Stand/ for the vulnerable
Coming in to this mission I didn't know what to expect. I had no idea what I would be doing here, but I did know I'd be working with an organization called World Relief. I now know that I am one of 3 summer interns working at World Relief here in Ft. Worth. This past week, we interns had multiple orientations or debriefings about the company and its departments. After the morning meetings we would hang around and see what and who needed help. We have done a little bit of everything so far. From taking an African family of 8 to the TB clinic for about 4 hours(turned out to be a long day) to apartment set-up and airport pick-ups for new families.
Our first week went a little like this:
Monday, May 21st
9AM Wes Toland- Office walkthrough, volunteer orientation, cultural training. He gave us an overview of the company in general and what World Relief does exactly. He also talked a lot about the cultural profiles of clients they receive. Mostly talked about why they are refugees and how they get here.
10:30 Micah Berry,our roommates Sara and Liz, Jonathon, Jason, and Khai. - Reception and Placement (R&P) They each spoke a bit on what goes on in R&P. They are the first people in the office to deal with the refugees before they even get to America and for the first 30 days. They "receive" information about a family or person coming. Usually if they have U.S. ties whether family or not they try to house them close to their ties. If not then they just get them an available and appropriate apartment, one of the caseworkers do that (which would be Jason, Jonathon, or Khai.) Then Sara or sometimes someone else goes to do a Wal-Mart and Fiesta run to get them the essentials for apartment living and food for at least a week. After that is apartment set-up before the refugee(s) get there, then someone picks them up from the airport. The refugees then go through detailed orientations to show them basic ways of living here in America. R&P also helps them apply for social security.
12-1 Lunch
After lunch- shadowing (We set up an apartment and picked up a family later that night)
Tuesday, May 22nd
9AM Becky Sayavongsa-Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA) It is a state funded program that is a cash only assistance. It is an 8 month long program that has a set amount of money for the family depending on how many are in the family. After the first 4 months the money is cut in half. Also, there is no caseworker to help them and the refugees have to pay all their bills on their own with that money. Honestly, this program is not good for families, especially with little kids.
10AM Courtney Bryant- Employment. Works with RCA to help clients find jobs.
After Lunch- Set up another apartment.
Wednesday, May 23rd
9AM Andrea Frick- Match Grant. This program can be chosen instead of RCA, which would be the better choice for families and/or people who would have more difficulty finding a job right away. Match Grant lasts for 6 months. Match Grant pays for rent and utilities along with giving them cash assistance for the first 4 months. After 4 months the cash assistance stops and if the client still hasn't obtained a job then Match will continue to pay bills for the rest of the 6 month period. A caseworker works with the client to assist them in anything they need help with, like setting-up and taking them to appointments and any other important things to live efficiently in America. It is called "Match Grant" because it is a federally funded program that takes any money raised for the Match Grant program and the federal government matches that amount. The funds are raised through gift in kind, which can be donations or help/services from volunteers that will be converted into cash value.
10AM Gina Godfrey- Preferred Communities. Communities that help the mentally challenged refugees come to terms with living in a new country. People suffering the effects of culture shock, PTSD, or anything else that causes them to be mentally unstable.
Rest of the day- Helping/ shadowing people. Another apartment set-up.
Thursday, May 24
9AM Bethany Toland- Human Trafficking. Learned how they handle these types of clients and what to look for.
9:30AM Evangeline Baker- Case Management, Elderly
10AM Wes Toland- Church Engagement. Getting the local churches involved. Not just to help, but to form relationships that will last long term.
Around 2ish- Airport pick-up for a woman from Ethiopia that we reunited with her husband. They had been apart for a year and 8 months. It was such a sweet reuniting and they talked and laughed the whole way home.
Friday, May 25th
Made cookies for the whole office and surprised everyone with them and thanked everyone for a great first week for us.
After all this meeting, Laura and I had to pick between R&P and Match Grant to intern with for the rest of the summer. It was a hard decision, but I finally had to make a final decision and pick Match Grant so Laura will be with R&P (this was on Sunday that we picked). At the end of this week I will talk about my first week with Match Grant and some of the things I did.
Until next time!~
~Meliah
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