In April 2017, I retired from a 15-year career with Microsoft in Seattle with the stated, but, wholly unformed goal to “go save the world.” Concurrently, I discovered that finding meaningful volunteer engagement required the same time and energy as job hunting (oh darn): researching options, exchanging leads, and following through on introductions.

My problem was that I had no specific passion guiding my search – beyond knowing I wanted to make an impact. My volunteer resume is totally non-linear and includes raising Guide Dog for the Blind puppies, fund raising, serving on several boards of Seattle Jewish institutions, tutoring children, and doing free tax preparation for low income families. With no clear goal, (a truly bad way to run a job search), I ultimately accepted the reality that if I wanted to volunteer, I had to just pick something and start. And so, I did.

Volunteers for Israel

I took my first volunteer trip, to Israel in August 2017, (not the smartest time to go), and spent three weeks working in a very hot medical supply warehouse on an army base. As a civilian, I packed medical supplies and equipment that could be field deployed or sent to disaster areas. We lived in barracks, wore uniforms, (including pants that I kept up with a belt and prayers), and had all the bad army food we could eat. I loved it.

Washed Away by Harvey

I returned to Seattle just as Hurricane Harvey rolled through Houston and I knew that was where I had to go next. After several phone calls, a few introductions, and a shopping trip to load up on indestructible Carhartts, safety goggles, and work gloves, I was booking a flight to Houston. My message to Nechama and Houston Jewish Family Service was, “I have time and energy. Put me to work.”

Arriving in mid-September 2017, I stayed with a childhood friend, completely taking over her spare bedroom and tracking de/construction debris into her lovely condo. My daughter has friends who live in Houston and they lent me a bike which I rode weekdays to Jewish Family Service, where I managed the Disaster Response Room and the Case Management intake process. During the weekends, I mucked and gutted waterlogged homes with Nechama. There were days I’d ride to and from work just sobbing. People’s entire lives, their entire family histories were sitting on the curb waiting to be taken away as trash. It was heartbreaking.

I originally planned to spend one month in Houston, but, I extended my work a second month to launch a furniture distribution program for Jewish Family Service. The Harvey Furniture Program allowed flooded families to “shop” (at no cost) from a catalog of furniture and appliances – helping them rebuild from their loss. Houston Jewish Family Service offered our clients compassion, choice, and dignity, at a time when all three were in such short supply. And they helped me build an enduring reservoir of courage I did not previously possess. You can read the emails which chronicle my time in Houston, (and pre-date this blog), at Washed away by Harvey.

Not in Kansas anymore

I returned from Houston in November 2017 with my passion discovered. It’s disasters, (or rather disaster relief). With that guiding my search I went back to volunteer job hunting, exchanging leads, and following through on introductions – looking for my next disaster relief role. Spoiler alert: I’m writing this blog because I’ve found that next role and beginning March 2, 2018, I’ll be doing Hurricane Relief with IsraAID in Dominica.

I’d love you to follow along! I’ll post at  Not in Kansas anymore, and if you follow me via WordPress or click “Follow” on my home page and provide your email it will sign you up to receive my posts.