Gracie Stevens reflects on her visit to the “House of Little Wings”:
The first thing our group did upon arriving in Arizona was visit the refugee hospitality center, Casa Alitas. It is a program run in Tucson, Arizona that helps get refugees or asylum seekers off the roads and starts them on their new lives in a safe area. The program is run out of an old juvenile detention center, and the government only charges $1/year for rent. Each wing has its own specialty, and families live in the wing rooms for short periods of time.
During my time at Casa Alitas, I worked in one of their more important wings, and then I did some pre-move-in cleaning. I first spent some time in their clothing area, where every new refugee resident selects a few free items of clothing so as to provide them with something that feels fresh. I will never forget the man who started tearing up when asking, “This all free? No pay?”
The cleaning I was doing took place in their 900s wing. A group of us went room to room scrubbing walls and doors in order to ensure a clean environment for the new families moving in. While cleaning, I spent a lot of time around a family consisting of a mother, her children and their uncle. I noticed that the older child (a boy) was full of laughter and very playful, but the younger child (a girl) was silent and apathetic. It really surprised me that when approached, the younger girl let me be around her and help her. She was mute and very skeptical of everything going on around her. Towards the end, she warmed up to me and when trying to leave, she wouldn’t let go. It was emotionally stressful to realize the impact that I had made on the little girl just by being around her.
My one takeaway from this experience is solely based on my interactions with the little girl. Even though I am one person, I can still make an impact at the end of the day. Big or small, help changes lives.