Never on my own

April 27, 2022 | Cat Green, BHFH Program Fellow

I was on I-85 driving through North Carolina last August when I got a phone call from Jen offering me the position of Program Fellow. I asked if I could have some time to think about it, and then immediately called my best friend Grace. I wanted the job, but I was scared. I was only two months removed from recovering from a significant mental health crisis, and this felt like a big, frightening leap into the unknown for me (especially the unknown of bleak Boston winters). 

“I think you have to take it,” Grace told me. “This position is perfect for you.”

She was right. It wasn’t long after I moved here that I felt it was providential. Whatever I do or don’t believe about divinity, I think there’s a reason this fellowship and I found each other. 

I’ve met people who are now integral to my life. I’ve done work that has been fulfilling and exciting. I’ve grown so much, in practical skills but also in my interpersonal life. It hasn’t always been easy, but when things get hard, I lean on my community.

When I called Grace in the car last August, I was nervous that I wouldn’t be able to handle so much change so fast. I was nervous that I would be bad at this job, and I was nervous that I would end up right back where I was that summer. What I know now is that while all those things may have been true for me on my own, I was never going to be on my own. I entered this community that has so much care for its members and that has so much care for me. I feel known, seen, and loved here. As my fellowship wraps up, I know I’ll carry that feeling with me.  

In community, 
Cat