Today, during a staff meeting, I heard a story and thought that I would share it today.
Lori is our amazing Care Coordinator and she often goes above and beyond as she helps her friends. Often refugees come in for legal, financial or medical paperwork help, but a canny Care Coordinator will see the entire picture. "Sue" came in for help last week. Lori noticed that Sue was limping; her leg was swollen and painful. When Lori asked about it, Sue brushed her off and told her that she was fine and would soon feel better. Lori gently pushed and finally heard the story of Sue's accident. After they finished taking care of the matter at hand, Lori gently pushed again and was able to convince Sue that a visit to the doctor was in order.
After an examination, the doctor concluded that Sue had a broken leg! Because of her experiences in her home country and then as a refugee, Sue was not comfortable even considering medical attention. She had endured pain and trauma in the past and had just determined to wait it out. Lori was able to take Sue to the doctor to get treatment and then find a boot to stabilize her leg.
Lori works hard to build a relationship with our friends. The first thing that I have always noticed about Lori is her sweet smile. She greets everyone, staff and refugee alike, with a smile and a word of encouragement. She never seems harried, even though she spends countless hours giving of herself for others.
 |
| Don't you just love her beautiful smile? |
What is a Care Coordinator? From what I have seen she helps people with housing requests, insurance questions, name changes (marriage or just simplifying their names), mail sorting, and the list goes on. When I come in the mornings she is busy sorting donations and hanging things up in our store. She has a key to the basic needs room where we keep shampoos, detergent, new bedding and just basic needs; we request that our friends just take one of each thing so that we have enough for multiple families.
Here is what our website says about the job description of a Care Coordinator:
Are you always the first to help? First to meet the needs of those around you? Are you generous at heart, empathetic to your core, concerned for the well-being of others? Are you good at listening, at advocating, at being present with the people in your life?
If you answered ‘yes’ to any of those questions, we would like you to consider applying to join our team at City of Refuge. We want to connect you with people who have lost much and are looking to rebuild their lives here in America — people that need someone like you. We work with people who have much to teach us about their culture and traditions, their experiences and their language. They are people who need friendship, who need you to help them navigate their new life. Sometimes that means wading through the awkward silences the language barrier presents, sometimes it means handing out basic needs, or giving rides. Always it means showing up.
Are you willing to help us meet the needs of our refugee friends, whatever that might mean? If so, we could use someone like you to join our team.
I love hearing the stories of the people that they help and I thought that you might enjoy one as well. As I type this post, Barry and Lori are both in their offices helping people. As a matter of fact, I believe that most of the staff members are in meetings with friends!
Meanwhile, my plans for the day include creating this post and then working on a lesson about American Culture. If you are interested in reading about the topics that I am covering, you can click here to read my inspiration article. Basically, we forget that other cultures are so different from ours. Our friends leave their outside shoes by the door and wear house shoes. They may eat communally from large bowls in the center of the table. Maybe they all gather on a rug with pillows as they eat? They often send money back to their aging parents (in lieu of retirement) and don't understand why Americans don't support their aging parents and grandparents. Other cultures put the family name first and not last; when they get documented here in the States I have seen the oldest child often registered in school by his family name instead of his "first" name. There are so many complexities to learn! This is why the City of Refuge is so vital and even welcomed by the refugee community. We get to make a difference!
And of some have compassion, making a difference: Jude 1:22 KJV
Click here to find out more about volunteer opportunities at City of Refuge.
All opinions expressed here are solely mine and are not a reflection of the opinions of the
Americorp VISTA program or of City of Refuge in Columbia, MO.
Comments
Post a Comment