Volunteer Perspective

Sarah Kippen Wood, Former Executive Director of Their Story is Our Story (TSOS), shares how stories connect and lead to change in an interview with Darien Laird, our Director of External Media. Sarah gives us an inside look at how TSOS functions and shares how telling her story helped her fight a stage four cancer diagnosis.

When I was in high school, I was fascinated by geography, and it struck me that there was a highway that I could hop on in my car and drive all the way down into South America. As an imaginative young girl growing up on the Texas-Mexico border, the idea of a road that could take me from my sleepy border town, Laredo, Texas, to the edge of the world in South America, left me awe struck. In high school I learned that this highway is called the Pan-American Highway.

Queen Elizabeth's passing has brought a renewed love of Paddington Bear, who for many charities, has become a powerful image for refugees. Mugs and t-shirts with pictures of Paddington and stating ‘Migration is not a Crime’ can be seen. And who can argue with a cute bear?

I quickly realized that in order for my friend Jahan to re-establish her upended art career, she would need some help from a local artist. Enter Ann Marie Coolick, an artist from Arlington, Virginia.

Tucson, and other cities, do so much more when they connect with charities such as Catholic Community Services’ Casa Alitas program. Everywhere you look you can see artwork that brightens the place and further welcomes people. And economically it helps both the city and its citizens.

Friendship is what really matters when someone is far from the home that they know and love.

A teacher in an inner city school describes how her school helps with the integration of students from all over the world.

In these “Back to School” days, it is important to note that education is a vital step in self-actuation. Helping schools recognize best practices in supporting ESL is the basis of building communities full of strong and capable citizens with skills that will provide societal dividends.

There really is something that everyone can do. Whether you just have time to donate a hygiene item, or you have an hour to drive a family to school, or you have 3 hours to do activities for children, there is something all of us can do to lift and love our new neighbors.

Refugee work takes patience sometimes. Arizona hung on and had a successful World Refugee Day and looks forward to other changes.