Webster Works Volunteers Help Epworth Maintain Campus for Youth and Families

For Epworth Children & Family Services in Webster Groves, keeping its campus running is only part of a larger mission to help children, young adults and families build stable lives.

On Wednesday, as part of Webster Works, eight Webster University volunteers spent the day helping to fulfill that mission, clearing an overgrown area behind one of Epworth’s residential buildings and working to bring a garden space back to life.

But for Epworth, the value of the volunteers goes beyond what they accomplish in a single day.

“We can’t do this work alone,” said Venita Govan, Epworth’s interim CEO and president. “We rely on volunteers to come in and provide us with their knowledge, their expertise, their want to help.”

Epworth serves youth and families who may be experiencing homelessness, foster care or other difficult circumstances. Its mission is to provide a support system that helps them move toward greater stability and independence.

One of the challenges, Govan said, is making sure young people continue to have access to resources as they transition into adulthood.

“Some of the biggest needs that our children and families are facing is around stability and the continuum of care,” Govan said.

That support can include housing, education, food, clothing, counseling and other resources. Epworth also provides transitional living programs for young adults who have aged out of other systems of care.

Volunteers help Epworth staff handle the work that surrounds those services.

Burgundy Bonser, Epworth’s director of development, said volunteers can help with everything from organizing donations and maintaining the donation boutique to preparing meals for young people and helping with maintenance projects.

“We think about volunteers in a few different ways,” Bonser said. “First, volunteers will share their time with Epworth, which is invaluable.”

For Bonser, that time can be just as meaningful as financial support.

“It’s easier to donate money than it is to donate time,” she said.

Volunteer work can also allow Epworth employees to concentrate on their primary responsibilities. Bonser said the organization operates at five different sites, and volunteers can help with tasks that otherwise might take staff members away from working directly with youth.

“If we have volunteers coming in to cook, our staff are able to really focus on that youth while our volunteers are cooking food,” Bonser said.

Wednesday’s volunteers worked outside, clearing weeds and overgrowth from an area Epworth hopes to use again as a garden and recreational space.

For volunteer Megan Meade, a Webster University senior who also volunteered at Epworth last year, the experience offered a different understanding of the organization.

“I thought it was just a foster care system, like just these dorms, but there’s actually so much more that they do,” Meade said.

Meade said volunteering also gave her a chance to step outside the normal routine of college.

“I think it’s important for students to kind of just get out of their studies and actually put themselves in the community that they’re in,” she said.

Senior Rebekah Jimenez, another student volunteer, said she came to Epworth without knowing much about the organization. After learning about its programs, she was surprised by the range of services available to youth and families.

Jimenez said she was particularly struck by Epworth’s continued support for young people after they turn 18.

“I think this says a lot about the organization,” Jimenez said. “A lot of organizations stop at a certain age.”

Govan said Epworth wants community members to understand that its work continues to evolve as the needs of young people change. The organization, which has operated since 1864, wants to remain connected to the community supporting its work.

“We want people to understand that Epworth still exists,” Govan said. “We’re not going anywhere.”