Volunteering really isn’t supposed about the person giving back, but in this instance, I’m thankful volunteering helped.
By: Heather Newgen | Twitter: @hnvoluntourist
Things were going well. I had a full-time gig as an entertainment reporter interviewing Hollywood’s top celebrities, I was traveling the world thanks to my job and I was doing well financially. Life wasn’t bad.
Heather Newgen interviewing Sarah Jessica Parker
Heather Newgen covering a red carpet event
Then 2010 happened…
My Grams died just a few days into the New Year. When I was 14-years-old I went to live with my grandparents and I was very close to them so I was just devastated by her unexpected death. 10 years before she died, my Grandpa passed away so now I was alone in California without family, which was something I always knew would happened, but dreaded.
My Grams
About a month later I found out our home would be going into foreclosure. Thanks to the corporate greed that caused our economy to greatly suffer, the house was no longer worth it’s value and she owed more on it than I could afford to pay.
RELATED: How to see New Orleans in 72 Hours
I was crushed. With so much thrown at me at once, I decided I needed a break. I was emotionally overwhelmed and shocked by the situation. I didn’t want to feel sorry for myself any longer and needed to get a new perspective so I thought what better way to do so than to help someone else.
I’ve always loved New Orleans and was heartsick about Hurricane Katrina and the oil spill so I decided I wanted to spend my vacation there volunteering.
I thought now the year would for sure get better since I was building good karma by helping others at a time when I really needed help. But nope that didn’t happen. I’m not sure why I thought that would work anyway.
Instead a few days later I clumsily fell down the stairs in my own apartment and fractured my foot in a couple different places. Who does that? I laughed it off the best I could and thought this has to be the end of my bad luck. Wrong again.
Heather Newgen being clumsy–something that hasn’t changed
I was suddenly laid off from my full-time job, a company that I’d been with for seven years. It came out of nowhere and without warning. It was incredibly disappointing to say the least. I couldn’t collect unemployment since I was 1099’d and I didn’t get a severance package.
Heather Newgen covering an event
By this point I was wondering where the hell my good karma was and why all of this was happening to me. I was trying to have a good attitude about it all, but it was really, really hard.
I somehow forced myself to keep going and tried to remember what I believe; “everything happens for a reason.” I was depressed, upset and just pissed off.
And things continued to get worse.
For months I had been sick while all of this was going on and I was hoping it was just stress, but it wasn’t. I was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease. It took a long time to get the illness under control, but I was finally starting to feel better.
Heather Newgen in hospital. Her dog Murphy pays her a visit.
I was looking forward to getting out of Los Angeles and spending some time in NOLA. But five days before my trip I got into an accident and caused $6,000 worth of damage to my car. Are you freaking kidding me?
It was my fault and I took full responsibility. Thankfully no one was hurt and there was no damage really done to the other car—just mine.
I was about to lose it. In six months I’d lost everything and I started to think there’s no way I could continue to go on like this. It was too much.
I couldn’t afford now to go to New Orleans to volunteer, but something inside of me kept saying I was meant to go and to find a way to do it.
Jackson Square in New Orleans
So as much as I didn’t want to I began to fundraise, which I had never done before. I’m very prideful and I never ask anyone for anything. In fact, I don’t really know how to ask for help and I’m bad at accepting things from people. I’d rather give because it makes me more comfortable to do something for someone else.
However, I was at a point where I had no choice. I sent out an email explaining the circumstances to my friends and colleagues. Within 24 hours I had the money I needed to go. I began to cry and felt guilty for being so down and negative. I had been blessed with the most amazing gift and I couldn’t believe it.
I made it to New Orleans thanks to the support of some great people and I have to say it’s been one of the most positive and rewarding experiences I’ve had volunteering. I didn’t think about anything I’d been through once, but instead focused my attention on the people who I was there to help. My problems didn’t matter—it was all about them and I actually started to feel something I haven’t felt in quite some time—happiness.
Heather Newgen volunteering in New Orleans
I almost forgot what it was like to feel anything other than sadness and desperation. I went to NOLA to serve a community that has been hit hard with tragedy after tragedy. I went to help a city try to overcome a little of their hardships and to attempt to make a difference, but instead the work I did and the people I met helped me more than I could ever imagine.
After getting back to LA, I was in a much different place emotionally and I don’t think that would have been possible without this trip. While I was still bummed about my circumstances, I felt like it was going to be okay and that my situation was nothing in comparison to others I met on this adventure.
Volunteering has always been rewarding, but this time it did something for me that it never has before –it rescued me and I can’t thank New Orleans enough for that.