Rosellen Kraus had been looking for a way to be Christ's hands in the world for several months. The pandemic shut down her in-person church services and many of their outreach ministries. She began searching for an opportunity to exercise her full range of skills and give back. Rosellen shared, “I have always been interested in the medical and health-care field, working summers with my mother who ran a cardiac rehabilitation center. This led to a simple question one day at Sleep Number bed store while helping Grace staff member, Dagmar Ruiz, purchase a bed. I asked her "What is Grace Medical Home and do you use volunteers?"
Unbeknownst to Rosellen, Betsy Culpepper, Grace’s Community Engagement Director, had been praying for God to send her the perfect volunteer to lead Grace’s volunteer orientation. “When I saw Rosellen’s volunteer application,” Betsy said, “I couldn’t wait to meet her. With her previous experience and background in volunteer management with the Boy Scouts of America, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and OneBlood, I knew she had the experience I was looking for to fill this specialized volunteer role. When I met her – I knew our prayer had been answered. We found the exact volunteer we were looking for!”
Rosellen immediately jumped at the chance. “This was a challenging assignment that required me to come up to speed fast on topics like HIPAA, OSHA, and COVID compliance,” said Rosellen. She leads the weekly, hour-long volunteer orientation sessions, conducts facility tours and completes administrative tasks to onboard new volunteers. Rosellen continued, “I have the privilege to orient both clinical and non-clinical volunteers -- people who will perform administrative duties like I do, spiritual duties or directly interact with patients for medical, mental health, or dental care. All this was perfect for helping me to feel as if I could contribute to the Grace mission and help - at least a little - to extend the grace of God to people who need it most.”
“My work at Grace continues to bless me with a sense of contribution and love,” said Rosellen. “Thank you for allowing me to participate in the mission.”
