Volunteer Profile: Cindy Cearley

Five years ago, after serving a church as a pastor in Park Hill, Denver for 30 years, Cindy retired. She’s been looking for a way to give back and do something meaningful since then. One day, her friend Lynn Dolven, Florence Crittenton’s Director of Development, suggested that she come in and rock babies in the Early Childhood Education (ECE) Center. Cindy has been a dedicated volunteer ever since, coming regularly every week. She works in the infant room rocking and holding babies, reading to them, and feeding them. “I really love volunteering because, selfishly, it’s really fun for me,” says Cindy. “I also feel like every child should get to be loved, rocked, held, and adored. I’m happy to be part of something that is helping young women be empowered and get their lives headed in the right direction, and take care of their babies so they can also succeed at whatever they want to do.”

Cindy finds volunteering in general rewarding because it gives her an opportunity to step out of herself and to get out of her daily routine. She loves that she is able to not only interact with the infants, but their mothers and the ECE Center teachers, too. “It’s fun to watch how the moms grow over even just a few weeks—from when they’re first in the room and they’re tentative to when they get more confident,” she smiles. “Watching them talk to their babies and really engage with them is really special.” Cindy loves volunteering in the classrooms with the ECE Center teachers, who are “some of the most kind-hearted and generous people you will ever meet.” In Cindy’s eyes “it takes a village to get it all done, and this feels like a really great village here.”