Volunteer Spotlight: Nicki Petrie

Nicki is a volunteer chaplain at UGM, discipling the residents of Women’s Recovery Spokane. She started out about twelve years ago, serving dinners once a month through her church. They would come, serve a meal, and visit with the ladies. While sitting with one resident, Nicki was asked if she would be her spiritual mentor. “The gal was about my age and we just really connected. Spending time with the women, I really started getting to know the program.”

Over time, she was mentoring other women, and when they were in need of someone to run the front desk, Nicki stepped up. She worked the desk for five years and built many meaningful connections with residents and staff. After coming to know Nicki’s personality and abilities, staff would recommend Nicki for various roles or responsibilities, and she ended up working in case management for a few years until landing in discipleship about five years ago. Her schedule had become more open and Esther Sellers, WRS Director, asked Nicki if she ever considered being a chaplain. “I argued that I didn’t have the credentials, but Esther pointed out that I had been taking care of people here for nearly ten years.”

While Nicki has set days to volunteer at WRS in which she disciples the women one-on-one, she is somewhat “on call”, available to help the women with whatever they may need—like driving a resident to a dentist appointment or helping someone grieve the loss of a family member. For Nicki, serving often looks like just being there for people, being a steady presence and comfort.

“Getting to see where the women are at spiritually and learning their belief systems,” Nicki considers, “it’s fun—and wow!—you just don’t know what people have been exposed to until you really get to know them.”

Nicki expressed her background was quite similar to many of the women that come through Women’s Recovery Spokane. “I have a sister and she was an addict that had a lot of trauma when we were kids—trauma that I was not exposed to, but she was. She had a really brutal situation and never really recovered from it.” Her sister lost her life to addiction twenty years ago. “She was my only sister and I loved her. She was loving and kind to the end. I always knew I would try to help women recover and find healing.”

When I asked Nicki what has kept her volunteering at the same place for so long, she claims it is seeing the women get free from trauma that costs so many their lives, like her sister. “To see people be freed somehow puts purpose to my suffering and my sister’s suffering. There is a way out.” When her sister was struggling, it was hard to find counseling and the kind of work that was needed, especially when insurance often didn’t cover mental health resources. So, for women to have access to these resources that UGM offers—especially for free, thanks to the goodness of God and generosity of donors—that is no small thing. It is incredible, truly.

A Christian for 38 years, Nicki says following hard after Christ for so long, you are still always learning. You never know everything. “I worked through a lot of my own stuff before coming here to volunteer—finding true healing in Christ, learning to cope in healthy ways.” It takes time to untangle traumas, and Nicki says the classes at UGM have brought her healing and finding purpose in her own suffering.

Nicki took several classes offered by UGM, like The Genesis Process and Grace Blitz. “I learned more about who I was, how people see me, and how to get along with different personalities…And this role is very relational.”

She greatly values the relationships she has built and the way staff and residents impact each other’s lives so beautifully. “These women have become my friends.” The way women respond to Nicki is something she says can’t be put into words. She tearfully recalled memories of women coming back to say thank you and to visit with the staff that helped them in their recovery journey. She also expressed the joy that comes with being invited by residents to their baptisms or other big moments in their life. Years ago, one woman had gone onto a local bridge to commit suicide, but instead ended up at UGM. After finishing program, Nicki and the woman returned to that bridge, feeling the weight of coming full circle, standing in that same spot with a completely new life.

Nicki wants others in the community to experience servitude like this. “Serving others takes our eyes off of ourselves for such a small moment, but there’s great purpose and meaning there, whether it is closeness to Christ, closeness to community, or something else. You can actually make a difference and you can see it. You can see the difference in someone’s life.

I’ve done a few wonderful things in my life but I’m most proud of this. This has been the most fulfilling thing I’ve ever done in my life.

There are all kinds of things for you to do here at UGM. UGM can always use help, and God can always use you. God has wonderful things for you to do and UGM is a wonderful place to do that.”

We would love to have you and your unique gifts join the UGM family! To volunteer, click the button below and learn more about partnering with us to reach the poor with the love and power of the Gospel so they might become God-dependent, contributing members of society.