Stronger Together: You Don’t Have to Be an Expert to Make a Difference

As Domestic Violence Awareness Month draws to a close, it’s important to remember that everyone can make a difference in the lives of survivors.

It is easy to look at the problems in our communities and assume someone else is responsible for solving them. Domestic violence. Homelessness. Hunger. Mental health. Substance use. Affordable housing. Transportation. Loneliness. Youth who need support. Families struggling to make ends meet.

These problems can feel too large for one person to address. We may tell ourselves that we do not have enough experience, money, time, or expertise to make a meaningful difference.

But communities do not change because one person has all the answers. They change because ordinary people decide to show up in whatever way they can.

That was one of the central messages of a recent My Voice conversation with Lindsay Garlick, victim services coordinator for the Duchesne County Sheriff’s Office and co-founder and board chair of Heart of the Basin. When asked what she would say to someone who sees a problem but wonders what difference one person could possibly make, her answer was simple: “Show up in the way you can.”

You Don’t Need to Start a Nonprofit

When we hear stories about people who create organizations, build programs, serve on boards, or advocate for legislation, it is tempting to conclude that community involvement requires an enormous commitment.

It doesn’t.

Maybe you cannot start a nonprofit.

Could you volunteer for one?

Could you serve on a board?

Could you write to a legislator about an issue you care about?

Could you attend a local coalition or community meeting?

Could you donate supplies or money?

Could you share information about a domestic violence program so that someone who needs help knows where to find it?

Could you learn more about domestic violence so that when a friend, family member, coworker, or neighbor reaches out, your first response is informed by compassion rather than judgment?

One voice really can contribute to change. Empowering, Not Enabling: Lindsey Garlick on Advocacy, Homelessness & Community Support offers an important example: during its first season, Heart of the Basin received more than 2,100 volunteer hours in just nine weeks. Those individual hours added up to a community response.

That is how community change often happens—not through one heroic act, but through many people deciding that they can contribute something.

Do What You Can in the Season You Are In

There will also be times when volunteering several hours a week simply is not possible.

You may be raising children, caring for a family member, working multiple jobs, going to school, dealing with financial difficulties, or navigating challenges of your own.

That does not mean you have nothing to contribute.

Community involvement should not become another measure by which we judge ourselves or others. The question is not, Am I doing enough compared with someone else?

The better question is, What can I do, where I am, with what I have?

Sometimes the answer will be serving on a board or organizing a project.

Sometimes it will be donating $10.

Sometimes it will be sharing a hotline number.

Sometimes it will be listening to a friend.

Supporting Survivors Is Everyone’s Work

Domestic violence programs and victim advocates provide specialized services, but creating a community where survivors feel safe seeking help requires all of us.

We can learn about the resources available in our community before someone needs them. We can challenge victim-blaming when we hear it. We can support organizations that provide shelter, advocacy, housing, education, and other services. We can advocate for policies and resources that make safety more accessible.

Most importantly, we can believe that people deserve dignity even when we do not understand every decision they have made. People should not have to earn our compassion. We do not need to know someone's entire history before deciding to treat them like a human being deserving of respect.

That principle extends far beyond domestic violence.

What Problem Do You Care About?

Maybe domestic violence is the issue that moves you to act.

Maybe it is homelessness.

Maybe you care deeply about animals, education, suicide prevention, veterans, disability access, senior citizens, food insecurity, literacy, environmental conservation, foster care, or something entirely different.

Start there.

You do not need permission to care about a problem. You do not need to know everything about it before getting involved. In fact, getting involved should begin with listening to people who already understand the issue—including those who have experienced it themselves.

Find the people already doing the work. Ask what they need. Learn where the gaps are. Offer the skills, resources, connections, time, or voice you have available.

And when you notice a gap that no one seems to be filling, do not automatically assume that you are powerless to do anything about it.

Ask a different question:

What can we do to make this better?

You may not be the expert. You may simply be the person who finds the expert. You might connect two organizations that have never worked together. You might recruit volunteers. You might raise money. You might speak at a city council meeting. You might share a resource with one person who desperately needs it.

Small actions accumulate.

Change Can Start With Kindness

There is an even simpler place to begin.

Be kind.

Put away your shopping cart. Smile at someone. Let another driver merge. Look at a person experiencing homelessness with curiosity instead of judgment. Remember that the person having a difficult day has a story you cannot see.

Kindness moves us from What is wrong with them? toward What might they be going through?

It moves us from Someone should do something toward What can I do?

And that is where community change begins.

You do not have to solve the whole problem.

You do not have to be an expert.

You do not have to do everything.

Just find the way you can show up—and start there.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence or sexual assault, Friends Against Family Violence offers support through its local helpline at 435-781-2264. The National Domestic Violence Hotline can be reached at 1-800-799-7233. In an emergency, call 911.