Yesterday was an extremely busy day at CRIS. There were a lot of housekeeping jobs that needed to be completed before I leave Friday. With the hiring of a new cultural orientation teacher and new case worker assistants, the resettlement office had to be shifted around to make room for new desks. I am used to this type of work at CRIS as Ruby Wolfe, the assistant financial director of CRIS, had me do lots of it last summer when I helped move CRIS from their old office to their current one. After the office was rearranged, Ruby and I went to the Byers Dodge and Jeep dealership on S. Hamilton to pick up a new van for the resettlement team. A brand new 2014 Dodge Grand Caravan, no bells and whistles but man that van is spacious and CLEAN for once. The rest of the day included putting together home supply kits for newly arrived clients and assisting a secondary migrant Algerian family who I have been helping out the past two weeks.

There were many farewells yesterday, but none of them contained an aura of goodbye forever. Working at CRIS this summer and last summer created the opportunity for me to get to know most of the employees who work there. These are people whom I not only work with, but am also friends with too. Although my time at CRIS for this summer is over, I know that I am always welcome to come back and help out once I complete my last year of college. This entire summer experience would not be as enjoyable or financially rewarding had I not decided to spend the extra time in January and apply for the Summer Fellows program. It has truly been and amazing experience and I cannot wait to share my experience with the Columbus Foundation later today!