three weeks in

I've had a really good week at work and I feel a lot better about things now. at first I didn't like the community engagement part of my job because it seemed too officey and behind-the-scenes, but I'm really liking it now. we're planning two big volunteer events for the end of the month- one at Peter's Retreat and one at Betances Elementary School (maybe I already wrote about this?)- yesterday we picked out the colors the Home Depot volunteer team is going to paint the school hallways, and today we walked around the school and picked out where more bulletin boards will go. I think painting some brighter colors in the hallways and making more space for student art to be displayed will make the atmosphere a lot nicer, and the team will also be doing projects that encourage literacy like building a few reading lofts and reading corners and more bookshelves in classrooms.

I like having the combination of one-on-one interaction with clients at the soup kitchen but also getting to see how non-profits work behind the scenes- there are so many amazing and tireless people that make all of the programs run, and I have such an appreciation for everything that goes into providing food and other services for the homeless. and it's funny to go from a stuffy suit-and-tie meeting in someone's nice corner office to the soup kitchen across the street.

and I love working with Tom and Evan, because they always make me laugh, they are so wonderful and charismatic with every kind of person, they have such good ideas and values, and they're tea drinkers.