Building Capacity

Today my day has been all about building capacity.  It has not been a glamorous day by far, but it was one full of creating supporting documents, scanning forms, and creating spreadsheets.

My goal today was to work on the framework of supporting documents so that the Care Coordinators can easily access the documents that they need for any given situation.  I was verbally given a list of services that are typically accessed by our Care Coordinators, and then I created a supporting document about each service or non-profit.  Each document had contact info, links and descriptions.  From there, I downloaded and then scanned any applications, flyers or forms associated with that service or non-profit.  I am slowly working on creating a spreadsheet in each area and providing links to the each corresponding google document on that spreadsheet.  My hope is that the Care Coordinators will have everything that they need at their fingertips!  

I made sure to document each potential employer that I met this past week and then added the photos of the workplace and environment.  It is fun to post potential employers to the community page.  I try to simplify the job description and include photos to lessen anxiety.  I grab a screen shot of the location on my phone so that the refugees can see the exact location of each employer.  Some locations may not work for everyone or some locations might be perfectly located near schools or spouses.

God forbid something happen to our building!  However, I hope to document enough so that life would go on and refugees would still be able to get help with few interruptions.  We are also going to be welcoming a new Care Coordinator (drum roll, please) and I am excited to show him what I have created!  

Another part of my building of capacity is to show the Care Coordinators my documentation and then to show them how to access it.  It will do them little good if they cannot find the lovely things that I have created for them!  

Today was a bit more tedious and not quite as invigorating as going out into the community to share my non-profit.  I did have a fun opportunity to share City of Refuge with the receptionist helping me with my online vet meds order!  She is here in town and asked where I worked while we waited for the big pharmaceutical company rep to respond via chat.  I was able to tell her about our work with refugees and she was excited to find out that the case of toothbrushes in her home would find a new home!  Networking is so fun!  I plan to take a flyer about our basic needs drive when I take the dog to his appointment this month. 

 And of some have compassion, making a difference: Jude 1:22 KJV

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All opinions expressed here are solely mine and are not a reflection of the opinions of the Americorps VISTA program

 or of City of Refuge in Columbia, MO.