WEBVTT

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My name is Athena Romo . I am the

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hospitality coordinator at the Air

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Ministry Center , also called the

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Refuge , belonging to the

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seventy-eighth Air Base Wing Chapel .

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Hospitality coordinator is a catch-all

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umbrella phrase for what it is I do . I

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am the Rise and Shine cafe manager ,

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I am the shopper . I am the coffee bar

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barista . I am the chef each morning .

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I am a Bible study , ladies' Bible

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study facilitator . I am an event

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coordinator , coordinator , excuse me ,

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and um Money manager . So

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basically I do a little bit of

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everything . My job was a command post

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controller . The command post is

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basically the central nervous system of

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the base . Information comes in , it's

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analyzed , and then it's disseminated

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as necessary to different agencies and

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commanders . Everything from flight

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following aircraft to managing

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emergency action situations to um

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sending operational and resource

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reporting , all of these things were

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necessary to keep the , the pulse of

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the base moving . The legacy that the

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Air Force has left with me has been one

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of purpose . I knew that my job was

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valued , a sense of belonging . I've

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made lifelong friends and direction

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into the future . I've gained skills ,

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both soft and hard , that has enabled

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me to be confident in what it is ,

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whatever it is I attempt to do . We had

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nothing like this . At best , we had a

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rec center where you could go play pool ,

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but there wasn't anyone that was there

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to provide support , to provide counsel ,

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to provide guidance and direction .

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Sure , you had senior NCOs , they were

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there too , but you didn't necessarily

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feel as if you had a friend . So I

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think having that would have gone a

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long way back then . Brings me joy to

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be able to hand someone a cup of coffee ,

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and see them smile , to hear their

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stories , to listen to them , to make

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them feel welcome . The purpose of the

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refuge is to provide all of Team

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Robbins a comfortable space where they

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know that they're welcome , where they

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can release . Some stress , build

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community and enhance their resiliency .

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Our funding comes from the base chapel ,

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from our tithes and offering . In other

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words , the money that goes into the

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plate , that's what you use to sustain

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us . Your breakfast is free , your

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latte is free . If we're going on a

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trip , it's free . Again , our

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community partners are vital , whether

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they be in the gate or outside the gate .

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Much of this is dependent upon them .

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They help provide our meals during our

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Wednesday our monthly dinner .

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Sometimes they even participate by

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providing breakfast for the airmen , um ,

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but sometimes you just participate by

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giving us additional funds and

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donations . Many airmen come through

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these doors , and the legacy that they

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walk away with is knowing that they had

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the opportunity to be in a space that

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they were safe in . That they continue

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to build community with , that they

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have developed lifelong friendships .

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There are airmen that still send me

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messages and call me and say , hey , Ms .

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Athena , how are you ? I miss you . And

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to know that I have the opportunity to

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be a part of that means a lot .