Take Your Readership to Work Day

Marianne Fitzkee
Sep 29, 2024
7 min read

After reading my last post, my father said to me, “So, are you still working at the Bernardo Kohler Center (BKC)?” While perhaps a tad snide, he makes a fair point. My placement content has been sparse. So, in the first part of today’s post, I’m taking you to work with me.

Employment

Before we head to the office (AKA the lobby of the St. John Lutheran Church), some orientation is in order. I work at a nonprofit called the Bernardo Kohler Center (BKC) that provides low-cost immigration legal services. While many prospective clients understandably assume that Bernardo is the name of our lawyer, it is actually the name of an immigrant whose story inspired the organization’s founder.

My boss’s name is Terri and she’s not technically a lawyer, but rather an Accredited Representative, which means she was credentialed by the Department of Justice to practice immigration law. She didn’t go to law school (I think she studied music in college) but was drawn to immigration law because of the Sanctuary Movement of the 1980’s and has many years of experience working at different immigration-related nonprofits.

I have a coworker named Eva who has worked at BKC for several years and has been critical in showing me the ropes (and keeping me company). BKC rents space from the St. John Lutheran Church as does another nonprofit that offers free English classes and childcare.

BKC assists with a variety of types of cases for clients who meet income eligibility requirements. Private attorneys can be prohibitively pricey. Terri does consultations with people to determine whether they have any potential paths to being legally entitled to stay in the US temporarily or permanently. Some of these paths include being a citizen of a country that can get Temporary Protected Status; being petitioned by an LPR (long-term permanent resident/green card holder) or citizen family member; crossing the border as an unaccompanied minor; having an asylum claim; being a victim of a crime in the US; or being a DACA recipient/Dreamer (temporary hold of deportation for folks brought into the US as children). Terri also represents clients in immigration court—immigrants have to track down and pay for their own representation.

Alright, enough of that, let’s get to work.

On a typical morning, I’m the first one to the church. I park my bike, unlock the building and turn off the alarm. If it’s a Monday I roll my desk out to the lobby from the closet by Terri’s office where it’s stored over the weekend. I get out my work phone and computer and enjoy the few minutes of quiet before staff of the other organizations start trickling in.

Here’s some of what I do as administrative assistant at BKC:

make sure calls, texts, and emails get answered
track applications for immigration benefits that have been mailed
scan and organize the mail that BKC receives in physical and digital files
keep clients updated on the progress of their cases (which often drag out over months or years)
keep records of when people come in and pick up their work permits, green cards, social security cards, and travel documents
schedule new and returning clients for appointments with Terri (and remind Terri of appointments)
fill out registration forms in English and Spanish
accept and record payments
request address changes with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) so that clients don’t miss any notices from them
submit inquiries to USCIS if someone’s application is taking longer than it should
translate documents like affidavits and birth certificates (Salvadoran birth certificates are a massive headache, Nepali ones are fun to look at because Nepal uses a different calendar than we do so people are born in years like 2040)
listen empathetically
watch trainings by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center
decipher client text messages in Spanish (“oquey” is my new favorite way to spell “okay”)
learn fun new Spanish words and phrases from Eva (in Mexican Spanish one way to say taking a nap is “planchar oreja,” which literally means “ironing ear”)
share our referral list because we have unfortunately been unable to accept new cases for a few months
random tech help and research (although Eva is the superior IT guy)
website maintenance

I also find myself inhabiting other roles like security guard, bell boy, shepherd, therapist, and friend, which is sometimes an honor and sometimes frustrating, scary, heartbreaking, and draining.

Since I’m often the first person to the office, it occasionally falls on me to wake up an unhoused person sleeping by the entrance and ask them to move along. The church has a ministry of giving out snack bags and water to individuals in need, which means that homeless people regularly come to the doors that I sit directly in front of. There was no way for them to notify the church staff of their presence until the receptionist Julie fixed the church doorbell a few weeks ago, unless I got up and let Julie know. The homeless also had no way to know if there weren’t any church staff around unless I told them. Eventually I learned the regulars’ names and would sometimes hand out food myself if the receptionist was away. This has been mostly rewarding but has led to some uncomfortable situations as well. Safety is a particular challenge because the other nonprofit watches kids and thus their staff view the homeless as a serious concern.

