Hollister
– If you ask volunteer Ana Sandoval what she does at Emmaus
House, Hollister’s battered women’s shelter, you’ll get an
impossibly long and varied list of tasks and chores.
Hollister – If you ask volunteer Ana Sandoval what she does at Emmaus House, Hollister’s battered women’s shelter, you’ll get an impossibly long and varied list of tasks and chores.
If you ask her describe what she did, say, Thursday, the list is slightly more manageable.
“I just worked on the translation of the brochures,” Sandoval said. “And a little bit of counseling. … Oh, and some baby-sitting as well.”
Dale Yarmuth, the shelter’s executive director, interjected, “She also changed diapers, too.”
That may seem like a lot, but to Sandoval, it’s all in a day’s work.
In addition to translating the shelter’s brochures from English to Spanish, counseling the women and baby-sitting the children, Sandoval also teaches an English class and a computer class, chauffeurs shelter residents around town, answers calls on the shelter’s hot line and appears in court to advocate for women during custody hearings.
On top of her volunteer work, Sandoval is a mother and a psychology student at Gavilan College. She said it can be tough finding the right balance between family, school and service, but she added, “I love working here.”
Sandoval acknowledged that working with women and children in difficult situations can be wearying, but she said she doesn’t let it slow her down.
“When you’re helping somebody, you have to put those feelings on the side,” Sandoval said.
She hasn’t had an easy life either. She was born in El Salvador, but she left in 1983 as the country’s political situation deteriorated into civil war. She spent more than a decade in Australia, then came to San Francisco in 1998 to live with her uncle. Meeting her future husband led Sandoval to Hollister later that year.
Although Sandoval, now 30, left El Salvador when she was only a child, she said witnessing the country’s poverty spurred her interest in community service. She volunteered at a women’s shelter in Australia, and she said she was excited when Emmaus House opened its doors last fall.
“When they opened Emmaus House, I said, ‘OK, I want to be a part of it,'” Sandoval said.
Yarmuth said that without the shelter’s volunteers – there are currently 16 on call – the eight paid staff members probably wouldn’t have time to work with residents one-on-one.
Sandoval said she hasn’t cemented her post-college plans, but Yarmuth is sure of one thing: “She’s going to leave us her phone number.”
Anthony Ha covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or [email protected].
