For UUPer Heather Rice, it’s all about being there.

It’s about listening, and providing support and comforting words to youths and teenagers struggling to accept their parents’ divorce, or who have dealt with a host of other traumas, such as being abused, bullied or lost in a whirlwind shuffle of foster homes.

And sometimes, just being there can change a life.

That’s why Rice, a licensed mental health counselor at the College of Environmental Science and Forestry, volunteers a few hours each week at Integrative Counseling Services in Oswego.

There, she counsels adolescents and teens—many of who are referred by doctors, school counselors and the Oswego County Department of Social Services—that need someone to talk to and someone to listen, at little to no cost to their parents, grandparents or legal guardians.

“I had a client who experienced a huge loss when someone close to her committed suicide,” Rice said. “As she was getting ready to leave our session, she put her arms on my arms, looked in my eyes and said, ‘I absolutely could not have made it through this without you.’ These are the times that I’m reminded why I do this.”

Rice, who earned her master’s degree from Oswego, began donating time at Integrative a few years ago, first as a graduate student and later to build up clinical hours needed to get and maintain her counselor’s license. She stayed on as a volunteer because of a desire to provide mental health treatment to teens, something she doesn’t do in her job at ESF.

“I guess if you had to characterize my role (at ESF), it would be assisting college students,” she said. “Students check in regularly and there is no mental health plan for them. At the agency, it allows me to keep my counseling skills and fulfills the need I have to provide mental health treatment.”

With a husband and a family of her own, it’s not always easy to make time in her busy schedule to volunteer. But Rice is passionate about giving back to her community.

That passion has made a huge difference in the lives of some of Rice’s clients.

“A lot of times, I’m the only person the adolescent can open up to,” she said. “My relationship with them is unconditional.”

— Michael Lisi