Amanda Wolfe joined the New Life team in April 2020 as our full-time Volunteer Coordinator. Amanda attended Roanoke College in Virginia, where her studies emphasized social inequality, community engagement, and community development. During her time at Roanoke, she traveled to both Nicaragua and the Republic of Palau for real world experience examining social issues and was a contributing author on a book using Palau as a case study. After graduating from Roanoke College in 2018 with B.A. in sociology and a concentration in anthropology, Amanda sought an opportunity to apply her degree in her own backyard. She returned to her home state of Connecticut to serve in AmeriCorps – a federal volunteer program designed to eradicate poverty in which service members are given a poverty-level living stipend while serving full-time at an organization for up to a year. As an AmeriCorps VISTA, Amanda was tasked with developing Habitat for Humanity of Coastal Fairfield County’s volunteer program that engaged over 7,000 volunteers per year ranging in age from five to 95 years old. Upon completing her year of federal service, she knew she wanted to keep working with volunteers. Recognizing that shelter is more than having a roof over your head, Amanda identified with the New Life’s mission of providing a bed on which to sleep and a table at which to eat and do homework. While the past few months have been an unconventional start to her new role given COVID-19, Amanda has enjoyed getting to know the New Life community (mostly virtually) and looks forward to growing the volunteer program.