Jean-Frédéric, volunteer
When I was nine years old, I was in a very serious car accident. Following the accident, I was in a deep coma for three weeks. It took me a year and a half before I was functional again. When I was sixteen years old, I began feeling depressed and asking myself why I had survived the accident. I lost interest in a lot of things and stopped going out, losing my good physical condition as a result.
When my grandfather, who was my hero, passed away, his last words to me were “spring is coming: now is the time to start again.” I started looking for places to volunteer and discovered Santropol Roulant. I began to volunteer in the kitchen but was not in good shape and had trouble completing tasks, but the staff kept me on anyway. Coming to Santropol Roulant helped me to recover from depression.
Last summer, I took a road trip through the United States, which marked my full recovery from depression. Since returning, I have started university in computer science and I love it. I am also about to start a company and launch a website, and it’s all thanks to Santropol Roulant.
About the blog series:
Santropol Roulant is a beautiful community of members brought together by food and community engagement. In an effort to capture the diversity of our members, we are launching Stories of Santropol Roulant. One of our volunteers, Monica (pictured below), is setting out to photograph our members and collect quotes and short stories to share on our blog and social media. If you see Monica at Santropol Roulant with a camera in hand, feel free to approach her and say hello. We would love to hear your story! Contact brooke@santropolroulant.org if you have any questions or would like to be interviewed.
