Molly Isaak, right, with COTS co-founder Laure Reichek, at Mary's Table
“I remember hearing my mom say she would think about homeless people when she was in her bed and it was raining. She would be thinking how lucky she was and how unfortunate they were. And how she needed to do something. I remember her saying that.”
Molly Isaak volunteers to honor her mom Mary Isaak’s memory. Along with Laure Reichek and a band of volunteers, Mary formed COTS in 1988 and began offering food, shelter and services to a suddenly burgeoning homeless population.
A busy nurse, Molly volunteers in our kitchen every Sunday. Covid-19 hasn’t stopped her. She’s still coming in, wearing a mask and demonstrating to everyone the best practices for safety.
While she’s chopping fruits and vegetables, she has conversations with her mom. “I say things like, ‘Mom, I’m here. Let me know what you want me to do.’ I tell her, ‘I want to give comfort to the residents. I hope they will feel good about themselves. I want them to feel valuable and cared for.’ It’s my way of communing with my mother.”
And, just as her mother did, Molly finds volunteering is “a great way to make yourself feel better.”
Diana Morales, who manages COTS’ volunteers, says Molly “inherited her mother’s idea that we’re all in this together. I consider her a courageous person because she doesn’t do this on a surface level. She gets to know our residents. She engages with them. She keeps track of them from the time they first arrive to the time they leave.”
Molly says she loves the moments of connection that come from casual conversations with residents. And that includes connecting about sorrow. Recently, for example, a resident told her she’d been wondering about Molly’s custom license plate. Molly told her the plate is a memorial to Phoebe, the 25-year-old daughter Molly lost in 2003. “That was a beautiful moment,” Molly says. “She was very empathetic. I’m always happy when the residents talk to me.”
When not at work or at COTS, Molly is making jewelry or communing with nature. She lives in American Canyon and has a backyard full of flowers, vegetables and fruit trees. She feeds the birds and the squirrels. “Right now, I’m a little mad at the raccoons because they broke a piece of pottery that I love. I’ll glue it together and get over it.”
Her advice to people thinking about volunteering? “Try it. Volunteering at COTS gives joy!
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