About Our Volunteers

A translator finds her niche

Heather Trescases discovered a volunteer opportunity with Providence while she was waiting for a work visa after moving to Seattle from Toronto, Canada.

She was volunteering as a writer for the History Link website when a co-volunteer told her about hearing Loretta Greene, archivist for the Sisters of Providence, speak about the need to translate documents related to the sisters’ history from their original French.

Heather, who speaks French fluently, was a perfect match for that task.

“I began by translating the chronicles of the early sisters’ journal of their 1856 travels to the West,” Heather says.

Other volunteer duties include researching requests for information from older documents, accessions, data input and helping pack and move items in preparation for renovation at the archives, located at St. Joseph Residence in West Seattle.

“What I’m doing is fascinating,” Heather declares. “I come across stories that no one now knows about, real treasures of stories. It is so exciting. I really feel it is so rewarding by being able to help.”

There also is one very big side benefit, she adds: “I get to see the sisters and talk with them. They are always so grateful for the help with their history.”