The front doors are always locked and have a special system where you have to touch a sensor and push the door to get out of the building. A lot of people come in and out because of the English classes/childcare nonprofit, but unfortunately, their staff doesn’t always have someone posted at the door to let said people in nor do they explain to them how to get out. So, Eva and I get a lot of desperate looks and repeatedly explain how to use the doors daily. When delivery people arrive, I often direct them too.

While it is distracting to have a desk in the middle of everything, if you surrender to it, it can be quite enjoyable to watch drama unfurl among a colorful cast of characters. There is never a shortage of surprises. For the most part, I enjoy the folks I work with and have learned valuable lessons about human nature and dynamics I would seek to replicate or avoid in future professional settings.

Eats

Good eats of course deserve their own section.

I’ve decided to try to eat at as many restaurants representative of different Hispanic/Latin American countries as possible while in Austin. I recently checked off Puerto Rico (mofongo), Cuba (cuban sandwich), Venezuela (cachapa), Spain (croquetas and patatas bravas and fanta de naranja), Argentina (choripan), and El Salvador (pupusa revuelta/de loroco and a soda containing 166% of my daily sugar that was inexplicably served with a straw despite coming in a plastic bottle).

I went to my first coffee shop that doubles as a motorcycle shop.

I got a yummy ice cream cookie sandwich from a place called the Baked Bear. It is very similar (but slightly less good) compared to a baked fox from Fox Meadows in Ephrata. And it struck me that in Ephrata I didn’t ever consider whether “baked” was a double entendre.

For church events, I’ve made chocolate cake with peanut butter icing, zucchini bread, and puppy chow. I’m excited to start making some fall treats!

Events

I’ve done some fun things with cool people.

I went to McKinney Falls State Park with Nick where we picked a cactus fruit that I stowed in my bag where it shed spines that keep returning to prick me.

Rachel and I went to see a free outdoor performance of the feel-good musical Legally Blonde. I also went with Rachel to see a comedy troupe that mixes magic and political satire and then got a s’mores donut as big as my face that she watched me eat because she can’t eat gluten. (It was her idea to go to the donut shop, so I didn’t feel too guilty.) That night I learned she was an acrobat in the circus for seven years! She said, “I don’t usually lead with that,” and I said, “Why not?!”

I attended some free Friday evening salsa and bachata dance classes.

I got a JCPenney haircut that reflects the truth of the saying you get what you pay for.

I started choir rehearsals with a community choir called Panoramic Voices which has been a blast! The theme of the current two-month project is 90’s music. Our concerts coming up on October 4 and 5 are sold out! I have several people coming to support me. You can read more about the choir here: https://www.panoramicvoices.org/

With Austin Mennonite people I’ve done karaoke, gone to chill theological discussions at breweries around Austin, gone bowling, and led a youth Sunday school class on migration. I also attended the opening night of the Nevertheless She Preached conference, which included some powerful and moving spoken word poetry. I helped my friend Susan move, which meant I got to drive a car for a day (man, I miss driving!). Susan takes me to church and choir and makes me feel like a part of her family. The other Sunday, she took me out for brunch and shopping with her oldest daughter.

This weekend I attended a church retreat at Camp Luther Hills an hour east of Austin in La Grange, Texas. Also at the camp was another group called the LOL Ladies, which apparently stands for the “Lord of Life” denomination; their name made me LOL. It was so refreshing to be in nature and to spend time with some of the most welcoming, goofy, and kind people I know. We had time for worship, team building activities, “range sports” (archery and slingshot shooting), swimming at the pool, meals in the cafeteria, a campfire with s’mores, and board games. I was proud to introduce one of the middle schoolers to disc golf and convince him to jump off a diving board for the first time. Another highlight was that on Saturday night I saw my first armadillo! I told one of my friends from Austin about this historic moment and she told me “you’re a true Texan now!” (not an honorific I necessarily aspired to, but I’ll take it!). The theme of the weekend was 1 Thessalonians 5:11, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” I certainly left feeling encouraged and built up.

On the way home, Susan, her two youngest kids, and I stopped at a Buc-ee’s, which is a famous gas station chain. Everything they have is Texas sized and they even had a beaver mascot walking around the store.