Volunteering skills land Bloomington BSW student a place on Governonr's conference on service and volunteerism

   April 1, 2008 – In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Katelyn Holsclaw felt so compelled to help those devastated by the storm that she considered leaving college.

     “I was so upset about it,” Holsclaw said of the television pictures of people needing help. Her mother convinced her to remain in college and so Holsclaw decided to get turn her attention to helping people in Bloomington, where she now is a senior in the Bachelor of Social Work program.

     Now, her years of helping others have been noticed by friends and colleagues. She was recently nominated for the Richard J. Wood Student Community Commitment Award.

      And because of her volunteer coordinating experience, she served on a panel offering tips on how to engage college students as volunteers at the 2008 Governor’s Conference on Service and Volunteerism.

     While many freshmen may spend their first year in college relishing their new freedom away from home, Holsclaw plunged into volunteer work. The Chesterton native explained she is just following the example set by her parents.

     “My parents were always helping other people,” she explained. Her father, for example would always stop on the side of the road and fix peoples flat tires. “I just saw that all the time.”

     Besides, Holsclaw joked, “I get bored pretty quickly.” But she admits there is more to it than just keeping busy. “I think the main reason was I wanted to learn new experiences.”

     Among the organizations she volunteers at is the Middle Way House, a domestic violence and rape crisis center. She works on the agency’s crisis line and also serves as an On the Scene Advocate. That means when someone is raped or sexually assaulted or injured in a domestic violence incident, she will go to the hospital to act as their advocate.

      She also goes to middle and high schools to talk to students about how to prevent domestic abuse and sexual assault.

     Holsclaw also landed a job at Fairview Elementary School in Bloomington, where she works about 10 hours a week. There, she’s learned to how to take advantage of what time and talents people have to offer.

     A lot of people want to help, but they don’t know how to go about it, Holsclaw said.      When the school prepared for a big planting day, Holsclaw arranged to have the appropriate number of bodies on hand. Everyone can help plant, even if they don’t have time to come back and care for the garden later on, she noted.

      Similarly, she worked with a business fraternity that was good at fund-raising, but didn’t know much about working with kids. She used their talents to help raise money for the school’s library, which in turn allowed the business students to add the fund-raiser to their resumes.

     “You have to meet people where they are,” she said of the time people have to commit. “If you have two hours on a Saturday, I will find something for you to do for two hours.”

     Finding the time to volunteer is really a matter of scheduling your day, Holsclaw said. Attracted to the work being done by a Bloomington homeless shelter, Holsclaw found just the opportunity to squeeze one more volunteer activity into her busy week.

     She stops by twice a week and fixes breakfast.

     For more information, contact Rob Schneider, Indiana University School of Social Work, 317-278-0303 or at robschn@iupui.edu.