Announcement
Alexa Walker, Ginnie Yu, Juana Montecillo and Breian Brockington serve as AmeriCorps members at the IRC in Dallas.
Photo: The IRC
The IRC in Dallas is proud to have AmeriCorps members in our office everyday helping change the lives of refugees. We thank our members for the dedication and enthusiasm they bring to IRC’s programs. They are an integral part of the IRC team!
Meet our four current AmeriCorps below. #MadeInAmeriCorps
Breian Brockington joined AmeriCorps because of its reputable connections in the US and abroad. As the Job Placement AmeriCorps, her role encompasses a variety of responsibilities. She says, “AmeriCorps has afforded me the opportunity to embrace and assist Dallas’ international community. In return, I have been received with open arm into many of our clients’ tight-knit community circles. The job responsibilities of a Job Placement AmeriCorps member has given me the skills to connect the international community with Dallas’ workforce.” She finds it interesting that as an international teacher for 9 years, [she] can still learn something new.”
Juana Montecillo, the Health Education AmeriCorps, is currently working on getting her master’s degree in social work at the University of Texas at Arlington. As an AmeriCorps she helps “clients navigate various health related issues by developing and facilitating health education workshops where clients can learn positive health behaviors, health care policy, as well as connect them to various health resources that are available in the community.” The overall goal as the health educator is to help clients take control over their personal health and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
The IRC in Dallas’ Job Training AmeriCorps, Alexa Walker, helps “our clients gain more confidence in their ability to obtain and keep a job, and provides them with a reliable source of support.” Having recreated the Job Readiness Training course, she says “[I have] incorporated things I have learned from my previous experience as a certified teacher. I have included interactive activities and I am currently working on building a competitive review game for class using Kahoot! And Jeopardy.”
Ginnie Yu is the IRC in Dallas’ ICM AmeriCorps. She describes her job as helping “clients achieve self-sufficiency by identifying primary areas of vulnerability and assisting them in tackling barriers to independence in those areas." She previously volunteered in refugee camps in Greece for two summers in a row and “working here at IRC Dallas has provided a cool full-circle perspective, seeing refugees’ journey from harm (first arriving in refugee camps) to home (arriving in Dallas!)”