Project Inspire - Group B-8

Hello, our group is B-8; the names of our members are Corey Wiley, Hans Hyppolite, Mikey Nau, Everol Taylor, and Brendon Chen. For our class of Group Communication 204, we have been given a project to complete. The service project that our group is involved in includes working with an on campus community organization called Project Inspire. Our community service has included helping local immigrants with learning English, helping to serve food at a local soup kitchen, as well as assisting in the Pine Hills clean up. By April 23rd, each group member will have worked 5 hours each. This will allow us to complete our goal of 25 hours of community service.

One of the organizations that we have been working on with Project Inspire is RISSE, or the Refugee and Immigrant Support Services of Emmaus. This is a local organization that aims to “equip refugees and recent immigrants to build sustainable, independent lives by offering language and literacy instruction, as well as support with life skills and integration into U.S. culture and community.” This is located in Albany at 715 Morris Avenue. We each had the chance to work with someone one on one and help them with learning what would be considered Basic English. We went over simple topics such as the weather, colors, numbers, and even seasons. The people that we got the chance to work with were very grateful and appreciative. One lady even gave the Project Inspire community service chairperson a quick lesson in speaking Muslim. We chose this location because it gave us an opportunity to help and also learn while helping. You can find out more about this organization at their website: http://risse-albany.weebly.com

The next location that we chose to work at is the Capital City Rescue Mission. Unlike a regular soup kitchen, the Capital City Rescue Mission not only feeds those who are in need, but they also spread the word of God while doing it. They are “dedicated to proclaiming the life-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ to the homeless and needy of the capital region, providing for the whole person body, mind, and spirit, that they will return to society maturing in Christ as productive citizens.” This is located in downtown Albany on Pearl Street. We each had a role in serving those who needed it with a hot meal after their church service. After helping with serving the meal, we helped out with the cleanup process. This was a real eye opener, because as college students we tend to take for granted the things that we have. These people were so appreciative for our help and even invited us to return in the future. We chose this, because we wanted to work hands on and directly help those who need it the most. More information can be found out at their website: http://capitalcityrescuemission.com.

Finally, our group assisted with the annual Pine Hills cleanup. This community service opportunity was pretty self-explanatory. We decided to do this as a backup just in case our first 2 opportunities weren’t able to fit everyone’s schedule. The cleanup was not only helpful to the community, but also fun. We got to see other on campus organizations work together for the greater good. All in all, a very rewarding experience.

Therefore, we feel that our work has greatly impacted those that we helped. It was not only an opportunity to help others, but to humble ourselves. When you get so caught up in life you forget that not everyone has it as easy as you do. You then take little things like speaking and eating for granted. This was a really valuable experience and we would be happy to help out again.