I’ve been working at Heartland Human Care Services’ Refugee and Immigrant Community Services (RICS) team for a little over a week, but it feels like I’ve gained at least two months of experience. I already have a well-established commute, taking the red line north through Old Town, Lincoln Park, and finally arriving at Uptown. I admire the artwork decorating the walls and street throughout the neighborhood as I walk the three blocks from the train station to Heartland. So far, I’ve had a habit of showing up early—when you’re taking the “L,” arriving just on time is a gamble against train delays and track repairs.

Once I arrive, I meet up with my supervisor, and I follow her along to whatever meetings or training we have scheduled for the day. She has a practical teaching style, showing me how to complete a task, and then assigning me that task in a more official capacity. By now, she’s walked me through how to call participants (the clients we work with) with a translator app, conduct follow-up interviews, apply for financial assistance, and write case notes to update a participant’s file. I’ve also now taken on a caseload of my own to fill in for a case manager who is out of town for a couple months, allowing me to put my skills and training to the test. It has already been really rewarding to be able to support immigrants and refugees in whatever small ways I can.

One of the largest themes during my time at Heartland so far has been change—or perhaps more aptly, accommodation. With so much federal policy change taking place that directly affects the population we’re working with, Heartland has had to adapt. There have been very few new participants since January, meaning that one of RICS’ major tasks, intake, is often no longer applicable. Instead, my team is working more closely with participants who have already been in the country for at least a few months. This is just one of many large changes that is happening, as teams are absorbed or expanded and as caseloads change hands. I am inspired not only by the organization’s flexibility, but also by their stalwart determination to continue to serve this community in every way they can, despite the ever growing pile of roadblocks they face.

Another—and more personal—pattern I’ve encountered occurs when my coworkers ask me about my college major. When I tell them I did my undergrad in criminology, I often get a polite yet confused variation of, “Why did you decide to work here then?” I understand the question; at surface level, criminology doesn’t appear to have much to do with immigrant and refugee services. Despite my explanation that there is quite a bit of overlap between criminological theory and immigration—see the way some politicians choose to label those who enter the United States without documentation as criminals, even though many flee to our country out of fear for their lives—there is some part of me that wonders about my end goal. Though I am passionate about immigrant and refugee rights and eager to help out the community, it’s too early to be certain whether this kind of work is my calling. I have had perhaps an unusually diverse amount of experiences and jobs for someone my age. I’ve worked at restaurants and coffee shops. I’ve been a tutor and a Resident Assistant. I’m in the National Guard. I’ve taken a class inside a prison and one in Norway. I’ve conducted a year-long research project, interned with the State Police, and am now interning with a non-profit to support immigrants and refugees. All of these experiences have expanded my perspective in their own unique way. My time at Heartland is not only showing me a new and exciting possibility, but also teaching me how to adapt and remain hopeful in the face of change.

Dani Schulz, Heartland Alliance

In my humble opinion the concept of Sacred Space is not just exclusive to Holden
Village. For a very short period during my time here I found a way to connect to the nature and sacredness of the native land that Holden Village occupies by going on a hike past the foot bridge every day alone for four consecutive days where I enjoy the feeling of the nature around me. Every day was a different experience, for instance, on my first day I found the quote “Where the River Flows, Life Abounds” on the back through the foot bridge. I figured this was a sign to embrace a dance of freedom and a deeper spiritual experience bigger than myself. I later found other forms of sacred space different from the spiritual hikes and outside of the designated Sacred Space time. At the beginning of my time at Holden, I hosted a music listening session for my previously unreleased album that I decided to release while here. In my last week I hosted two events titled “Sharing From the Heart: Diverse Voices” where I hosted an open space for people to talk about things on their heart in the moment. This was open to many forms of diversity and also open to the whole village, not just staff. The events ended up being sacred experiences themselves. In addition, my experiences building a chess set in the Holden Woodshop with a very legendary staff member have been sacred in itself and I’ve enjoyed a feeling of fulfillment and joy while working on something tangible that I can say I made with my hands. It has also been great working with such a great teacher. Considering I’ve never done woodworking before I think it’s pretty amazing that I was able to create this amazing project.

