River of Refuge newsletter, May 2026
ROR Summer Intern Looking To Soak Up All Aspects of Nonprofit Work
Alorra Davis, 21, is looking to learn “something new every day” during her 10-week summer internship with River of Refuge.
Alorra Davis was in high school when the 2023 docudrama “Sound of Freedom” came out, telling the story of a federal agent who heads into the Colombian jungle to rescue a girl from child traffickers.
“My heart felt heavy for them,” Davis said of the girl and her brother, who the agent had rescued previously. “I wanted to do something about it. That is such a heavy evil in the world.”
She carried that empathy with her to Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri, where she is majoring in Human Services. Davis, 21, is also minoring in child and family studies and trauma-informed practices.
But before she graduates in December, Davis is getting practical experience during a 10-week internship with River of Refuge. She started on May 11.
Originally from Belton, Missouri, Davis discovered River of Refuge through a connection with a board member. The mission of River of Refuge, she said, “perfectly aligned” with the type of organization she was seeking.
She liked that River of Refuge worked with its families to address the underlying issues of homelessness, such as poor budgeting, rather than just providing temporary housing.
“They are not just putting a Band-Aid on something,” Davis said. “They’re not like, ‘OK, here it is and leave.’ But instead, they’re actually coming alongside these people and helping them.”
Her goal for the internship is to experience as much as she can about nonprofit work, since that seems to be a natural professional fit for her interests. She’s looking to learn something new every day.
Even in her first days, she sat in on a case management meeting and a training. She’s also interested in learning about finances and the legal side of things.
She’s considering pursuing a master’s degree after graduation, but if she heads into the workforce, she does not necessarily have to work with victims of child trafficking — that area, honestly, could be too heavy for her to do day to day.
With her broad degree in Human Services, Davis could see herself working in a school system or perhaps in human resources. She thought about becoming a teacher but discovered the classroom setting was not for her.
“I’m just a person who doesn’t really enjoy habitual things for too long — hence human services,” she said. “Because humans change all the time.”
For some reason, people open up to Davis. They’re ready to tell her their whole life story, even if they have just met.
The feeling is mutual.
“I really enjoy talking with people and helping them work through their problems — not telling them what to do. … I feel like that’s not helpful because they’re their own expert in their own life,” Davis said.
The Human services field also meshes with her Christian faith.
“I really do value loving people, and how do I express that and practically help people?” Davis said, “Because I feel like you can talk at someone all day and be like, ‘You’re loved,’ but if you don’t show them, they won’t believe you.”
Homeschool Dervishes Leave Clean Building in Their Wake
River of Refuge took a group shot of the homeschool volunteers who cleaned at River of Refuge on May 13, and captured them at work and play.
What do you get when you welcome 15 kids and their four chaperones?
For River of Refuge, it meant a spic and span facility – even down to four freshly smelling public bathrooms.
On May 13, a group of homeschool students and accompanying moms cleaned at River of Refuge as part of a service project. The kids’ jobs included sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, wiping tables, and cleaning windows.
As for the bathrooms…
“It’s not my favorite thing ever, said Stella Craig, 17, of Blue Springs. “But it’s better when it’s for a good cause, and I’m doing it with my friends.”
Stella was there with her two sisters, Bea, 14, and June, 11. Their mom, Michelle Craig, was at one point cleaning windows in the front of the River of Refuge building with 10-year-old Lily Davis.
Michelle Craig said it was wonderful to expose the kids to the River of Refuge program. The budgeting focus, she said, provided a real-world example of the finance concepts covered in the homeschool curriculum.
Plus, she said, “It’s just great to get out and serve.”
When Lee’s Summit mom Nicole Peck first heard about the volunteer opportunity from Lily Davis’ mom, Meagan, she thought they were going to be cleaning up a river.
“And then when I read the description,” she said, “I was like, ‘Oh, this is really neat.’”
Peck said volunteering is a great opportunity for the students and the adults.
“It really impacts our lives in such a good way to get out of our own lives for a minute and jump into somebody else’s,” she said. “Not in an unhealthy way, but in a way that we can show love and support in a good way with boundaries.”
But it wasn’t all work. The students got to visit the River of Refuge chickens.
And as River of Refuge noted on its Facebook page, “with a little instruction on how to safely catch and hold them, the kids jumped right in. It didn’t take long before they were confidently holding chickens—and giggling the whole time!”
The post added: “It truly was a fantastic morning.”
FROM THE DIRECTOR
What is this world coming to?
I’m sure we have all murmured this to ourselves at one time or another. And if you are like me, you end up sounding like your parents yearning for the good old days.
My family had a good life. We didn’t have much, but we learned a lot about life: coping, resolving conflict, and appreciating the simple things that didn’t cost money but brought great joy.
All of that came to mind after a recent incident here at River of Refuge. Some of you may have seen my social media post about it a couple of weeks ago.
It all started when we gave a bike to one of our moms so she could get to work at a local Sonic.
She locked it to the fence surrounding our building. One morning, it was missing, and as we reviewed camera footage, we saw a man stealing it the night before.
This is the kind of thing that really makes me mad and gets me wondering about the state of our society.
But no less than 10 minutes after I posted about the theft on Facebook, a man called and said he had some bikes he could donate. But as it turned out, he did not have a bike that would fit the mom, who is 5 feet tall or a little shorter.
“Let me see what I can do,” he said.
He called back 30 minutes later to tell me that he had purchased a new bike and lock for the mom. “I’ll bring it over,” he said.
Boy, did I need that. His generosity really restored my faith in mankind. There truly are good people still in this world, and we often see them supporting our families at River of Refuge.
Some of you might wonder why we don’t store our bikes in a locked shed. There’s a backstory to that as well.
A generous couple bought a new metal building for us a few years ago. They even brought it to us and assembled it on our playground.
Although it was bolted to the concrete, winds over the past few years left it a twisted mess. We had to retire it earlier this year.
The same thing happened to a small, Rubbermaid-type storage shed that had also been donated to us.
What we really need is a heavy, solid wooden storage shed similar to our garden shed. That costs money, and it’s money that we don’t have.
If any reader is handy and willing to donate their time to build us a shed big enough to store our playground toys and bikes, I’d love to hear from you. Call me at 816-737-5100 or shoot me an email at pamela@riverofrefuge.com
Until Next Time,
Pamela Seymour, Executive Director