, but they didn't offer me something I really needed, a place to feel rabidly passionate about. That was the case until I started volunteering for an organization that helped me work on some issues I had in healing from child sexual abuse. That place is Tamara's House.

Tamara's House is dedicated to providing services to support the complete healing of women who were sexually abused as children. Right now, Tamara's House has a Healing Centre that offers quiet space, someone to talk to, some complementary care (e.g. Reiki, Huna, etc.), art supplies for collages, drawings, some snacks and special events and programs as funding allows. For me it was a safe haven from the world, an artificial bubble of peace. Each woman has unique needs and the staff and volunteers in the Healing Centre work hard at accomodating as many diverse needs as they can.

I first started volunteering in Community Development helping another volunteer do presentations/public education on what Tamara's House is, what issues they deal with, what they can do to help survivors of child sexual abuse, etc. I stood in front of groups of people, mostly women, mostly church groups, and spoke about my experience at Tamara's House. I told them about the person I was before I started healing from the abuse. I told them about my progress while I used Tamara's House and my hopes for my future.

Since that first tremulous, near whisper to a small group of women, I've done about 20 presentations. I've co-facilitated volunteer training for Tamara's House. I've organized a workbook from different workshops that survivors have gone to and thought other survivors could benefit from the exercises they did. I can now stand in front of large groups of people and talk about the person I was. Courtesy of Tamara's House I've discovered I have a talent for speaking, and I actually enjoy it.

I volunteered to help in the office by filing, photocopying documents, covering for the Administrative Coordinator when she was on holidays and ill. In doing this I recovered forgotten skills at organization and administration.

I was also the volunteer web site designer for Tamara's House. You can visit the site at: Tamara's House. With the help of several on-line friends I got the pages up and running in early 2001. That was quite the adventure, but again, I learned an enormous amount. I have since turned the site over to a new volunteer who has her own vision of what the site will look like.

Tamara's House now employs me as Administrative Coordinator. With support from nearly everyone there I can now work. They, in turn, get my talents wholeheartedly. I no longer volunteer because of boundary issues I had separating work from volunteer time. Someday though another organization will benefit from my energies as a volunteer.

I suspect that I shall be involved with Tamara's House in one capacity or another for a very long time. The work I do for them isn't totally altruistic since I gain much in selfconfidence, selfesteem and experience. For instance, when I did public presentations I helped remove the stigma I felt of being a victim of a "sex crime". I gave a human face to an ugly act. I placed the shame where it belongs, on the shoulders of the abusers. Each time I spoke I reminded people that the victim was a child, a small child with little or no control in her life. I asked them to look at the small children in their lives and picture me (or any adult survivor) at that age. This helped remind me of that too so that I could begin to stop blaming myself.

So that's my experience in volunteering. Your's will probably vary. Like me, you may find yourself going from volunteer place to volunteer place until you can find a niche you fit and fits you.

Because of the efforts of many volunteers over many years Tamara's House opened a "safe house/healing centre" for women survivors of child sexual abuse. Women from all over our province will soon be able to come for a time to have respite and healing with compassionate, knowledgable people. Volunteers helped get Tamara's House to this point, and volunteers will continue to keep Tamara's House helping survivors.

Some people don't think that they alone can make a difference, but they're wrong. Each person contributing to a cause they believe in can make profound differences in lives. I'm a living example of the power of volunteering. You can be too.