AUDIO TRANSCRIPT:
So, I kind of took a roundabout way to get to the floor. I had done a lot of basic needs work as a college student at my university. And I really enjoyed that work. But I was also intrigued by research. So I took a little detour doing that for two years in DC. But realize I really missed working with young people. And I recognize that like food security became an even bigger issue with COVID and the rising cost of living. So I started job hunting. And I had heard about Durango from my partner's best friend who's an alumni here. And it kind of worked out because I think the Fort put up this job listing for the basic needs coordinator position two days before I started my search. And all I could do was kind of like hope that they liked me because I really liked the sound of the four and the culture here. So now I'm here.
So my favorite story ever since I got here was that I ordered five lambs from a local rancher Red Cliffs Ranch, and we sent them off to Sunnyside for processing and portrayed and when they packed them, they have to label it with the person that made the order. So I put my name down rather than GrubHub because I was going to be doing the pickup so now all of the package like round lamb like lamb hearts were labeled "Stella." So when we distributed them out at the GrubHub I had a lot of like sad and distraught students coming to me being like, "Oh my God, was the lamb's name Stella. Are we going to know all the animals' identities now?" And I was like, "No, it's okay, that's just me ordering you're not going to have to have like personal attachments to these animals now."
My name is Stella Zhu, and I am the basic needs coordinator at FLC.