Just Hanging Out!

At PT, some of the families of our kids at site so kindly invite us over for what we call “home visits.” Really, it’s a proper way of saying “one on one hang-out time” with our favorite kids! Last week, I had the opportunity of visiting the home of two kids in the program. Christina is in the elementary program with me and 6 other elementary interns, and Victor is in the youth program with our other 4 youth interns. Their older sister, Valerie, is a high school volunteer with the program. 

Side note on the high school volunteers:

The high school volunteers take part in the LITE Program of Project Transformation. These students have usually participated in PT as kids themselves, and are spending their summer volunteering to help us run our day camp! At P.Mound, our “Lites,” as we call them, are AMAZINGLY helpful to us. They work hard on a daily basis setting up site, helping us with things like arts & crafts, recreation, and bible lesson, serving lunch, and then helping cleaning up site, all with enthusiasm and optimism! They have a weekly meeting with other Lites from all of our sites discussing ways to plan their future, like college and finances. Most of the Lites at P.Mound have expressed an interest in becoming an PT intern once they are old enough to do so, and we cannot wait to see it happen! Without our Lites, our summer would have been much more difficult – SHOUT OUT TO OUR AWESOME LITES!!

 

So, Valerie is one of the most helpful Lites at Pleasant Mound. My favorite part about visiting Christina, Victor, and Valerie’s home was being able to hear about their culture firsthand. Most of our kids at P.Mound are Mexican – many speak Spanish, translate for their parents, take trips to visit their families in Mexico, and are very proud of their heritage. Valerie, having just turned 15 last year, had pictures and pride of her Quinceanera all over the house. She wore a big, BEAUTIFUL, bright yellow dress, and had a doll that matched to commemorate the celebration, along with matching decorative pillows and a matching photo album. She is the very first person I’ve met to celebrate their Quinceanera!

Ariel, Hannah, Antoine, and me being showed around at a home visit

!

My very first home visit this summer was with Oscar, Ricky, and Cynthia, all in the elementary program at P.Mound. The four of us interns who went didn’t really know what to expect walking in, but boy did we enjoy ourselves! It took about 3 minutes for the energetic kids to show us around their home, but for the next 2 hours straight, we played lots and LOTS of games with them. They went back and forth between playing different games they had learned at camp and singing a few songs they had learned, as well. We played Uno, we played Down By The Banks, we played football, we played Duck, Duck, Goose!, we played Ninja, we played name games, we played every game that we play almost daily at camp, but these kids really enjoy them (something we didn’t realize until we visited!). After this visit, the kids were much more outgoing at camp and had even more energy for being there!

The lady interns at Jose, Jocelyn, and Omar's!

Jose (elementary), Jocelyn (youth), and Omar (Lite) were another family that I had the pleasure of visiting this summer. Omar invited the other Lites over, too, so we had the opportunity to hang out with our new high school friends for the first time away from site!! We had so fun hanging out with them, swimming, jumping on the trampoline, enjoying a wonderfully home-cooked meal, and of course, planking random objects. Another great thing about home visits is that we can finally connect different kids in the program as family members. There’s about 70 kids at P.Mound, and the elementary interns never really have the chance to get to know the youth, so when we meet youth for the first time at a home visit, it’s a great opportunity to be able to get to know them! And, more kids are related at site than I thought on the first day of camp!

Before I was a professional Planker. Arms belong at your sides, people!

  

Tomorrow will be the last home visit of the summer, and next week will be the last week of day camp. The closer the end is approaching, the more I wonder about what my life will be like without these kids smiling at me on a daily basis. They have made my mind clearer, my laughter louder, my joys greater, my hands dirtier, my faith stronger, and my heart lighter. For now, I know that there are five more days that I get to spend with "my" kids. As for that fifth day, well…I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it : ].

T.G.I.F.

TGIF! Project Transformation isn’t just for the kids…Fridays are dedicated to career exploration for the interns! We have the amazing opportunity of going to different ministry-related organizations around Dallas every Friday. As of today, I have been to 4 places around Dallas, and they have all given me something to think about!

PT Interns on our way to different Friday Experiences! (Okay, we were posing for a group picture)

 *Courtesy Kristen Singletary!*

        This Friday, I learned about immigration legal services provided by organizations like Justice for Our Neighbors. JFON, with offices in various churches around Dallas (and lots of other cities), gives free legal assistance to immigrants who would like to attain legal immigrant status, basically green cards. Growing up, I always excluded lawyer from potential careers, but as the leader spoke about her job, it didn’t sound so bad to me…

         My very first “Friday Experience” was at an urban community development center called Jubilee Park. Jubilee Park supports its neighborhood in comprehensive community renewal. They have several partners, including David’s Place, Head Start, and a Dallas Police Department sub-station that focuses on the Jubilee Neighborhood. This is a truly inspirational organization that is highly dedicated to its purpose: providing an overall better living situation for the neighborhood! I would really like to learn more about places like this closer to my home, too, like Joy-Southfield Development Corporation in Detroit (partners with Motown Mission, the program I worked with last summer!).

         The next Friday, I went to North Dallas Shared Ministries. This was an AWESOME experience for me. At first, we were told briefly about the organization…It began when 5 churches in the Dallas area decided to pull together and better utilize their resources. Now, there are at least 50 churches that support the central location to efficiently provide underserved residents with appropriate services. Some services they provide include a food pantry, a clothing closet, job counseling, financial assistance, medical and dental services, and education-related assistance. So much to do in such a small building! After the brief explanation, we were thrown into the job ourselves! It was a bit strange at first to be volunteering when we thought we would just be learning about the program, but the hands-on experience will stay with me a bit longer. I was able to, more or less, job-shadow and sit in on some interviews of the applicants. People come in early in the morning to stand in line for services, and once they fill out an application, they have an interview with a volunteer (NDSM only has ONE paid employee). This was an important day for me because I was able to level with people who are in need of such services.

         Last Friday was the most exciting Friday Experience for me so far. I learned all about nonprofits and nonprofit management from our very own PT director, Eric Lindh. Though this may sound relatively (cough) boring (cough), I was on the edge of my seat throughout the session! There are many things I could do with my soon-to-be degree in Human Development and Family Studies, but I don't see myself anywhere besides the "not-for-profit" sector. Who knows, maybe PT is in store for a Detroit location! Be on the lookout!

So, TGIF??

Thank God for Fridays, indeed!