Anna Coridan, a registered nurse at AdventHealth Shawnee Mission, received the AdventHealth Community Service Award on Aug. 5. She earned the award for her work to improve the quality of life for refugees in Kansas City.
During college, Coridan knew she wanted to be involved in mission work. She spent a year teaching English and science to kids in kindergarten through fifth grade in Nepal.
“It changed my life,” she says. “After that year, I knew it was where I wanted to be.”
In 2014, after graduating from Union College, she got a job as a registered nurse at AdventHealth Shawnee Mission. But she kept thinking about how she could go back to Nepal.
Then one day, one of her friends mentioned he knew some Nepali kids in Kansas City who would love to talk with someone who knew their language.
Coridan was introduced to a mom of one of the kids. She learned of a relative who had been hit by a car and had a leg wound. She helped translate the hospital instructions and bandage her leg.
“I went home that night and felt like I had spent the day in Nepal,” she says. “It opened my eyes to the things happening here. I had been praying to go back to Nepal, and I realized I was not seeing the people in front of me.”
Coridan soon moved into an apartment complex in Kansas City where many refugee families lived. She visited regularly with the families and one of the boys suggested they start a youth group.
“In the inner city, there’s so much crime and drugs, and he knew some of the kids were getting into things they shouldn’t,” she says.
After the boy invited his friends to join, one of them suggested they call the group NC4Y, meaning New Change for Youth. The group started meeting regularly at Coridan’s apartment, and even entered a local soccer tournament that they ultimately won.
Through it all, Coridan, along with the NC4Y leadership team, coordinated support from the community. They were able to find transportation and funding so they could attend the West Lenexa Adventist Vacation Bible School soccer camp. As the group grew, Coridan knew she didn’t want to leave any of the kids behind. One of her relatives suggested she start a Pathfinder club.
“I wasn’t sure how to do it, so I was a little resistant to the idea at first, but God had other plans,” she says.
She met with a retired youth leader who was able to give her direction on how to set up the group. A local church gave them the space to hold the meetings every other week.
By 2019, the group had grown to 55 kids from eight different countries. By this point, two additional families joined the leadership team who were able to help translate languages, including Burmese and Swahili.
“God provided the right people at the right time,” Coridan says.
As a Pathfinder club, the kids were able to work on service projects, learn life skills and participate in activities such as camping trips. This year, Coridan and other volunteers—with the generosity of a local donor—helped secure funding and transportation so the kids could attend the International Pathfinder Camporee in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
“It was such a powerful experience for them to see people running with flags from different countries,” says Coridan. “Refugees or not, we live in a world that can be so isolating. It was an amazing experience for them to see that they’re not alone.”
Coridan says her main goal for the kids is to help them be leaders in their community. “There are still so many kids on the street,” she says. “Our goal is to help these families adjust to life in this country and know God loves them.”
Ann Muder is a writer for AdventHealth Shawnee Mission.
