Profile by audrey gerughty

It’s the little things that count:

Making a Difference From baking cookies for dayworkers to buying fair trade items to being a friend to anyone and everyone she comes accross, Val Liberty’s commitment to everything she does makes her stand out. Devoted to social justice and with a passion for guiding teens in their faith, she exemplifies how by doing little things with a good heart you can change the world.

by Audrey Gerughty

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ids run around barefoot, hair plastered to faces and clothes dripping as they frantically try to spray their friends or be sprayed. Scattered remains of water balloons and silly string litter the grass, marking kids’ triumphs and struggles. The excitement and enthusiasm are infectious, spreading to anyone and everyone who takes part. Amid the chaos stands Val Liberty, youth director of St. Simons Parish and mastermind behind this event to kickoff the youth programs for the year.

She stands about five foot three with short auburn hair and keen brown eyes, filled with a

youthful vitality. Her openness and sense of humor make her easily approachable. She is quick to befriend people and draw them into the Lifeteen program.

I met Val four years ago when I first became involved in the Lifeteen program, and got to know her better through participating in the San Jose Immersion. I was struck by how energetic and friendly she was with the teens, and her passion for everything she does.

Along with planning action-packed occasions like this one, Val’s job description includes

performing miracles to feed us teens every week, creating engaging ways to teach us about our faith and the church, and giving us opportunities to serve, make a difference and live our faith. But what isn’t part of the job description is something even more significant that is often overlooked: she creates a community, a sense of family among the teens that will last long past high school and values that carry into their everyday lives.

Val was born and grew up in rural New Jersey. She spent a lot of time camping

and running around outdoors with her four brothers, and was involved in service from a very young age, through Scouts and 4H. She says that growing up in such a tight-knit community gave her a very giving upbringing. Her giving personality is reflected in her work today through her commitment to the teens and involvement in whatever service opportunities she can find.

She always knew that she wanted to work with teens, starting out in college pursuing a degree in nursing and special ed. After deciding the science part of the nursing program wasn’t working for her, she switched majors to recreation and graduated from San Francisco State. She worked as a youth

director in the military for 20 years at Monterey and then Moffett Field. 15 years ago, she became involved in youth ministry. Her background in recreation proved a valuable resource to help plan large events and organize teens, but she had to do some retraining as far as the ministry part. Around the same time, an experience really opened her eyes to the poverty so close to her own home was a trip called God Walk, organized by a seminarian, to visit and feed the homeless in San Francisco. She became increasingly involved in service and social justice to where it is a big part of her life now. She participated in Habitat for Humanity, and started organizing an immersion to downtown San Jose with Ruben Solorio from Catholic Charities. She says, “It’s just

kind of morphed over the years where it becomes such a necessity to take our kids from Los Altos in beautiful homes, and take them to San Jose and say here's this man’s home, it’s under the bridge. So that they can see that you don't have to go far to see families and people in need.” Last year she organized the first ever teen’s program in Tijuana, as part of St. Julie’s Tijuana mission trip.

Teens are scattered around the room, offering drinks to grateful diners, serving soup, and washing dishes in the back. This is the site of Loaves and Fishes, a soup kitchen in San Jose that provides meals to those in need.

Several teens are bickering playfully in the back over who gets to do what part of washing the dishes, but we still manage to clean up with remarkable efficiency.

“If I believe in it, then it is my responsibility as a Catholic, as a Christian to open your eyes at least.”

It’s through nights like these Val encourages teens to get ivolved in service, with the promise of food and a movie afterward. “Watching you guys fight over the dishes when we go to Sacred Heart, to me, thats hysterical,” she says, “ thats more than I can ask for. So it’s something that I do because I want you to be involved in it.

And hopefully you’ll carry that forward in your life and in your family’s life.”

After serving dinner and cleaning up, we head over to a drive in for hot dogs, dessert and a movie. While serving meals one night isn’t going to make a huge impact in the long run, it is a nice feeling to know that

we have made a little bit of a difference by just serving others one night before treating ourselves. We all eat dinner, play some frisbee and card games while waiting for the movie, then spread out in lawn chairs and blankets for Superman.

Some people came for the service, some people came for the movie. But despite our different reasons for being there, by the end of the night, teens who hadn’t even met before are friends.

As I’m finishing up an interview with Val, we hear the sound of a car pulling up in the driveway. A few moments later, two energetic golden retrievers

bound up and attack Val, vying for her attention. One sniffs me curiously as the other is busy giving Val a big, sloppy kiss.

Val’s eyes twinkle with affection and love as she regards her two beautiful dogs, Sharlie and Lexi. Between Val and the dogs, I saw a kindred spirit.

Just like a loving dog that will stand by you forever, Val is one constant in the everchanging, soul-searching universe of a teenager, and is always open to talk to you and support you.

No time is a bad time for teens to show up just to talk or hang out. One time a group of teens showed up at her house at ten o'clock bearing cheesecake and ice cream, and she welcomed them into her home and let them stay as long as they wished. Along with enduring life teen prankspost-itting her car, or filling it with balloons and wrapping paper on her birthday, always being accessible is just one of the of the endless ways she shows her love of Lifeteeners.

She has a no nonsense approach to life, “The maids are off today” she tells us after dinner one night as a way of telling us to bus our own tables. After dinner, we gather around a couple of tables pushed togeth-

er for the Lifeteen session. We go around the table, each person saying their name, grade, school, and favorite type of shoe as of way of introducing new people into the group. After going through the content for the evening, we delve into a discussion about the pros and cons of living in an all Christian community. While some value diversity over a community that all shares the same belief, the group is in consensus that being in such a community would cause your faith to grow,

and where you fit in and that kind of stuff, and I felt like Lifeteen was where I found that, where I felt like I just fit the puzzle perfectly, not awkward and where I felt so comfortable in my own skin,” says Rebecca Rodeheffer, a former Lifeteener. “That in turn really encouraged me in my faith.

Having peers who share the same values and beliefs and goals in their lives is really encouraging. You could probably say that in combination with DYR(a youth retreat), it’s the reason I'm totally in love with my faith.”

Val is retiring this year, and moving to Arizona to spend more time with her husband and daughter. “I’ll definitely stay involved,” she says confiand help you be comfortable dently. “I’m with living your own faith. In- s o r r y terestingly enough, this is what Lifeteen provides for teens in high school. As a teenager, “You’re trying to find where you b e l ong ,

“Having peers who share the same values and beliefs and goals in their lives is really encouraging.”

but I just am not ready to not hear children's voices... I would miss kids running around on their bicycles and climbing trees.” For this reason she has an offer on a home in a family community instead of a retirement community. Indeed, it is hard to picture Val not being involved in every way she can: food banks, volunteering, babysitting. She is the living example of “If you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life.” H Gerughty, Carol. (2013, September 15). Personal interview.

Liberty, Val. (2013, September 8). Personal interview.

Liberty, Val. (2013, October 6). Personal interview.

Rodeheffer, Rebecca. (2013, October 5). Telephone interview.

ARIZONA