Why I Say Yes to Volunteering

By Cecelia Larsen, RILA Volunteer

Volunteering at RILA clinics (specifically at the registration desk, where I'm almost always stationed) is a huge bright spot. At this point, I think I've told everyone I've ever talked to for more than half an hour about this part of my life. There are three distinct reasons I volunteer:

1.) RILA cares about clients as whole human beings.
RILA cares for clients (with actions and resources!) beyond assisting with their legal status, and that is part of why it is so special. Clinic night dinners, transportation to and from RILA, seeing a cousin or a friend of a client for a last minute walk-in, childcare, and coats, and extra food, and baby supplies, and toiletries, and, and, and... All of the things that we do outside the courtroom add up to truly understanding what our clients' most urgent needs are. Meeting those needs creates a safe space that our clients desperately need. It is truly a welcome, and whether you hold to that as a religious imperative or not, I think it's one of the most holy things we can offer our fellow humans. Being a part of the RILA welcome -- there's nothing like it.

2.) I know I'm in the right place and doing the right thing when I volunteer with RILA.
I went to grad school for Latin American history, and those formative years of studying liberation theology have informed my character and beliefs ever since. The urgent need to do something for immigrants and asylees every time the news would report on the desperate situation at our southern border is what originally drew me to RILA. But being with the passionate staff and empathetic volunteers and making a real difference -- asylum cases approved, EADs granted -- that is validation, and it feels like justice. Tangibly helping other humans when they need it most feeds the soul.

3.) Because coaxing a smile from a client and seeing hope in their eyes feeds my soul too.
I am just one person at the front desk saying hello when volunteers and clients walk in. We have wonderful attorneys, interpreters, note-takers, childcare workers, administrators, and many more, doing much more difficult work every day and every clinic night. But that moment of light and laughter at the registration desk -- sometimes at the fact that I cannot for the life of me remember how to say a simple word in Spanish -- is a way that I can say for all of us: we're going to be with you, we'll care for you, it's going to be okay. Our clients' stories are hard for them to tell, but being able to say hello, and smile, and assure them that we will help, is what keeps me coming back.

I say yes for our clients, because it's right, and for me.