Life as a Dominican Volunteer

In our most recent blog post, volunteer Kayla Grodzicki gives us a glimpse of her daily life as a DV. Kayla serves as a domestic violence counselor at Sarah’s Inn, a domestic violence shelter in Chicago. This blog post is from her personal blog which she generously shares with us. Thank you for your service, Kayla!

 Welcome to my Crazy & Beautiful Life.

Hi! My Name is Kayla; I am a 22 year old girl from Connecticut. I have just finished my undergrad experience at Dominican College in Blauvelt, New York this past May (2016) with my Bachelors in Social Work. I have a younger brother, named Michael who is just beginning his own Journey – College #GoUVM! I have a mom, Jennifer, a Dad, Jeffrey, who just bought a Beautiful home in Orlando, Florida! & a huge CRAZY loving family who I miss more than anything in the world - and they did not pay me to say that.

So let’s jump to the good stuff, Shall we? Why we are all here reading my fabulous blog!

I am currently doing a Year of Service through Dominican Volunteers USA! #GoDV!!  My placement is in Chicago, IL and I am doing my ministry work at Sarah’s Inn, a local Domestic Violence Center! I live with Two Dominican Sisters, Mary Alice and Marilyn and I also live with another DV – Emili! Emili is doing her year of service at Visitation School!! Another sister who visits and has dinner with us every Monday is Bernadine! She is a huge activist and is spent this past week in Spain advocating!

So what is it like being a DV you ask!?!? Well let me tell you… 

A daily day in the life of a DV in Chicago goes a little bit like this –

6:00am: My blaring alarm goes off and I basically fall out of bed from its noise it scares me so badly.

6:10 – 6:30am: Morning Shower Time!! Where’s my rubber ducky?!?

6:30 – 6:55am: Time to get primped and prepped for the day! Preferred attire – Business Casual! Preferred hairstyle – Top Knot Bun!!!

At this point I grab my oh-so-cute back pack filled with all of the essentials (Pens, Iphone Charger, Clipboard, Notebook, Wallet, Crayons, Etc.) and I run downstairs for…

7:00 – 7:15am: MORNING PRAYER! Morning prayer is probably my favorite way to really get the day started, typically my mind is racing about the day, what paperwork needs to be completed, what will I have for lunch, etc. but during morning prayer it’s a moment where all of that is set aside, I can focus on the morning reading, and the responsorial really hits home and allows me to think of all of those who are suffering, or whom I feel need an uplift in their lives.

7:15 – 8:00am: Breakfast & Lunch Meal Prep – Breakfast is usually toast with a peanut butter spread and an XL cup of coffee! (However we got waffles the other day at the Grocery Store! So those may have to substitute for the toast!!) Lunch is typically a Ham & Cheese Sandwich accompanied by a salad or some fruit!

8:00 – 9:00am: Morning Commute; to get to my ministry site I take a bus to the Blue line Station, and then the Blue Line to the town my Ministry is located in. In case you were unsure – the blue line is Chicago’s train system or Public Transit, it is similar to NYC’s subway system but it is all above ground! I have to walk about ten minutes to get to the actual building but it’s a very cute and quaint town with little shops so I enjoy the morning walk, besides I often am nose-deep in a book I was reading on my commute to work and cant give-up even though I now have to start walking. The art of walking and reading is something I have not quite mastered yet!

9:00am – 5:00pm: It’s currently Friday, September 9^th so I am finishing up my fourth week here! I am a Crisis Intervention Advocate – which in other words means I am an advocate for those who have been affected by Domestic Violence. So Far, So Good is an understatement! I am loving my time here at SI! The environment and vibe is such a welcoming, warm, and loving feeling that you get every time you set foot through the front door! A daily day at SI really isn’t ever the same as the day before. You always have to be prepared and ready for something new. However, when you have an amazing team of Staff, Volunteers, and Interns supporting you - things are easy peasy!! So even though the daily schedule at SI is always changing, here’s a good idea as to what it is that will or could happen as far as myself goes – I could be on Crisis Line, answering the door and greeting incoming clients! If not on CL, I could have intakes or advocacy appointments, or be have meetings with the staff, or maybe even group! Every Thursday night I have a late night group with children! It is my favorite part of the week because I get to sit down and color or play games or tell scary stories. Like one time – I ordered a pepperoni pizza, but then when I got the pizza… there were mushrooms on it!!!! It’s definitely the highlight of my week and something I look forward too!

5:00 – 6:00pm: On a regular day, I leave the office at around 5 and repeat my morning commute, L, bus, home.

6:30pm: Community Dinner: This is also my favorite daily thing, typically the way this works is someone is assigned a cooking shift, an evening prayer shift, and whoever does not cook, has to do the dishes and clean off the table after dinner! During Community Dinner – or as I prefer to call it, Family Time – we discuss our days; have delicious meals, sometimes some yummy dessert like Cheesecake! I really appreciate this time to un-wind from the long day and really get to check-in with everyone.

8:00pm: Evening Prayer ; this is up to whoever is doing the prayer, we can have an entire prayer done in song, or only one small reading, you can bring trinkets to the table, or whatever you may see fit! This is such a great, fun, time because it really allows people the chance to be themselves and as expressive as they want to be. It’s also a nice time to once again take a step back from reality and really put things into perspective! It is once again one of my favorite times of the day. (I really do have a lot of favorites – I guess I’m just enjoying myself too much, but hey “If you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life!” – Ritu Ghatourey.

8:30pm: After Evening prayer, everything is pretty much all done for the day! You can go to bed, drink some tea (My personal fav – Chamomile with honey! ), take a nice warm relaxing bath, clean, whatever makes you happy! However I would suggest trying to get to bed pre-10pm, because don’t forget, you’re up early again at 6am!!!

 And… that’s about it! That is a basic idea of what my life is like as a DV Volunteer – there are obviously always new little fun surprises and changes! Every day is a new adventure, every day you cross paths with someone new, and that is what I live for! I look forward to sharing my experiences with you over this year and keeping you posted on the crazy amazing life that is mine!!

Love,

 Kay.

P.S. Take a look at my Fab family & DV Family!