Amy Adams always knew there was something in her that was aching to reach out.

Her life only encompassed a small portion of what she believed she was meant to do: Answer a calling to help others and view life in its simplest form.

Adams, 22, originally from Evansburg, has dedicated a year to the Change A Heart Franciscan Volunteer program based in Millvale after graduating from Saint Barnabas Western University in Buffalo, N.Y. with a bachelor's degree in psychology.

The program grasped Adams' attention with its four philosophies -- simplicity, community, spirituality and service. These are ideas Adams long ago had formed in her mind about what would be a fulfilling life.

"I was inundated by many programs," Adams says. "But this one stuck out. I like the values. There's real diversity. I'm experiencing (life) and learning a lot from hearing other peoples' stories."

Adams, an assistant director of the SOAR program at Bethlehem Haven in Pittsburgh, provides support, counseling and daily care for 15 homeless, mentally ill women between the ages of 30 and 70.

Her role in the residential program is to assist the women in taking medications, eating lunches, redirecting them from dwelling on things circling their minds and encouraging them to participate in activities.

Adams tries to provide words and thoughts of empowerment to get them through their day.

She also assists in crisis intervention and recruiting a volunteer base from local colleges and universities for support for the program.

Adams finds the program's goal -- to aide the women in their hopes of living independently -- to be a challenge that one day will be rewarding to both her and the women she slowly is growing quite a rapport with.

"The women are great to work with, they are nothing but friendly and welcoming," Adams says. "It's a big eye opener to go to work everyday with people everyone else avoids. They are people -- they have stories and feelings."

It's a notion Steven Kesslar -- Adams' roommate, and another volunteer for Change A Heart -- can agree with.

Kesslar, 23, a recent graduate of the University of Pittsburgh with a bachelor's degree in linguistics and philosophy, discovered the program while surfing the Internet. Originally from Greenville, Kesslar has resided in Pittsburgh but never knew of the work the Sisters of St. Francis encouraged.

"I have a desire to be helpful to those in need," he says. "I've been involved in volunteering on a lower scale in high school and college, but never in such a direct service."

As a program aide at Allegheny East Mental Health and Retardation Center's New Horizon Day Center in Penn Hills, Kesslar works closely with people ranging in age from the late 40s and older with not only some form of mental retardation but also other age-related issues, such as Alzheimer's Disease, Down Syndrome and limited mobility.

Kesslar assists in meal distributions, the implementation of activities and leads smaller groups during the day to encourage activity and independent living skills. The friends he has made remind him of how satisfying it is to help others who have a more difficult time accomplishing daily tasks than he does.

On the more realistic end, it also reminds him of how tiring and emotionally exhausting the line of work can become.

"I care a great deal about most of the (people I work with). It's not for money or fame that you do this work, it is because you care about people. The burnout rate is really high. There is a lot of reward but it can try your patience at times. After losing a number of people -- they're sickly, elderly and have other health problems -- it gets to be too much."

The work Kesslar and Adams head to on a full-time basis -- Monday through Friday with 8-hour shifts -- is only a small part of the yearlong experience of living a Franciscan lifestyle.

"This (program) enables them to grow personally, professionally and spiritually," director Sister Donna Stephenson says. "They have to be dedicated and have a desire to work with those underserved in our society."

Adams and Kesslar each receive an $85 stipend per month for their work. They are provided with shelter -- an apartment in Millvale through the organization -- and have health insurance, transportation and living expenses also taken care of. After completing 1,700 hours of service, they get a voucher from AmeriCorps for loan reimbursement or for further education.

In return for their full-time work donated by the college graduates, the groups they work for pay Change A Heart $1,000 per month.

"It's a wonderful organization that's there for younger people to have the opportunity to live in community and follow the philosophy of St. Frances by working for the poor," Rick Duffy, a Fox Chapel resident and member of the advisory board of Change A Heart, says.

"If Sister Stephenson gets a positive response through the young people, she determines if we are a fit. We are very diligent about that; we don't want to encourage participation if it's not mutually beneficial to both parties."

The small amount of income has helped the volunteers maintain a simple lifestyle -- "Something may only cost $10, but that's out of $85 so you always think twice," Adams says -- but the living simply pillar of the program encompasses more than material objects.

Adams says she has learned to find what is truly important in her world by simplifying. To her, the simple things in life include the happiness received from helping others, the relationships formed when in communities of faith -- mostly intangible, unpurchaseable aspects of life that oft are substituted by monetary values.

"What I want out of this is to be able to help, to touch one life," Adams says. "I want to grow in myself and be able to look back and say that I did something and made a difference in some small way."

Kesslar also disregards living meagerly as a great disadvantage.

"I never had a whole lot of money lying around, so its been OK," he says -- except for when he gathers with alumni friends, who have real jobs and real money. "Occasionally it hits and that's sometimes the hard part."

For Adams and Kesslar, compensation has transformed from money to appreciation. They realize that their work puts the non-profit organizations to a slighter advantage during the 11 months of service.

They see gratitude and affection in the eyes of those they are caring for. And that just might be enough to keep them around a little longer.

"I don't have a firm idea of what I would like to do in the future," Kesslar says.

"But as the year goes by -- how can I say goodbye to these people? -- I may consider doing it another year."