These things, along with all of the other positive experiences I’ve experienced here at Holden have helped me realize my purpose and potential. Whether it was a deep conversation about the concept of aura with other staff or being a supportive friend to those having a hard time. I have positively influenced this place, and I know this because I not only feel it, but people around me have validated that I am making an incredible impact on Holden Village. My purpose at its core is to leave a positive impact on the world so big it will be talked about for generations even long after I am gone. I feel that I have so much potential with that purpose among other things and as Uncle Ben from Spiderman would say “With great power, comes great responsibility.” I think that applies to other things too. Having immense potential can change people in ways that usually aren’t good, but I intend to use my immense potential as a tool to leave that positive impact on the world. I also plan to stay the same person I am today, because I believe humility is what makes us strong.

Esai Hernandez, Holden Village

I spend most of my days working inside the Historic Barker House sitting at my desk with my
computer. When I had originally thought about working at an environmental non-profit I had
imagined myself spending most of my days outside. I never would have thought that I would be
sitting at a desk. However, in order to have the nature that I long to spend my time in, there
needs to be people doing the desk work.

Over the past month I have spent most of my time sifting through member data, making sure
data is transferred over properly, and emailing members to make sure their information is up to
date. This is important work, because in order to help preserve and advocate for the Dunes we
need financial support and these memberships are one of the ways we progress toward that.
There are multiple tiers of membership depending on the monetary donation members choose
to give yearly. Members gain access to certain privileges such as special events, advocacy
updates, and opportunities to interact with the staff that have helped shape the organization and
its mission to protect and advocate for the Indiana Dunes and Lake Michigan.

When I started my time at Valpo I was convinced that I was going to be a Park Ranger. I had my
heart set on this plan at 11 years old and did not see myself having any sort of job that entailed
spending my time at a desk. While at Valpo I fell in love with philanthropy and advocacy, through
the student org I was involved with, SALT. Park Ranger and philanthropy felt like two very
separate paths that I would never be able to mix. After getting placed at Save the Dunes I
quickly realized that my interests and knowledge that I had collected through the past few years
had all merged together into this opportunity. I have found a path that allows me to express my
knowledge and interest in the environment while also feeling fulfilled and helping impact others
through helping to preserve a space for many generations to come.

I, as well as many of my classmates at Valpo, have expressed feelings of anxiety and confusion
about their future in the last year. While this is a common feeling for college students, it has
been amplified among my environmental cohorts with all the changes in priorities with the
changing of government officials. There is, understandably, a common school of thought that all
environmental justice work is done outside, in the fields, forests, and with the flora and fauna,
but in a world and country that is experiencing whiplash the way my peers and coworkers have
felt in the past year in regards to the care of the environment, there is so much that can be done
online as well. As much as I’d like to subscribe to the “all environmental work is done outside”
way of thinking, seeing the way that I can communicate with members of my community who
care about the Earth as much as I do and help preserve the space I’ve especially come to love
here at the Dunes has given me a jolt of energy and rejuvenated my sense of hope for my
community.

Emma Depa, Save the Dunes

It’s been a month since I started at Heartland Alliance, and I’m so thankful for the experiences I’ve had and everything I’ve learned so far! Since completing my training, I have started working with some participants within the Refugee and Immigrant Community Services program. Some of my responsibilities when working with participants include reaching out to each participant and talking to them about their current employment situations, searching for jobs that participants are eligible for/interested in, and helping participants apply for jobs. If a participant gets a call-back for an interview with a job placement, it is also my responsibility to accompany them to the interview, if necessary. Each time that I interact with a participant, whether that’s over the phone or through messaging or in-person, I also have to file case notes. As I’ve started getting to know each situation and learning about how I can best serve the participants that I’ve been assigned, the case notes have been very helpful. I can go back and read case notes from people who have previously interacted with/assisted my participants, which has helped me know how to move forward and continue communicating with the participants in an effective way.

