DYK that April 19-23 is National Volunteer Week? Today we are taking a moment to recognize and appreciate the time volunteers dedicate to our community and highlighting 1 spot in town that counts on 20+ volunteers a day.

Transitions Homeless Center is the Midlands’ largest homeless shelter serving 13 counties, including Richland and Lexington. The downtown organization provides men + women 18 years and older housing, hot meals, showers, and resources.

Transitions works with an average of 1,400 volunteers a year to help the organization run its daily operations. From serving meals to monitoring the computer lab, there is always something going on to lend a hand.

Most volunteers spend 1-2 hours at a time assisting with meals, activities, and other needs — that’s where Catherine Beltran comes in. As the Volunteer Coordinator, she works to organize the tasks and assign the jobs to the volunteers every day.

Volunteer Coordinator Catherine Beltran | Photo provided

“We work with lots of student groups, as well as business groups who come to do team building service. Transitions appeals to a lot of people looking to give back to the community because of how comprehensive our services are and how many facets of a person's life we impact: food, shelter, clothing, health care, mental health services, drug/alcohol support, recreational activities, housing, job readiness and more.” — Catherine Beltran

Name, title, what are 3-5 things you want people to know about you?

Catherine Beltran, Volunteer Coordinator. Gosh, I don’t know.

If you’re originally from Columbia, why have you stayed here? If you’re not, what brought you here?

I initially came here after working on a cruise ship; I needed to move to a place where I had some support. My dad is here, so I figured I would give it a try. Now, I love living in Columbia and plan to stay!

Convince a friend to move to Columbia in 15 words or less. Go.

Day trips to beaches, mountains, historical cities, big cities. Low cost of living.

What’s an improvement you’d like to see in Columbia?

I wish we had a better train system around the southeast. I guess that answer extends beyond Columbia. Our roads aren’t the best.

What local dish do you crave + rave about?

I do love tacos birria at Tacos Nayarit, and the cakeshakes at Cupcakes Down South, and the Big Kahuna from Cinnamon Roll Deli.

What do you hope Columbia is like in 10 years? 20 years?

Not much bigger in population, but the arts scene continues to flourish. And trains. I am a huge fan of trains.

What’s your favorite album? (Book? Movie?)

Catherine — Led Zeppelin III because it has such a variety of songs.

How did your parents or parental figures influence you?

My parents encouraged me to forge my own path, learn from mistakes instead of them shielding me from everything, and embrace my unique qualities. I got lucky in the parent department.

Share an embarrassing moment. Spare us no detail.

I taught middle school art for a few years, and I was volun-told to play in a teachers vs students basketball game. I ended up tripping over my own two feet on a breakaway and fell - hard - in front of the entire school. Middle schoolers can be ruthlessly gossipy so needless to say I heard a lot about it.

Tell us about an obstacle you’ve had in life and how you overcame it.

My biggest obstacle is my own doubts and fears. I find that by assessing internal and external factors and then removing the people and things from my life that play into those doubts and fears, I can better keep myself moving forward and not getting stuck.

What life advice or epiphany would you share with others that you’re thankful you learned?

Your past doesn’t define you unless you let it.

What three people (living or dead) would you invite to an imaginary dinner party?

I am an art history buff, so I’d want it to include artists who were within the same century. No doubt an interesting conversation would happen between Salvador Dali, Andy Warhol, and Pablo Picasso. I think a Waffle House steak would be easier cut than the egos in that room.

Name 3-5 other local leaders/influencers/movers + shakers you’re watching.

For local leaders, I live in Cayce and think Mayor Elise Partin is doing amazing work over here. As far as local influencers, seeing Kelvin Davis embrace life changes with grace and poise while still being vulnerable is really inspiring. In nonprofits, MIRCI has been expanding their services in new and interesting ways.

Share a high + low from your day or week.

At Transitions, highs are when you hear about people who moved from homelessness to housed, and we’ve had some great success lately. Lows are when you wish there was more time, money, and/or resources to help someone in need.

What makes you laugh?

Videos of baby goats and my brother-in-law, Monkey.

How do volunteers support your mission? How many volunteers do you work with every day/week?

Volunteers are a huge part of what makes Transitions so great! Volunteers help us to provide essential services, like serving meals, and they also help to broaden the scope of our programs through leading classes and groups. We currently welcome about 20 volunteers a day to Transitions, but that number goes up when we have groups come do big service projects!

What are tasks volunteers help with? Walk us through a volunteer shift.

There are so many ways to be involved at Transitions, and since we have opportunities from 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. 7 days a week, there is lots of flexibility for our volunteers. New volunteers undergo a 1-hour orientation to learn about our facility and the options available. When volunteers arrive, they sign in, get a sticker, and report to their area for service.

Some opportunities are more behind-the-scenes and will likely involve working directly with me, while others are directly involved with helping our clients and take place in our public areas. Volunteers can serve meals, assist in the library or computer lab, teach classes, lead games or activities, help sort and organize donations, do landscaping, gardening, painting…

What do you want to tell your volunteers?

I hope all of our volunteers know that they are truly appreciated. Our facility is huge — we see about 350 people every day — and we need our volunteers to help us to keep going. You all are our heartbeat, and we are an overall better agency when we have volunteers (the pandemic proved that!).

How can Soda Citizens get signed up to volunteer with Transitions?

Check out our website www.transitionssc.org. There you can learn about the steps to become a volunteer and more details about some of the opportunities available. Once you sign up, we will reach out to get you scheduled for orientation.

Who should we interview next?

Our 3 United Way Community Impact Award winners for 2021! We are so proud that UWM recognized Laura Long, Constantine Pournaras, and Tom Clements this year!