It did not take me long to understand the selfless, assured matriarchy that steers Muslim Family Services of Ohio. Tucked away in an unassuming building filled with chiropractic and dental offices, MFS is a bustling ground-story homebase for the wider Columbus community. With the month of Ramadan in full swing, I was swept into an organized chaos of interfaith understanding and unconditional generosity. My pre-determined role with MFS Ohio is to set up a comprehensive marketing platform across the organization’s various platforms. To this end, I was tasked with first understanding what were the day-to-day happenings at the office. This seemed easy enough, but rest assured – as a master of many trades, I can confidently say that no two days are the same at MFS Ohio. Welcoming refugees, newcomers, and asylum seekers as well as community members that seek various family support, every solution is tailored toward individual and collective needs. Yet, my advisor Nicol and social worker Christy were quick to welcome, discern, and rectify community needs.

Eager to learn and connect with our many clients, I open the main door that brings a new or familiar face to MFS. As-salāmu ʿalaykum sister. Initially hoping to take a backseat observant role, I realized this space asks for active involvement from every party that enters it. Soon enough, I was helping support an ESOL class for refugee and immigrant sisters, filing immigration papers for an aspiring baker and her kids, and shuttling food boxes out the door and into the hands of our clients.

As I recollect on what exactly MFS does, it’s hard to find the words. I realized the patience my fellow coworkers share in trying to provide families basic needs of survival. I’ve seen the fruits of this emotional resilience and applied practice with clients gleefully coming in, meeting my coworkers with embraces, and recounting the long day at work. Work that MFS helped secure for them. In a nation that struggles to move past issues of tolerance, MFS readily accepts this host of challenges to help those neglected, marginalized, and disadvantaged in our community. I’m humbled to be a part of this team, and gearing for another week of thinking on my feet.