Hannah Smith, from Boston, was a Service Adventure participant at the Colorado Springs unit for the 2024-2025 service term. Her time in Service Adventure helped her cut through uncertainty and a lack of motivation for school, transforming that hesitancy into a passion for helping people.
Before Hannah Smith joined Service Adventure, she felt unsure. Unsure about college, for which she just couldn’t find the motivation after high school. She was unsure about her career and what she would do. She was unsure about her life in general and what direction it would take her.
Service Adventure changed that
“My year volunteering in Colorado Springs … allowed me time to figure out what I wanted to do in life,” Smith said. “At the same time, [it let me] be able to walk in Jesus’s shoes by helping those around me.”
“It also happened to be one of the best years of my life.”
Smith said she enjoyed every part of the program, including living in community with her other unit members and serving with her placement.
“I really enjoyed getting closer with the other participants in my unit,” she said. “We did a lot together, and we still keep in touch.”
Placement
During her time with Service Adventure, Smith served with Greccio Housing, a housing development organization in Colorado Springs. According to their website, they provide “stable, safe, and affordable housing, offers resources for residents to achieve stability, and promotes solutions to the affordable housing needs of our community.”
With Greccio Housing, Smith spent the year assisting low-income families with the arduous task of finding an affordable home. “I witnessed various extremes in poverty levels and how it impacted people’s lives,” Smith said. She talked about working with people who were living on the street as well as people who lived paycheck to paycheck to get rent in on time.
“Being able to work with Greccio Housing was such a blessing,” Smith said. She cherished being able to be a part of something that changed lives for the better. “I found my joy in helping people.”
Full steam ahead
Smith is channeling that joy into her future career. After Service Adventure, she rediscovered her motivation for school and is currently attending Goshen (Indiana) College, majoring in Elementary Education. She is planning to graduate in 2029 with a specialization in Special Education.
In addition to helping her find surety and a career path, Smith said that Service Adventure taught her other things, too.
“The unit life aspect of Service Adventure taught me independence,” she said. “How to live with other people and how to implement simple living into your life, among many other values.
“Service Adventure has, and will always hold, a special place in my heart,” Smith said.
Curious about Service Adventure for yourself or a young adult in your life? Learn more about this life-changing, career-defining, joy-bringing program.
Want to support Service Adventure? Give to the Mobilize for Peace Fund today so that young adults like Hannah can have life-changing experiences like this one.
Your gift to the Mobilize for Peace Fund sustains our general fund, which supports our full range of mission and service work. From providing essential administrative support for mission workers and service participants to delivering emergency funds through trusted ministries in the United States and around the world, your contribution gives us the flexibility to steward God’s resources where they are needed most. Thank you for believing in and trusting your mission agency, Mennonite Mission Network.
