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This is not how your story ends, it's just the beginning.
prevention coordinator
DYLAN KARIHER: HAF PREVENTION COORDINATOR & UWF ENGLISH MAJOR
WHY DO YOU VOLUNTEER?
I volunteer to create the change I want to see in my community. I would have loved to have had something like Hope Above Fear when I was in middle or high school, and I want to be the person I needed back then. There is hope that fuels my passion for the work I do and the change I think is possible. Hope will get us there, but work will get us through. As James Baldwin said, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” I believe that the hope we have for change, and the actions we take to get there, are the reasons I volunteer.
HOW HAS VOLUNTEERING IMPACTED YOUR LIFE?
Volunteering has truly opened a new sense of beauty in my life. There have been so many people who have helped me get to where I am today, and spreading that energy—returning it to someone who needs it—truly seems like the greatest thing I can do with what I have. Volunteering has connected me with some of my greatest friends, mentors, and inspirations. I feel that volunteering has created change within myself that I did not know I could achieve. I love the people I get to meet, help, and educate whenever I am doing community outreach. I feel that in working toward our goal, I am steadily becoming the person I would like to be. I have never been looked at in the way I have while volunteering—like I am doing something beautiful.
