One of my first hands-on Americorps projects was helping to build a house.

I was brand new in my VISTA position at the International Rescue Committee. Entering service in the midst of a pandemic greatly limited not only the scope of my work, relegating all tasks to online and from-home service, but also my exposure to our clients and staff. I was excited to interact with our refugee population, and doubly eager to do so outside of a traditional office space. So naturally, when the opportunity arose to participate in an outdoors volunteer effort for one of our clients, I immediately seized it. 

On a Saturday morning, just before the afternoon heat set in, I gathered with volunteers on the street outside of a construction pit quickly turning into the house’s foundation. A handful of fellow IRC staff, most of whom I was meeting for the first time, greeted me warmly, as did the Habitat for Humanity folks and the client we were helping. He was a father of four who’d resettled in Missoula a few years ago, and whose children would, for the first time in their lives, get their own bedrooms. Today’s goal, he told me, was to raise the walls that would be the markers of those new spaces.

Working alongside him, chatting about his family and their excitement to settle into their new home, made the end results all the more tangible and enticing to progress towards. We toiled for hours, yet the experience was only a glimpse into the months of hard labor he and the Habitat for Humanity sponsors were putting into creating long-term stability for his family. They’d started at the beginning of the year with flat ground, and by the end of the day, we’d raised the skeleton of what would be his children’s bedrooms, their shared bath, and their family den. It was humbling to be a part of this man’s journey to full resettlement, and every subsequent experience has been as immensely rewarding as it has been eye opening. 

Staying in Missoula wasn’t originally in the cards. I was born, raised, and educated here in Montana, and have forever been anticipating the day I could leave my home state to see firsthand what the world has to offer. While I participated in different communal-based organizations in college, engaging with members of the broader Missoula community was something I’d never truly done before, and it was what originally led me to Americorps service in the first place. That first on-hands experience with the IRC set the tone for my position and overall attitude toward the importance of community-oriented work. For truly successful integration and stability, a community must come together to welcome all of its members. Serving with Americorps allows for a truly impactful way to participate in that very process, and have a direct, meaningful effect on the community we serve.

I am excited to continue the way forward in service, interacting with the many facets of refugee life and resettlement, gaining a greater perspective on the unique struggles they face, and shaping my understanding of how I can best serve them in their journey to integration.