Email: Jenna Carl

Dear Friends,

As Thanksgiving approaches, I have begun to think about the blessings in my life since arriving in San Antonio almost three months ago. Life has been busy, but hopefully, as the holidays approach, things will begin to slow down. Since arriving, my roommate Kate and I have begun to settle in to work, church, and other day-to-day activities.

For me, work life is a new experience every day. Work at Catholic Charities has kept me on my toes and learning something new every day. In my office, we assist low-income immigrants with navigating the difficult immigration laws. We work with family-based visas, which mean that a relative is petitioning for a visa for someone to come to the United States. We also see victims of crime because there are special immigration categories for them. So far, my job has consisted of a crash course in immigration law. Soon I will begin to be able to do my own consultations on our walk-in days. I am nervous, but looking forward to that!

I am also charged with coordinating the special events in my office, which include our Ask-A-Lawyer free legal clinics and upcoming naturalization workshop. So far, we have had two Ask-A-Lawyer clinics with over 50 clients showing up for legal advice. (Telemundo and Univision have also showed up to learn about our clinics!)  We will have our naturalization workshop at the beginning of December. This will offer assistance to permanent residents in preparing and filling out their application to naturalize. Overall, I definitely consider my job a blessing. The days are not always easy, but I really enjoy the work that I am doing!

Church life has been another blessing. We attend Divine Redeemer Presbyterian. It is a small church on the west side of San Antonio, and I am constantly amazed at the wonderful things that are going on around our church! Kate works mostly with House of Teens, which is an after-school program for teens in the neighborhood. I work a block from the church, and so I am usually able to walk down to the “Yellow House” and hang out after work. The other outreach programs of the church include a day care center, parenting assistance, a free lunch, a dance program aimed at building up the women of the neighborhood, ESL and GED programs, and much more. On Sunday mornings there are two services—a Spanish language service and a bilingual service with a breakfast served in between.

I do try to have a life outside of work and church! I am blessed to be surrounded by a great community in San Antonio. Part of our commitment during a YAV year is to living in an intentional community. My roommate is great, and I have been lucky to have her! We do not work on Fridays and instead have “study days” with our site coordinator, Hugo, to take time to talk about our weeks and learn more about service and living simply. We are also blessed to be living near the Mennonite volunteers, and they have become great friends and are our extended community. It has also been great to get out and explore this crazy, amazing city that we are living in!

One of the most important blessings in my life has been this amazing support system that I have in you all. I have been blessed to have a super-supportive family and friends, many of whom have been as excited as I am about what I am doing. I ask for your continued emotional support through several prayer requests.

• Continued emotional and physical health for me and all the other YAVs and volunteers.
• The clients that come into our office and my amazing coworkers and the work they do.
• The congregation of Divine Redeemer, the work they do and the lives they touch.

Knowledge and patience as I take the LSAT on December 1.

And safe travel as the holidays approach!

Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart.
- Philippians 1:3

En paz,