By Natalie Edwards
Special to the Daily Press

DOWNTOWN When Cory Russell and Kate Mottola found themselves languishing in their hometowns, out of work or out of school and hesitant about the next big life-defining move, they did what any twentysomething might do: Head out to sunny Santa Monica — and volunteer full-time for the local Red Cross.

Russell and Mottola did not make an ordinary decision, choosing among all the options available to upstanding young adults to join AmeriCorps, described most commonly as the domestic Peace Corps equivalent. Through California Safe Corps, an AmeriCorp program sponsored by the Red Cross, both Russell and Mottola found themselves vying for the two available spots at the local Santa Monica chapter.

“I thought it would be fun to come out to California for a year. It was kind of on a whim. Then I ended up being picked,” said Mottola.

It was the middle of 2007 and as the country was shifting slowly into high summer, Russell and Mottola were at opposite ends of the North American continent weighing their choices.

A lifetime ago, Russell had been squarely on the roadmap toward a full-ride football scholarship to college with an eye on an advanced degree in education. That was before he suffered a debilitating back injury that took him out of the game. To support himself, he relied on his knowledge of computers, first working as a “technical trouble-shooter” for Hewlett Packard and second for the Australian division of eBay.

A native of Vancouver, he had already been in Santa Monica for a year. After his job at eBay was outsourced to the Philippines a few month after being hired, Russell felt disoriented. He had to recover from the awkward working hours it required to accommodate the opposite time zone of Australia. He did it sleeping on the couches of friends, working part-time as an unpaid volunteer at the Red Cross, and slowly eroding his savings. It was time for a change.

Mottola, over in Atlantic City had just graduated from Villanova University with a degree in political science. Though her future plan to attend graduate school in gender studies was close to materializing, Mottola wasn’t eager to return to school immediately.

“I didn’t have a specific plan for after college. I didn’t want to break into the professional world right away. AmeriCorp is a great program and fits well with Red Cross. It is really dedicated to helping the community,” Mottola said.

Both young adults had a natural inclination toward community service gleaned from rewarding past experiences. Russell traces his history of stewardship to schooling umpires.

“I was a youth when I was working with youths. I started training umpires at 14. That’s when it all started,” Russell said.

He became addicted to volunteering when he discovered how positively he could affect children. That love would’ve carried him toward becoming a teacher, but with the unexpected injury, he decided to channel it through the Red Cross. He recounts the story of a child who played volleyball on a team Russell was coaching. The child suffered from asthma and began as a second stringer for the team. Over time, attempting to instill in the player an attitude of mind over matter, of not using weakness as a crutch, “the kid became the starter and is now competing in iron man triathlons,” Russell said.

“I don’t think I could go too long without working with kids. A few people told me how much I could affect somebody’s life,” Russell said.

As for Mottola, it was leading mission trips that endowed her with a love for helping others.

“Working with children and teens in underprivileged communities appealed to me,” Mottola said.

Passionate about the Red Cross, the California Safe Corps program provided Russell with a means to legitimize his otherwise unpaid time there and offered Mottola a transitionally period in which she could explore her passion for community service while delaying that one big post-college decision. The program provides the two with a monthly $1,000 stipend, health and dental insurance, and an Education Award of $4,750 upon completion of the 10-and-a-half month commitment.

Russell and Mottola converged on Santa Monica and dedicated themselves to the multi-fold tasks demanded of them while also finding their respective niches. Russell focused on his position as youth services supervisor, working with hundreds of students who volunteer for the chapter; and Mottola found her role working for the chapter’s Santa Monica Organizations Active in Disaster organization.

Their shared responsibilities range from being called into duty as volunteers of the Disaster Action Team when, for example, fire fighters and public safety personnel needed canteen service at last year’s Malibu brush fires to teaching CPR at elementary schools to organizing partnerships between city-wide non-profits to share resources when and if natural disaster strikes.

“I don’t have a typical day,” Russell said.

While Mottola is waiting to hear back from graduate schools regarding acceptance into gender studies programs, both reveling in the “great experience” proffered by the Red Cross and ready to move forward, Russell is planning to stay put, contented to stick to his current way of life.

“Red Cross has thrown me an unexpected curve ball. I didn’t expect it to be this good,” Russell said.

“There was only one day I didn’t want to go to work.”

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