Search
Each year when the College Houses' RA and GA staff return from Winter Break, they gather for the Winter Summit mid-year in-service. Some years this involves focused training and other continuing education to equip them for the second half of the school year; this year they "paid it forward", undertaking a variety of service projects in Philadelphia.
Dr. Licinia "Lulu" Barrueco Kaliher, the Director of Paraprofessional Staff Training, worked with various service agencies in the city to provide a variety of opportunities for the RAGA staff to give back to the community. "By participating in on- and off-campus service projects, our staff will have an opportunity to learn about community-based public and private programs that provide assistance and advocacy, and demonstrate concern for the welfare of others in our broader community," Dr. Kaliher said. "Our staff can then bring these experiences back into their College House and encourage their residents to become involved in their community."
Among the work that RAs and GAs undertook as part of this year's Winter Summit were the following efforts:
- A group of staff helped to set up the newly-renovated Ronald McDonald House, which supports the families of seriously ill children who are receiving treatment at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The RAs and GAs assembled bed frames and beds, moved televisions into guest rooms, and set up office furniture. Another group made box lunches to feed the families that are currently staying in the Ronald McDonald Houses.
- RAs and GAs worked in the warehouse of the Share Food Program, packing and assembling food packages for low-income Philadelphians facing food poverty.
- For Lisa's Army, a charity dedicated to providing comfort and aid to people battling cancers, our staff put together care packages and made cards and scrolls to deliver to cancer patients.
- With the Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission, RAGA staff helped to sort, organize, and count food and clothing donations, and assisted with a meal service.
- A group of RAGAs worked at the Thomas Mansion in Germantown, assisting the Friends of the Wissahickon and the Fairmount Parks Conservancy in maintaining the grounds.
- RAGAs wrote notes of encouragement and inspiration for clients of Career Wardrobe, a non-profit that provides professional clothing to those transitioning back into the workforce from unemployment.
- Crafty RAs and GAs knitted warm caps for premature infants as part of Project Sweet Peas' Neonatal Intensive Care Unit program.
College Houses and Academic Services thanks these community assistance programs for helping the RAs and GAs give back to Philadelphia, and we thank the RA and GA staffs for their hard work and dedication!