Helen Pearlman is living her tercer edad to the fullest. And the energetic retiree has made volunteering less of a hobby than a calling.

Although the retired Willow Glen teacher moved just outside the boundaries in 1993, she frequently returns to be with her Willow Glen family and to lend a hand to Sister Ginny Pfluger at the Emergency Housing Consortium. Pearlman has become a "Jill of all trades" at the nonprofit. Her tasks run the gamut from creating bulletin boards to clothes shopping for homeless people to teaching money management classes.

Currently, Pearlman's duties at the Emergency Housing Consortium have taken her to the Small Mall in Milpitas, a storage center where case managers can select household items for their homeless clients.

According to Pfluger, volunteers like Pearlman are the backbone of the nonprofit organization.

"We rely a lot on volunteers," she said. "We use them all the time, and we couldn't survive without them. We'd have to close the Small Mall if we didn't have volunteers."

But the benefits of volunteerism are not one-sided. Pearlman relishes the diversity of the tasks Pfluger assigns her.

"It's variety," she said.

For Pearlman, variety is more than just the spice of life—it's the main ingredient.

"Variety is a good thing," she said. "It keeps you lively and paying attention."

Pearlman cultivated her adeptness with handling multiple tasks as a special education teacher at several local schools, including Willow Glen Middle and High schools.

"Special education students are a moving target," she said. "No two days are the same. Every day is a new adventure.

But, even more than the variety of her job, Pearlman said she enjoyed helping children with special needs become contributing members of the community."

"You have an opportunity to reach kids, and to help them appreciate what they can do, to direct them to a place where they can find themselves after high school," she said. "I've met a number of graduates over the years, and some are doing amazingly well. One young man is a journeyman electrician who is working on commercial and residential electricity. He got his own condo and truck within a couple of years after he graduated. Another is a heavy equipment operator who is building his own home. Another is a cabinet maker who has even done work on my house."

And no matter where their interests may lie, special education graduates can find a niche in the community.

"There are many places where special education students can find a future," Pearlman said.

And even after retirement, Pearlman has not abandoned her passion for helping disadvantaged children. She began volunteering with Child Advocates of Santa Clara County, and has served as a Court-Appointed Special Advocate for a teenage girl for the last three years. Her responsibilities include writing court reports recording the child's progress, monitoring her placement in foster homes, and mentoring and befriending a young girl that has had little stability in her life.

"With my child, I am the only person who has been consistent in her life," she said. "In the three years I have been with her, she has had two different social workers and 14 different housing situations. I try to be there for her as a substitute grandma. She knows I am there for her and will stay there for her."

Even after the system releases the girl on her 18th birthday, Pearlman said she plans to remain a source of support for her.

According to Dorothy Ross, Pearlman's supervisor at Child Advocates, volunteers like Pearlman can be an anchor in a foster child's tumultuous life.

"Children in the system have a lot of loss issues," she said. "A lot of times, they have been abused or neglected. Their families are not available, and social workers change. When you are constantly experiencing changes, an advocate becomes an important person in their lives. They have someone to consistently support them."

And Pearlman, she said, has made an impact on both the organization and the child for whom she advocates.

"Helen is totally reliable and dedicated," Ross said. "She represents the absolute epitome of volunteerism. She is dedicated, committed, willing to follow through, and enthusiastic. When someone continues to step up to the plate, the whole community benefits. She's an inspiration."

And Pearlman has extended her generosity to encompass communities around the world. With volunteer vacations, the plucky traveler has discovered a way to combine her thirst for adventure and her philanthropic bent.

While visiting her son Steve in Argentina, Pearlman ventured to Peru and "fell in love."

"Peru has amazing ecology, geography and people," she said. "I began looking for a way to go back."

After reading an article in Time magazine about seniors taking volunteer vacations, Pearlman became inspired. She traveled to Lima with a group of opticians who were distributing eyeglasses, toured the Amazon with an ecological group giving school supplies to children and ascended the Andes to aid a high school English teacher in Iyacucho.

Many of the places Pearlman has visited could best be described as well off the beaten path. Although luxuries may be few in the communities she visits, the wayfarer said she wouldn't have it any other way.

"I like being where real people are, and getting below the surface," she said.

And Pearlman also sees volunteer vacationers as potential ambassadors who can help repair international relations.

"The people you help may think better of Americans when they are giving a helping hand," she said. "Many of the people I met were amazed that rich Americans were doing work without getting paid. It gives people in the Third World a new perspective about Americans."

And the people she has met while travelling have in turn given Pearlman a new perspective about the lifestyles of residents of the Third World.

"One thing I have discovered is that poor people in the world are happy," she said. "When you hear about people in Third World countries, you get the feeling that they are miserable, but the people I have met have generally been nice, happy people. They get along with so little, and are very appreciative of anything you do to help them. That's why I fell for Peru."

As Pearlman zestfully rides into her sunrise years, she is giving others in her life something to which they can aspire when they reach their own tercer edad. She even took a special leap of her own when she turned 70 and celebrated her birthday sky diving.

"She is what I would like to be when I retire," Pfluger said. "She's got this spirit of adventure, this spirit of play, but she is also giving back to the community."

For more information about Child Advocates of Santa Clara County or to volunteer, contact 416.0400 or visit www.cadvocates.org.

The Emergency Housing Consortium is gathering household items for the holidays. To see their holiday wish list, visit www.homelessness.org. Items can be brought to the organization, 2011 Little Orchard, seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.