Service is important to me because…

Airbnb Challenge #3: Stepping outside your comfort zone

Like many of my Seattle Service Year 100 peers, I headed an hour and a half north of Seattle up to Anacortes to visit Predators of the Heart, an animal protection organization run by Dave Coleburn. I won’t lie - as an animal lover, going out of my way to hang out with four-legged friends is something I make an effort to do on the regular, so choosing to use my Airbnb Social Impact Experience voucher to tour Predators of the Heart didn’t exactly feel like “stepping out of my comfort zone.” However, once I was physically present at Predators of the Heart, attempting to lead a fully grown gray wolf on a leash up a sloping hill, I definitely started to feel less comfortable. Kakoa, the wolf I was walking, had a mind of her own. She wanted to stop and investigate everything that seemed out of place on the walk up the hill. Kakoa did not “listen” in a way that (most) domestic dogs would. She was incredibly stubborn, but more importantly, she was absolutely powerful. At some point in the walk, I realized that if Kakoa decided to dash off into the woods, there was no way on earth I’d be able to stop her. For her to still remain by my side throughout the walk was a huge privilege - every fiber in her being could overpower me. It was totally daunting, but simultaneously beautiful that she chose to trust me on our walk. It’s a moment I won’t soon forget - and I hope that she, too, got something out of it (a shred of exercise, maybe?).

At the very beginning of our tour, Dave played us a video about how the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone was reshaping the ecosystem in positive ways that scientists had previously not even considered. Wolves had been absent in Yellowstone for 70+ years before they were reintroduced to the area. Their absence led to a massive population boom for the local deer and elk that inhabited the area. Deer and elk were competing for grassland to forage on, leading to many sick and starving herds. Coyotes had been the predators of choice in the area during the 70 years wolves were absent, but would not commonly hunt elk due to their size. Instead, they were destroying the local rodent population at unsustainable numbers. Additionally - and most surprisingly - the rivers in Yellowstone were eroding at significant rates because plants were not given a chance to grow along the riverbanks and strengthen the soil because they were instantly foraged by the overabundance of deer and elk. Reintroducing wolves brought more balance to Yellowstone. Deer and elk herds were thinned, but as a result grew stronger and more healthy due to more vegetation in the area. Native rodent populations resurged. And rivers began to reshape themselves and re-strengthen due to more vegetation and tree presence along riverbanks.

Watching the video made me reflect on the work we do as those committed to social service, particularly those of us who are undertaking Service Years. Sometimes the work we undertake - for example data entry, resume help, and tax prepping - can feel like really small and menial tasks in the grand scheme of our society. None of us Service Year members are occupying high ranking positions within our organizations. more often than not, we find ourselves at the bottom of the totem pole. However, none of the work we do is meaningless - the tasks we perform often have an unforeseen ripple effect across the individual lives we touch, spreading to families, communities, and oftentimes beyond that. Every single piece of work we do, in some way, is worth it - even if it only affects one individual. Predators of the Heart as an organization has taken in so many individual animals that had nowhere else to go. Without Predators of the Heart’s help, they would have been put down by the authorities. The small act of offering a place of refuge saved a life. Although I’m in no way insinuating that Service Year members are “lifesavers,” the work we do is intentionally done to make someone’s life more comfortable, no matter how small the task is. This knowledge is what has made undertaking a Service Year - and the limited stipend that comes with it - 100% worth it for me.