When I had my first phone call talking to one of my participants, I was really nervous! I was worried that I would forget what to ask them, or say the wrong thing. Another challenge that I was nervous about was using an interpreter. Since most of my participants don’t speak fluent English, I have to merge calls with an interpreter every time I speak to my participants over the phone. The first time I did this, I was so worried that I would somehow mess up the call and have to call my participant back – which would not be the best first impression! But once I did it the first time, it was actually a lot easier than I was imagining. It’s been a learning curve trying to communicate with people who speak different languages, but it’s also been really cool!

As I’ve continued to learn more about how Heartland operates, I’ve been thinking about how this type of work relates to the topics of my classes back at school. In many of my Economics classes, we’ve talked a lot about things like efficiency, trade-offs, and the effects of different types of policies. Thinking about these concepts and how they might relate to the situations that refugees and immigrants face has made me consider how things might be improved for refugees and immigrants from an economics standpoint. Many refugees come to the US with some type of work experience in their home country – sometimes even extensive experience in important fields, like nursing. Is there a more efficient or effective way to transfer these skills to jobs in the US that companies could offer to refugees? Could there be some program that would allow refugees to show employers/educators what they already know, to earn credibility with US companies? It’s been interesting thinking about the relationship between economics and refugee and immigrant services, and I’m looking forward to learning more about these things while continuing to work with Heartland Alliance.

Nora Fisher, Heartland Alliance

With Week 2 of our summer program nearing an end, it’s safe to say that I’ve had ample time to settle in here at the Grünewald Guild. I’ve absolutely loved the opportunity to work here in the beautiful Cascade Mountains for the summer and be a part of this inspiring community. I have the privilege of meeting new people every week, and the connections I’ve made here at the Guild are so valuable to me. I’ve learned a lot from our guests as well as my fellow staff members and supervisors.

While my primary job is communications work, I’ve been doing a variety of other tasks to help around campus. Whether it’s preparing the spaces for our next group of guests or helping someone pitch a tent, there’s always ways to be helpful. This summer the Guild found themselves in need of more support in the kitchen, which means I’ve had the opportunity to prepare meals for our guests. It’s not something I was expecting to do, but I’ve found a lot of joy in the spontaneous banana bread baking-and-distributing. Outside of that, my job is to take photos and capture the little moments of our programs. I also post on the Guild’s social media and write their newsletter. Every week, I get to make a “highlights” video to share with the community, which is one of my favorite parts of the role.

Life has been very busy the past few months, and being in this atmosphere has really allowed me to slow down and take it one day at a time. Here at the Guild, we have a routine of sharing our “noticings” every day. This is a term they have used for a while, and it’s really interesting to hear about all the different things people notice, whether big or small. Life out here is much more relaxed and intentional, which is something that I admire about them. For instance, every week someone goes out to make a bouquet of wildflowers to display in our central hub. It’s little details like this that have made me reflect on how I can be more mindful and intentional in my own life.

Being a CAPS fellow this summer, one of my main goals is to have a better understanding of what it means to do “purposeful” work. With many unknowns about my own future career, it’s been helpful to keep an open mind regarding what feels meaningful about the work I’m doing. More recently, I’ve been contemplating the differences between “living to work” and “working to live” and what that implies for me. Grünewald Guild has certainly been the perfect environment for slowing down to reflect on these things.

Living in the presence of the mountains reminds me of how small we really are in this world. But it also makes me realize the impact we can have on it. Not everyone may notice the wildflowers on the side of the road in the busy rush of life (I know I don’t always). But if you take the time to appreciate the small things, you know their value. I often find myself living life as if it’s a “to-do” list or a race to be finished. But being here has reminded me that it’s okay if I don’t have everything figured out right now, I can slow down and take my time. There is no prize to be won, and oftentimes we miss what is truly valuable in the journey.

Kayla Walker, Grunewald Guild