Into the Streets

I know that this is coming later than Sept 15th, but I have had the most difficult times with my blogger account. On Saturday Sept 15th I participated in Into the Streets and I volunteered at Presentation Lantern Center in Downtown Dubuque. We were greeted by Sr. Corinne, and she made us feel welcomed right away. She said that she has a theory that within the first 3 minutes of entering a building, a person knows whether or not they feel welcome/comfortable, so her goal is to make everyone feel welcomed as soon as they walk in. Presentation Lantern Center is a volunteer-based program that provides tutors for people who have just moved to America from all over the world and cannot speak English well or at all. Sr. Corinne had just had knee surgery, so she needed help cleaning the entire building. I scrubbed the floors, vaccuumed the rugs, swept the floor, wiped the blinds, dusted the furniture, and disinfected the toys. It was a lot of work, but it was great hearing Sr. Corinne's inspirational stories about some of the people who have passed through those doors over the years. My favorite story was when Sr. Corinne decided in the middle of a task that we all needed to take a break and have some coffee and "just talk." She didn't care if we'd get everything done, she wanted to talk about who we were. She told me that at 11am everyday, no matter what, a bell rings and everyone has to stop what they're doing and sit at the large table and take a break and enjoy each other's company. I thought that was a great demonstration of hospitality. Sr. Corinne said that she always makes sure there's a pot of coffee and some treats for visitors to enjoy. After finishing all of the heavy cleaning, I was eager to come back when the building was open to experience the tutor-student interactions.