Unsung Heroes: Meet Nathan Merrin

When Nathan Merrin moved from San Francisco to attend Brandeis University, he knew he wanted to do more than simply attend classes. Last year, he interned at REACH: Beyond Domestic Violence, working with survivors while learning about the behind-the-scenes work that makes the organization’s services possible.

Merrin is a recent graduate of Brandeis University, where he majored in psychology and computer science. When he came to Waltham, he knew he wanted to engage with the local community.

“I’m really interested in helping people, and also just getting to work with people one-on-one. That was something I was really passionate about, especially going into my senior year and thinking about what I wanted to do career-wise,” Merrin said.

Merrin was a development intern at REACH: Beyond Domestic Violence during his senior year. In that role, he helped plan fundraising events and manage the finances. The experience helped him better understand the essential behind-the-scenes work that keeps nonprofits running.

“Before [my experience at REACH], I mostly worked with victims of crime, worked with people one-on-one. But I didn’t know what it meant to really think about the whole organization and to help everybody get the funds they need. The important work can only be done once we have funds to do it,” Merrin said.

At REACH, he also worked in the children’s therapy group. The group supports children who have survived domestic violence as they heal from their experiences. As a man working in that space, Merrin was especially conscious of respecting survivors’ boundaries.

“So for a lot of people, it is triggering, or it is difficult to see a guy in these spaces, and trying to manage what that’s like. So I think that’s also just a big part of trying to work with people in these situations. It is recognizing that you don’t want to be the hero in every situation. Sometimes you want to let somebody else take the lead,” Merrin said.

Merrin praised the diversity of the Waltham community and the volunteering opportunities in the city. For him, even small acts of help can contribute to bigger change.

“If you can make change in your local community … I feel like it is a huge win. And those small victories can kind of add up, and then you can try to see changes on the state level, and, hopefully, at some point the federal level,” Merrin said.

Before his internship at REACH, Merrin had several other experiences where he supported people who had undergone trauma. In his first summer in college, he interned at the Victim Services Unit at the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, where he worked one-on-one with victims of crime.

The following summer, he worked at the Veterans Association, where he worked with veterans experiencing depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Currently, Merrin volunteers at the Veterans Association in Palo Alto, Calif., where he continues to support veterans.

“I think for every individual veteran, for every individual survivor, that trauma is really different, and it’s important to start from the beginning with everyone. Let people tell you where they’re at,” Merrin said.

Looking ahead, Merrin hopes to continue his passion for social justice through social work combined with psychology. He plans to continue the work he started at REACH by helping people who have survived significant traumas, focusing on veterans. 

For Merrin, volunteering is not just about what he gives to others.

“I feel like they’ve invested in me too. It’s … a give and take,” he said.