WAYNESBURG - International business and marketing can wait. Alicia Hartle of Saxonburg is busy at the moment.

Bright-eyed with a smile that starts slow and builds to full force, the recent college graduate is taking a year to do volunteer work before she starts a career.

Though she found a company she wanted to work for after she received her bachelor's degree from Grove City College in May 2004, she chose instead to spend a year with Change a Heart, a Millvale Franciscan volunteer program.

"I ask to be put wherever the most need is, so I really had no expectations," Hartle said.

Instead of negotiating with an employer in the international market, she is serving as a caseworker for Catholic Charities in Greene County, counseling pregnant women and new moms.

She makes in-home visits to talk to them about things like safety in the home, parenting skills and prenatal care.

In its sixth year, Change of Heart, similar to a domestic Peace Corps, is run through the Sisters of St. Francis of Millvale.

"Most college students find us through a book called 'Response,' " said director Sister Donna Stephenson. "Our program accepts single men and women (ages 21 to 35) who are Christian who want to give a year of service."

Hartle received orientation through Change a Heart and Catholic Charities, then spent a week of intense training at the Catholic Charities office in Waynesburg. She shadowed caseworkers as well.

That was back in August and September. Since then she's gone out on her own, including to clients' homes in Washington County when a caseworker there was on maternity leave.

"Sometimes the women's doctors are busy and they don't get to ask all the questions they want to," Hartle said. "They can ask me and if I don't know the answer, then I research it and get back to them."

She can rely on the other three caseworkers in the Greene County office as well.

All of her 15 to 20 visits per week are done through the use of a community car, another part of the Franciscan program.The four core values of the program, said Stephenson, are community, spirituality, service and simple lifestyle.Sharing the use of a carwith severalother volunteers and sisters falls under the simple lifestyle category."We've done some interesting drop-offs and pickups," Hartle said.Luckily, her housemate who might need transportation has use of a car through her job."I might not be able to do this job otherwise," Hartle said.Monetary compensation under the program is minimal.The Change a Heart program receives $1,000 a month from the agency where the volunteer works, Stephenson said. That covers room and board, health insurance and the aforementioned transportation."Their basic needs are taken care of," she said.A volunteer receives only $85 a month. "So they have to be creative with their recreation and birthday and Christmas gifts," Stephenson said."We go for a lot of walks," Hartle said. "We have a cards night … and we hang out with our neighbor who's a grandmother."One of Hartle's two housemates got her soap and shampoo as a Christmas gift."I have my own room," Hartle said of the house three people share. "That's different from college. But soon I'll have to start thinking about paying back college loans."Hartle has only been home to Saxonburg twice since she started the job in Waynesburg last summer."Ideally, Sister Donna said we would go home at Christmas and one other time," Hartle said. "It's not a rule. It's just so you can get involved where you are."Consequently, the 23-year-old is also helping with the church youth group in the area and volunteering at a crisis pregnancy center.Even with all the "chaos and nastiness and abuse" she has witnessed through her work, she said she's learned to be "less callous," not more."Every once in a while I'll have an opportunity, like one lady was telling me, 'I really need to go to church but I need someone to hold my hand,' and I said, 'Ooh, I can do that.' Or like the time I got to pray with a woman who had cancer."Because of the program, Hartle has considered joining the religious life."Just this year I've kind of been falling in love with God more and more, being a witness and seeing the sisters, so I am thinking about it," she said. "But I'd like to have kids. My grandma had 10 kids and that's always kind of been a dream of mine to grow up and have 10 kids."Her plans for when she finishes her stint on July 22 have not yet been finalized."I like being a caseworker, but I don't know if I'd like to do it for the rest of my life," Hartle admitted. "I think I'd like to just be that random person on the street saying, "Can I help?"