
Written by Christina Chang
Translated by H.B. Qin
Edited by Ida Eva Zielinska
“It’s so good to have you,” Lorraine exclaimed, expressing her heartfelt gratitude as she looked at the Tzu Chi volunteers standing beside her, singing Happy Birthday.
In the heat of August, the blazing sunlight poured through the treetops of the mountain forest onto the dining table set up outside in front of Lorraine’s home. Taking a lunch break from the demanding work of tidying up inside the house, the volunteers who had come to help brought out the cake they had prepared, knowing that this day was Lorraine’s birthday, something they had also remembered during their visit the year before. As they sang Happy Birthday, they also extended their blessings and best wishes to support her through the ups and downs in life.
Launching Continuous Assistance
In early March 2023, continuous heavy rains in Northern California’s Bay Area led to severe flooding. Lorraine’s home in Boulder Creek, a small rural community in the coastal Santa Cruz Mountains, was damaged by a mudslide, which also severely impacted the surrounding environment. Tzu Chi USA Northwest Region’s volunteer team from Silicon Valley not only provided emergency assistance in the form of cash cards but also immediately formed a care team after learning that Lorraine, who lives alone and has medical issues and limited mobility, would have difficulty cleaning up after the disaster on her own. The team now regularly visits Lorraine in her mountain home to assist in the ongoing and demanding cleanup effort.

Due to unpleasant childhood memories with her parents, Lorraine’s relationship with her family was quite distant. Early on, she worked as an architect and had a reasonably comfortable life as a single professional. However, after a shift in circumstances, her health and finances deteriorated, which led her to move to this remote mountainous area, where she lived alone. It was then that a strange man inappropriately harassed Lorraine, which caused her to gradually retreat from the outside world, isolating herself more and more. She eventually lost contact with friends and colleagues and often suffered from mental and emotional instability.




A team of Tzu Chi volunteers from Silicon Valley have been coming regularly to care for Lorraine and help clean up her home after a 2023 flooding and landslide disaster. Photo/Munya Chu
When Tzu Chi undertook to help Lorraine after the 2023 disaster, she expressed her hope that only female volunteers would assist. Munya Chu, a female volunteer who came to learn more, found piles of messy items, large and small, inside and outside the house, as Lorraine tends to hoard, she discovered. Additionally, sand and silt from rain and landslides had accumulated, making the necessary cleanup even more challenging. Thankfully, acknowledging the difficulty of the task at hand, Lorraine consented to a care team consisting of Chu and six male volunteers, Eric Chuang, Hou-Pu Chou, James Lan, Jason Sheu, Jen-Wu Huang, and Yi Yang, coming to assist, the men taking on the heavier work at the site.
Sincerity and Persistence Pay Off
The Tzu Chi care team started by going to Lorraine’s home twice a month to clean up mud, debris, bricks, tiles, wood, hoarded items, and garbage accumulated inside and outside the house. Each time, after they had worked hard all day, the volunteers told Lorraine to get rid of the rubbish left behind. However, given Lorraine’s economic insecurities, she was reluctant to throw anything away, so when the team returned, they felt frustrated seeing little progress. Although Munya Chu persistently asked Lorraine to dispose of the garbage that impeded the cleanup effort, the team eventually changed the schedule to once a month.



Perhaps she had really needed the help, or she got used to the volunteers’ companionship, or maybe she understood that there were still people in the world who cared about her and who genuinely wished to help improve her life, whatever the cause, Lorraine, who used to have an uncompromising attitude and somewhat eccentric personality, began to cooperate in cleaning up the clutter. With the improvement of her living environment and the friendship and trust built up with the volunteers, she gradually opened up her closed heart, talked more, and smiled. Moreover, her health also began to improve.



The volunteer team assists Lorraine in transporting the Jacuzzi and small trailer she owned but had not been using to donate them to those in need. Photo/Munya Chu
In late 2023, Lorraine’s mother passed away. Since Lorraine was in poor health and needed crutches to walk, she couldn’t easily travel to Texas to attend the funeral. Nonetheless, as her siblings had informed her of the news, they were back in touch with their sister again. In June 2024, two of Lorraine’s older siblings visited and stayed for two weeks, helping her with the post-disaster cleanup. They built a fence, tore down damaged walls and ceilings in the house, and tiled the floor to make it easier for Lorraine to walk on. Gradually, Lorraine’s mobility problems lessened, too, and she can now walk without crutches.
When the Tzu Chi team came to Loraine’s house while her family members were there, they were so happy to see the warm interaction between Lorraine and her siblings, a relationship that had been distant for a long time. It was heartwarming to witness the repair of severed family ties.
Those Who Care Always Remember
In the Autumn heat, on August 17, 2024, Tzu Chi volunteers came to care for Lorraine again, helping with her monthly home cleanup and bringing a birthday cake, just as they did the year before. Lorraine had become accustomed to being forgotten and alone for more than a decade in the silence of mountains and forests. But now, someone remembered her, remembered to come and clean the house with her every month like a family member, remembered to have lunch and chat with her under the old tree where the sunlight penetrates through a canopy of leaves, and remembered to sing her a happy birthday song with blessings.
Lorraine told the volunteers, “Last year, you brought a coffee-flavored cake; this year, it’s a sweet chocolate cake.” Her statement made the volunteers realize that Lorraine remembers and cherishes the care received from Tzu Chi over the past two years very well. On this occasion, Lorraine made a birthday wish: “After the home is cleaned up, I hope I will be able to offer empty rooms to single women in need, and I hope that one day, I will be able to go out with Tzu Chi volunteers. and give love and care to those in need.”




Lorraine implanted the wish she made in front of the birthday cake brought by the volunteers in her heart, and she will remember it. Looking at the light of hope and love shining brightly from Lorraine’s eyes on that day, visible even from behind her glasses, the volunteers realized that Lorraine remembers everything under the sun. For a time, what she remembered was dark and painful. But now, the stormy period that had unsettled her spirit for so long was over, and she is choosing to remember all the love and care that is out there in the world instead, as she has personally experienced it herself.