We want to welcome this year’s MercyWorks volunteers, who officially joined the Mercy Home family last week. We celebrated their arrival with a welcome ceremony, including a special prayer service in our chapel, and a dinner reception in our dining hall.

Katie Keller Smith, Director of MercyWorks and Spiritual Development, and Kevin Felisme, MercyWorks Coordinator, started the evening off by welcoming MercyWorkers and their guests to the chapel. Father Scott then extended his own greeting, expounding on how the spirit of generosity is intertwined with the meaning of life.

Each MercyWorker had a chance to introduce themselves and share where they were from, what school they attended, and what brought them to Mercy Home. Many credited the strong recruiting skills of Felisme and Keller Smith in drawing them to our Home.

Throughout his homily, Father Scott elaborated on the theme of generosity — how that spirit animates the MercyWorks program and endures, as the foundation of Mercy Home. It was a fitting theme as our MercyWorks volunteers begin their year of service.

The prayer service concluded with each MercyWorker coming to the front of the chapel where they received a candle lit by Keller Smith.

After the prayer service, everybody made their way to the dining hall for a delicious pasta dinner. Keller Smith took to the podium to explain the mission of Mercy Home and the functions of our different departments and programs.

Former MercyWorkers on hand, like Felisme, were acknowledged by those in attendance. Felisme shared some words of wisdom about what this year’s volunteers can expect.

“Every one of you will soon learn that there will never be a truly comprehensive description of what your job entails,” Felisme said. “You will serve as coaches, role models, mentors, confidants, teachers – and our hope is that you, your youth, and your coworkers are forever changed because of the role you played in one another’s lives.”

Career Resources Coordinator Jaquan Grier, a member of last year’s MercyWorks volunteers, then shared some interesting anecdotes and lessons learned from his time as a MercyWorker, like how to better manage his budget and taking advantage of opportunities to connect with his fellow volunteers.

We are so excited to have this year’s MercyWorks volunteers join our family, and we wish them the best of luck as they begin their year of service!