Last year, Trang, a native of Vietnam, was initially nervous to begin client service because she felt uncertain that her lack of familiarity with American agencies and social service providers would be detrimental to working productively with clients. Though grateful to her Site Coordinators and her fellow volunteers for their guidance, Trang decided that she wanted to channel her uncertainties into office projects so that she could overcome them. In her first semester, she organized a social for the agencies in the OIC building (where LIFT-Philadelphia’s North Office is located) so that they could meet each other, explain services and develop partnerships.
Recognizing that the same principle could be applied to help her clients, Trang started working on projects that would help her clients feel more confident in their work at LIFT. She created a volunteer board with pictures, descriptions, and areas of service expertise to display in the office entry way so that clients could easily identify what volunteers they had worked with previously and ask to work with them again. She also established a workshop for clients to practice interview skills. Having worked hard to master the nuances of a second language herself, Trang understood the importance that language skills played in interviews for clients looking for jobs. She says, “When I do a mock interview with a client, I can see that by giving her advice on small, important details, such as avoiding negative comments about previous jobs, she becomes more confident in herself and in going to the interview.”
With three more years to complete at Temple, Trang has big plans for her work with LIFT, including “making LIFT more recognizable on campus and in the community.” Upon graduation, she plans to return to Hanoi to pursue hotel and hospitality management, but also intends to create an organization similar to LIFT to benefit families in need in her home country. Trang says that her experience with LIFT has been “a great inspiration” and has definitely influenced her plans for the future. “LIFT has taught me that you have to fight poverty from the grass roots level, and I want to commit my life to helping others in that fight!”
