For 17 years I have had the pleasure to work in the nonprofit sector. Helping the less fortunate or people that need assistance has always been my passion.

Whether it was being a suicide counselor, case manager, shelter manager, director of development or executive director, I’ve been blessed to meet the needs of people that are hurting.

I am currently in Leadership Seminole Class 20, and just when I thought I had seen it all, I realize that there are so many great agencies helping people in Seminole County.

The Leadership Seminole program exposes participating community leaders to the issues and workings of government, the arts, public safety, education, and other areas.

On Dec. 10, our leadership class had Human Services Day, and so much happened in one day! I thought the Human Services Day would be cool because I am familiar with this topic and am involved in the human-services field. We were warned by the leaders of our class that this would be a very emotional day.

I wish I would have taken that more seriously beforehand.

We started our day at Kids House of Seminole, a nonprofit corporation that defends and protects abused children. Human services was defined to us by the Community Foundation of Central Florida. We heard disturbing stories about the littlest victims at Kids House.

There were presentations from Community Based Care of Seminole County, The Grove Counseling Center, MicheLee Puppets and the Sharing Center.

The agency that struck me the hardest in the morning was Safehouse of Seminole, which provides help to women and children experiencing domestic abuse. My class listened to a recording of a 9-1-1 call of a little girl crying to the dispatcher begging for help because her family was being physically and emotionally abused by the mother’s significant other while the girl was on the phone.

We sat there in silence – confused, angry and sad. Even though this was a recording, I found myself praying that the police would hurry and help this poor girl and her siblings and mom. Tears began to run down my cheek.

The second half of our day included a trip to Midway Safe Harbor Center, delivering meals to community residents from Meals on Wheels, and then lunch at Hospice of the Comforter. While we were eating lunch, a gentleman gave his testimony as to how Hospice of the Comforter helped his family. Trying to stay strong and put my mind in a happy place did not seem to work.

As I listened to him speak, I began to hear the sobs around the room. Tissue was being passed around. At the end of that session I called my wife and told her that this day was more emotional than I thought it would be. She listened to me as I pulled myself together. What a great wife.

After we tried to regroup, our next trip was to the Seminole Work Opportunity Program, which employs developmentally disabled adults, and then to Boys Town. Being at Boys Town was like being at home for me, since the juvenile-justice system and mental health was where I got my feet wet while working with nonprofits back in the early 90s.

The day wrapped up with a presentation from The Children’s Cabinet and Pathways to Home.

At the end of the day I was so overwhelmed – but I also felt blessed and I had hope. I was glad to know that these human-services agencies are here in our county. It made me feel proud to be the leader of Rescue Outreach Mission of Seminole County. I was grateful for our partnership with many of the agencies we visited and other partners such as Recovery House, lead by John Hagen, and Seminole Action Committee Serving Our Needy, lead by Trace Trylko.

Where would our community be without these resources? In this fallen economy, many of these service agencies are seeing more clients than ever before and are expected to do the same quality of work with minimum funding.

The community needs our support.

One of my Leadership Class 20 classmates said to me: “It’s scary to know that in our lifetime someone in our family or one of us will need these services.”

Please tell your family and friends about the need for these programs and services. Get involved with a nonprofit. The little girl being abused needs your help. The homeless boy that is hungry needs you.

Our world needs caring people such as you.

There are many nonprofits to go around. You can find your passion just like I did.

Ernest Hamilton is executive director for Rescue Outreach Mission of Sanford. Comments can be sent to him at ehamilton@rescueoutreachmission.org or Herald publisher Gene Kruckemyer at GKruckemyer@MySanfordHerald.com. Topics for The Sanford Herald’s Centennial Forum opinion series are chosen by the community writers.