During my first few weeks working with the refugee case management team at Heartland Alliance, I would tell my curious friends and family (partly joking) that I call people I don’t know in languages I don’t speak to help connect them with services I know little about. Every day that assessment becomes a little less true, as with each encounter I get to know our families better and learn the ins and outs of services SSI and SNAP and WIC. Although I’ve become fluent in social service acronyms, I haven’t made much progress on my Swahili, Pashto, or Arabic, so I guess my original statement will always be a little true! I will forever be grateful for our skilled, generous, and endlessly patient interpreters.    I have always been less comfortable on the phone than in person, and the first few calls I made, though well intentioned, were awkward and […]