Satisfaction through helping

Suzie Harrison

Shirley Jenks has been busy volunteering in Costa Mesa for years.

She’s out of the work force now, but she’s still volunteering.

“I was a volunteer with the Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter in

Costa Mesa in the mid-’80s,” Jenks said.

She said she got much satisfaction from helping out at the shelter

that was committed to helping homeless families become

self-supporting and move into permanent housing.

“I was the ‘in-taker’ there for a couple of years when the

homeless shelter started,” Jenks said. “We would fit in as many

people as we could, mostly families with children, and they had to

look for work.”

She helped people get into the two-bedroom house, where they

received food and a bed that were paid for with donated funds.

“That’s how we survived,” Jenks said. “It was very challenging,

but I enjoyed every minute of it and got to know some of those

people, who were so wonderful.”

She doesn’t like the mass perception that homeless people are

bums, looking for a hand out.

“Most of them had decided that they wanted to make something of

their lives,” Jenks said. “We had all types of people some just got

bad luck and there they were.”

After a couple of years there, they wanted to turn her position

into a paid position so she decided to go help somewhere else.

Jenks volunteered at Share our Selves, also in Costa Mesa.

“It helps the homeless get care from dentists and doctors. It’s

terrific,” Jenks said.

There was a lot of need for services like that, she said.

“It was fantastic to watch the people who volunteered,” Jenks

said. “They volunteered all the time, and they are reliable people.”

When she moved to Costa Mesa from Huntington Beach, she decided

she wanted to volunteer at the Costa Mesa Senior Center to see what

she could do.

“That was five years ago that I started as a volunteer at the

senior center,” Jenks said. “I’m at the front desk answering the

phones and signing people up for memberships and classes.”

It’s not quite the same as helping the homeless and disadvantaged,

she said.

“They’re not desperate,” Jenks said. “It’s fun. I enjoy meeting

people and love all the people that come here.”

In her spare time, she likes watching movies with her husband,

traveling and going to jazz festivals.

“I like Costa Mesa,” Jenks said. “I feel like I’ve always been a

Costa Mesa person since we moved to California in 1979.”