Dominican Volunteers USA added 2 new photos — with Sean Puzzo and Sydney Boyer.

18 hours ago

As they conclude their year of service with Dominican Volunteers USA, our outgoing 2017-18 volunteers reflect on their year of service, acknowledge important people in their year, and share their future plans. Dominican Volunteers USA celebrates these remarkable individuals who have carried out our Dominican mission in their own special ways. Please pray for them as during their Closing Retreat July 18-20. We wish them the very best in their future endeavors.
Sean Puzzo has served as a 2017-18 Dominican Volunteer at the Dominican youth movement in New York and will continue to share his gifts as a 2018-Dominican Volunteer in 2018-19 in Redwood City California. Thank you for your service Sean.

“I had an amazing year out here on Long Island! Working with the Dominican Young Adults (DYA) USA and Sister Gina Fleming solidified my thoughts that the Dominicans have so much to offer youth and young adults today.

Thank you to the Sisters of St. Hugh’s who provided so much love, guidance, care, and laughs.

Thank you to S. Gina my administrator who has become a great friend and mentor. Under her direction, DYMUSA will continue to flourish. She knows how to light the fire and get the students to catch it!

Thank you most of all to Sydney Boyer my fellow volunteer. You are the glue that kept this year together as we journeyed together. The laughs, the tears, the road trips, the adventures, the flat tires. They all made this year one for the books. I know this world is sure in luck as Sydney pursues a Masters in social work and grows more in her passion for social justice work.
I’m excited for the next part of my journey that will take me across the coast to California where I would take part in a second service year at the St. Francis Center of Redwood City.
If you had asked me a couple years ago if this was my plan I may have left but I’m so glad it has worked out this way.”

If you feel called to make a donation to support volunteers like Sean, please do so below.

dvusa.org/donate-now/

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Dominican Volunteers USA added 3 new photos.

4 days ago

As they conclude their year of service with Dominican Volunteers USA, our outgoing 2017-18 volunteers reflect on their year of service, acknowledge important people in their year, and share their future plans. Dominican Volunteers USA celebrates these remarkable individuals who have carried out our Dominican mission in their own special ways. Please pray for them as during their Closing Retreat July 18-20. We wish them the very best in their future endeavors.

Stephanie Zavala has served as a 2017-18 Dominican Volunteer at the Siena House, a homeless shelter for young mothers in the Bronx New York. Thank you for your service, Stephanie Zee!

“My favorite memory:

This Spring I became certified as a Full Spectrum Doula. I had a client under contract with the organization that trained me, but since I just happened to work with pregnant women at Siena House, one of the newer women coincidentally had the same estimated due date as my client. So, the volunteer nurse at Siena suggested I introduce myself as a doula to the woman at Siena, and tell her that if she needed my help during labor, I would be available. I was hesitant because I had never assisted at a birth before and I was still trying to prep myself for my actual client. But, I introduce myself anyway and left it at that.

One Sunday, I am sitting in my community room, watching YouTube videos on how to massage a laboring person's back so that I can help with pain management. So I'm watching over and over, saving videos to my "Watch Later" tabs, and reading my Birth Partner manual, thinking I won't be needing any of the info for another few weeks.

I show up to work the next Monday morning and what do you know....the woman I introduced myself to is in labor! Long story short, I panic because I have no idea what to do even though I just finished my 7-week course; I run through everything I learned the night before in my head and I give it my best try. I massage this woman's back for a few hours, help her breathe through contractions, and help her relax at the shelter until she can longer take it, and we have to call a taxi to the hospital. At the hospital, I am running with this woman's backpack and car seat after her while they wheelchair her to her room, where I am still massaging her back. The day passes and she is still in labor. I sleep on the pull out sofa at the hospital and almost 24 hours later, she pushes out a healthy 8 lb baby in 15 minutes. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I have never done anything as challenging as this, but it was one of the most life changing events I have ever been a part of.

Future plans:

I will be working at Sarah's Inn as their Legal Advocate. I will be spending a lot of my time in the courts advocating for victims of domestic violence. I also plan to continue volunteering as a Doula on the side.

Thanks:

Special thanks to Sr. Gertrude, Sr. Amy, and Sr. Gracie for being some of the best housemates a volunteer could ask for. They were open to learning from me and my customs and were incredibly flexible, allowing me to take time off from community to go to class. I could not have been able to do it without their support, encouragement, wisdom, and flexibility. Thank you to the Dominican Sisters of Hope, who lived nearby, and showed genuine interest in our endeavors and were great company. A BIG thanks to the Sisters of Saint Dominic of Blauvelt, New York who funded my doula class with a scholarship - this really would not have been possible without them. Thank you to Heather - I could not have survived NYC without you. And special thanks to Megan, Allison, and David - y'all ROCK! DVUSA will thrive because of you.”

If you feel called to make a donation to support volunteers like Stephanie, please do so at the following link.

dvusa.org/donate-now/

Thank you for your generosity! ... See MoreSee Less

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