Gather the Good: Build Community

Catherine receiving her NDMV 5 year service anniversary award.

Community isn't built overnight. It's built through small acts of kindness, unexpected connections, and people who choose to show up for one another.

In August of 2021, I decided to uproot my life in Seattle and spend a year serving with Notre Dame Mission Volunteers in Watsonville, California. I knew no one there. In fact, I had never even heard of Watsonville until I stumbled upon it while exploring opportunities through the AmeriCorps portal.

Still, something compelled me to take the leap. Watsonville was near the ocean, and I figured that if everything else went terribly, at least I'd have the waves to bring me joy.

What I didn't know was that I would find something far more meaningful than a beautiful coastline.

Watsonville was quite different from the town I grew up in. The rhythms of life, the values, and the perspectives flowed differently from what I had always known. Yet, it was in those differences that I began to discover the true power of community.

Growing up in the suburbs, I had imagined a future shaped by academic achievements, career milestones, and the traditional markers of success. There was an emphasis on earning a certain income, owning a home, and building a life that looked successful from the outside.

But Watsonville introduced me to a different perspective. Here, I met people whose top priority was helping their neighbors and community members. Watsonville was a place where people worked hard, shared what they had, and found ways to lift one another up. 

The ocean may have drawn me to California, but it was the people who anchored me here.

At first, I felt like a fish out of water, unsure of where I belonged in this unfamiliar place. But I quickly discovered that community often begins with something as simple as an invitation.

During one of my first weekends, I joined a community bike ride. Afterward, a lifelong Watsonville resident offered to show me the best running routes around town. It was a small gesture, but one that made a big difference. Someone who barely knew me had taken the time to help me feel at home.

And that was only the beginning.

I joined a nonprofit workout group that distributed groceries after each session. What might have seemed like a simple gathering for exercise was actually something much greater. It was a space where people connected, shared resources, encouraged one another, and made sure their neighbors felt included and supported.

Throughout my year of service, I met people from all walks of life, each with different stories, backgrounds, and experiences. Yet, so many shared a common desire: to do good for others and strengthen the community they called home.

That same spirit of belonging extended to the Notre Dame Mission Volunteers community. I was welcomed by my service site and by my NDMV team, allowing me to form friendships and connections I never could have anticipated. What began as a leap into the unknown became a year filled with relationships that reshaped my understanding of service, success, and belonging.

Today, we hear so much about the loneliness epidemic and the growing need for genuine human connection. My experience in serving with NDMV showed me that one of the most powerful responses is also one of the simplest: build community by choosing to care for one another.

This is part of what makes NDMV's mission so meaningful. We create opportunities for people to step outside what is familiar, build relationships across differences, and discover the power of serving alongside others. Through these experiences, Volunteers don't simply contribute to communities; they become part of them. All the while learning and growing through the generosity and wisdom of the people they meet.

I stepped into my year of service in a new community, unsure of what to expect; what I found was a new understanding of what it means to belong.

I'm deeply grateful I took that leap.

Because the greatest lesson my years of service taught me is that community isn't just something we find. It's something we build, together.

And when we choose to welcome, support, and care for one another, we do more than build community.

We Gather the Good.

When you support Notre Dame Mission Volunteers, you make experiences like mine possible—creating opportunities for Volunteers and communities to learn from one another, build lasting relationships, and discover just how much good we can accomplish together.