On a worksite in Johnson County, Kentucky, Rachel and Kate sit with 10 or so other WorkFest volunteers enjoying a sack lunch and a few hard-earned minutes of relaxation. It’s a sunny, warm, March afternoon, the type of day that makes the soul sing after a long, cold winter. The volunteers that make up WorkFest’s Pink Crew, mostly college-aged, sit on the ground in a circle — talking, laughing and sharing stories undoubtedly about the morning’s work on the mobile home of an elderly widow suffering from osteoporosis.

Kate is a graduate of the University of Connecticut and Rachel graduated from University of St. Francis. The two participated in Workfest, CAP’s annual home repair and building blitz, as short-term volunteers after graduating from college and quickly realized that a week’s worth of roofing and hammering wasn’t enough. Both are now long-term CAP Housing Program volunteers and team leaders of the Pink Crew during WorkFest. They will be finishing their one year commitments in July.

For most of the year, when WorkFest student crews aren’t available,Rachel and Kate work with the area’s crew leader, repairing the homes of families in need in Appalachia. While a three-person crew makes for slow progress, it does afford Kate and Rachel an opportunity to get to know the people whose lives their acts of kindness are changing. “CAP encourages us to get to know the people we help out,” Rachel explained. “You’re working on a person’s house for months, and you really get to know them.”

Communal living with other long-term volunteers presents what are probably  the most challenging aspects of the CAP volunteer experience. That means sharing household chores like cooking duty, grocery shopping on a budget and more. “We’re obviously not eating steak every night, but everyone in our house is a great cook. We’re not suffering at all, that’s for sure,” said Kate.

In fact, Rachel and Kate find communal living an integral part of their volunteer experience with CAP. “It’s awesome,” said Rachel. “We really get along and hang out after dinner. There are times you want to be alone, but that’s life in a community. It’s so much fun though.” According to Kate and Rachel, the spiritual component of volunteering with CAP is critical to the overall experience. “One of the things that drew me to CAP as a volunteer was the spiritual component,” explained Kate. “It’s great living in the volunteer house because everyone is in a different spot in their faith and coming from different directions. It’s been great for me spiritually to develop and come out of my comfort zone.”

Rachel and Kate’s year with CAP has quickly flown by. Inevitably, the question of “What happens after CAP?” must be answered. With just a few more months left as long-term volunteers, Rachel and Kate are apprehensive but hopeful about their futures. Both are unsure of their upcoming employment plans, but Kate and Rachel don’t see the conclusion of their long-term volunteer stints as the end of their relationship with CAP. The two hope to come back to CAP as short-term volunteers from time to time and possibly find a paid position within one of CAP’s many human services programs.