Volunteer Highlight: Lucy Douglas

Volunteer alumna Lucy Douglas always considered YC an extension of her family. Her own family has been involved with YC since the 1980s, but the community she found has still made a very personal impact on Lucy’s life.

Her favorite programs to volunteer are Sports and Swim; Baseball; Kayak, Fish, Cycle; and Mini Camp. She also had a blast at last year’s YC Overnight and Amazing Race competition because she spent many hours with participants riding around Cleveland as a team on the van and during the sleepover.

“I feel like during programs, sometimes like you have an activity, and you’re preoccupied, so you don’t really have time to talk,” Lucy said. “So I think it was a really nice way to just get to know people better.”

Lucy became co-president of the Volunteer Committee and completed a Senior Project internship at YC. Through serving on the Volunteer Committee, she was not only able to help plan programs but also build friendships with other teens her age who were as passionate about YC and the disability community as she was. Through her Senior Project internship, Lucy saw behind the scenes how to create a YC program, such as arranging transportation, determining which participant is paired with which volunteer, and what a program plan looks like.

“Pretty much all of the staff like family to me,” Lucy said. “I really look up to a lot of those people, because I see the work they do. But I also see that they’re just like awesome people. And it’s really been able to have so many different role models.”

When Lucy was having a difficult time at the start of high school, YC was a safe place for her. She didn’t have to worry about performing, being judged, or stressing about whether she was making a mistake.

“It’s not about what you’re doing,” Lucy said. “It’s about the connections you’re making about the people you’re talking to and it’s just it’s the best place on earth.”

Now that Lucy has graduated from Rocky River High School and Westshore Tech’s Sports and Exercise Science program, she plans to attend Bowling Green State University and study Health Science on the pre-occupational therapy track. From volunteering at YC, she has gained an awareness of the challenges her peers face and the power of community. We look forward to seeing where Lucy’s passion for the disability community takes her next!