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People often ask me about my decision to start Therapists Beyond Borders. In a nutshell, my journey began with years of frustrating, dead-end Google searches that uncovered very few, if any volunteer opportunities for therapists. Equally disheartening was my tiny bank account – one that certainly wouldn’t foot the bill for the opportunities I did find. But that’s not all. Let’s break down the problems and solutions that led me to launch an organization that I hope will change the world.

2021 was a year of growth, milestones, and most importantly, impact. It brought us new programs, partnerships, team members, trainings, and a strengthened vision for propelling potential!

What. A. Year. It was simultaneously everything and nothing like I had expected. First and foremost, THANK YOU to everyone who has played a role in this journey so far, whether that has been donating, volunteering your time, skills, or resources to help us, or sharing our cause with your contacts. Even if you donated $5, you made a difference. YOU are the reason that TBB exists.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The most ethical volunteering you can do is to help the local community sustain your work for the long haul. That makes training and educating local community members paramount to building upon your progress. In an ideal world, this might even spur job growth within the areas volunteers visit. You aren’t working in these communities to take the place of an existing job, but instead, to potentially create a new one to be filled locally. The end goal is to transition yourself out of a position, so that residents can sustain themselves.

The topic of volunteering can sometimes be a controversial one. Does that surprise you? There are more factors to consider than most people realize. There can be a right way and a potentially wrong way to volunteer. What? A wrong way to do good? Yep, it’s a tricky topic.