Living a Sermon of Service
Feature
“Before I became a social worker, I was a Christian,” says Candy Dolcy, director of field education and assistant professor in the School of Social Work at Southern Adventist University. “Prioritizing service makes my life a living sermon without ever preaching one.”
She was raised with service as a significant part of her life, which directly impacted her career choice. “Social work lines up perfectly with the Christian mission,” Dolcy says. “We have to meet people where they are and serve their immediate needs before they’ll be able to hear the love of God.”
When she began working at Southern, Dolcy recognized that service would be crucial to getting to know the Chattanooga community. “My role requires that I engage with members of the local community, and how else could I get to know people unless I volunteered?” she says. “As a result, I’ve had the chance to connect organizations with my students and promote the incredible work organizations in the area are doing.”
Dolcy looks back fondly on her first service opportunity while at Southern: an invitation from a fellow staff member to volunteer at the IRONMAN triathlon in Chattanooga. “We were doing such a simple thing, handing out water to runners, but in that moment, it was exactly what they needed, and they were so grateful,” Dolcy shares. “That did something to me.” The next year, she led a team of volunteer church members and students who pointed bikers toward the correct path. “It’s been a great way to get involved in the community,” Dolcy shares. “I love any chance to serve with students.”
Even during Dolcy’s first year at Southern, she was looking for ways to get students involved. In January 2022, she organized a group from the university to help with Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition’s annual Point-in-Time count, collecting data on the number and location of homeless individuals in the area. “I was glad to have students join me,” Dolcy says. “For a lot of them, it was their first time engaging with the unhoused community, so I had the chance to walk alongside them and mentor them, showing them that the people we were interacting with were people just like us.”
Dolcy has also volunteered as a mentor for Girls Inspired, an outreach program for girls in marginalized communities, run by Collegedale Church of Seventh-day Adventists. She’s been working with the same mentee for three years, helping her navigate high school graduation and college. “I’ve loved having the chance to expose her to new things,” Dolcy shares. “She’d never been up to the mountains around Chattanooga before, and I had the privilege to take her and her sister for the first time.”
As director of field education, Dolcy has built relationships across the city of Chattanooga with people at organizations where she volunteers, and she makes connections for students wanting to get involved. Additionally, she’s worked with Chattanooga Purpose Center, a ministry of Orchard Park Seventh-day Adventist Church; helped organize the Chattanooga Human Services Provider Fair; and served as an assistant coach for a local girls’ basketball team.
“I have always believed that if we see a chance to serve, we should just do it,” Dolcy says. “I can’t answer every call, but even if I can’t answer the first time, I tell groups that I’ll do it next time.”
Rooted in her faith, Dolcy looks to Jesus as an example. “He wasn’t a doctor or a chef, but He still served those who were sick and hungry,” she explains. “The only credential I need to serve is that I’m a Christian.”
The views and opinions of campus guests do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Southern Adventist University. An individual's or group's invitation to speak or present on campus should not be regarded as a university endorsement of their philosophies and beliefs.
