Volunteer Community at the Center for Spiritual Living, Santa Rosa

Posts

Blankets that Carry Care

Project Sleep Warm has been serving Santa Rosa for over twenty-five years, and the volunteers who show up on the third Saturday of every month deserve a real thank you. They gather here at the Center, needles and fabric in hand, to create comfortable blankets for people in our community who need them. Twenty-five years of steady, monthly commitment says something about the people who give it. No sewing experience is required to join them, only a willingness to sit down and work alongside others toward something warm and useful. That simplicity is part of what makes this ministry so quietly powerful. Each blanket carries the care of the hands that made it. Someone sleeping warmer tonight because of a Saturday morning spent at the Center is a direct, tangible expression of this community's values. Gratitude belongs here, freely and fully. Thank you to Brenda Kobrin, who has guided this ministry, and to every volunteer who has given a Saturday morning to Project Sleep Warm. Twenty-f...

A Lending Library at the Center? Who knew? The Volunteers did.

The Ernest Holmes Lending Library holds a special corner of our community, tucked upstairs above the coffee serving area of the Social Hall. It is open every Sunday from 10 am to 12:30 pm, and it runs entirely on the dedication of volunteers, guided by head librarian Matthew Duran. Anyone who has borrowed a class textbook, browsed a shelf of audio recordings, or found an unexpected book on a subject close to their heart has felt the care that goes into this space. Volunteers check materials in and out, keep the collection organized, welcome new patrons through the application process, and receive the donated books, audio, and video recordings that keep the library growing. This work asks for patience and a love of books, and our library volunteers bring both in full measure. Their steady presence, week after week, gives this community a place to learn, borrow, and return, one book at a time. Thank you to every volunteer who has given time to the Ernest Holmes Lending Library. The...

Make it Look Good, Feel Good, and like home! Thank you.

There is always a good time to say thank you to the volunteers who make our facility look and feel spiritual, welcoming, and beautiful. Today feels like a good day to do exactly that. Walk through our grounds and you will see their work everywhere. The gardens are tended with care. The sanctuary is prepared before every service. Small repairs are noticed and handled long before most of us would think to ask. This kind of attention takes time, patience, and a genuine love for this community. Our facility volunteers give their skills and their Saturdays, their early mornings, and sometimes their evenings, so that everyone who walks through our doors feels the warmth of a space held with intention. Sacred space does not happen by accident. It is built and maintained, week after week, by people who care enough to show up. This community holds appreciation for every volunteer who has planted, painted, repaired, cleaned, or cared for our building and grounds. Their work shapes the firs...

Books, Service, Spirituality, and Community.

Stepping Stones Books and Gifts has served our community since our doors first opened, and none of it happens without the people who show up week after week to make it work. The chimes, the candles, the shelves of Ernest Holmes titles, the corner of children's books, the original art from local artists: all of it is tended by volunteer hands. Our volunteers open the store on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Wednesday evenings. They greet visitors, restock shelves, track inventory, and offer a warm word to anyone browsing for a gift or a book that might speak to where they are in their journey. Alicia Carroll coordinates much of this behind the scenes, and she is often the first call when something needs attention outside open hours. Gratitude feels like the right word for what this community owes them. A bookstore run by volunteers carries a different kind of energy than one run for profit. Every purchase supports our spiritual community directly, and every hour a volunteer gives comes from ...

We're Passing the Baton, is it to you?

We have mentioned before that we are intending to gradually scale back on bookstore duties and eventually step down completely. We are actively seeking people to help in the following areas: advertising, computer skills (Excel, Word), social media, graphic art (creative signage), special events, deep cleaning and the BIG ONE...retail management and retail buying skills. Passing the baton Yes, we wish to pass on the management of the store to new volunteers, preferably a manager and assistant manager (or perhaps a management team). In this store's management, the most important and time-consuming tasks are ordering product, input of product and managing the product. We would train and continue to advise (if necessary) to ensure a smooth transition of leadership in the two basic areas of gift items and books. For a while, we wish to retain the decorating portion of managing the store. Managing the store is a HUGE responsibility, but the rewards are ten...

No more invisibility, the gold name tag gives me away!

While hardly feeling like a “veteran” member of CSLSR’s Board of Trustees, having begun my tenure a scant four months ago, I am happy to reflect on my observation of what it is like to be a trustee, what good work is being done and what I enjoy. Here are some of my beginning observations. Initially there was a definite increase in being recognized, coupled with congratulatory smiles of appreciation from congregants, former classmates and acquaintances that I have garnered over my 30 years of participation at the Center. No more invisibility, the gold name tag gives me away! I felt momentary pause and wonder regarding what I had signed on to do, when I was approached with occasional good-natured comments of “ What were you thinking ?” and are you “Ready to get to work?” Comments that I jokingly received from some who had the inside track on how things work. I wasn’t sure whether it was time to roll up my sleeves or to flee! Rich an...