A Powell House retreat is for refugee and immigrant children to sign their names in their original language, there were two large white sheets of paper hanging on the walls. Everybody signed.

Ali told me that on the way home, the kids all wanted to know if they could come to the Powell House sooner. They are booked up and so is the Powell House, it might be possible to get them in for a single day, no overnight. The Powell House is the perfect place for these kids to go for many reasons, one is that it’s only about a half-hour from Albany.

I so appreciated the generosity and sensibility of the Powell House staff, especially Mike Clark, one of the two counselors who will be present during the May retreat. He is special, all of us felt it right away. They don’t just talk the talk, Mike has devoted much of his life to helping children.