Today at work, two mothers spilled their stories to us.
The first was complaining about how her daughter had been placed in all honors classes except for English (her favorite and best subject) and about how she has never been recommended by teachers to participate in any special activities/programs. It smacked of racism to me, but we also only got one side of the story…
Another mother came in to register her son for our program, but we couldn’t take him because we were already full with a waiting list. That set her off on a tearful story about her bad day and her horrible week and her difficult life: there just isn’t enough support at Ethel Lawrence or in Mount Laurel for people like her – no affordable day care, no all-day kindergarten, and not much compassion from the administration. I was sad to hear it. They pull people out of their support networks and then expect them to make it on their own? In a place with completely different cultural and economic expectations and services? Something is wrong with this picture.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
ERLH Ed Ctr
We visited my job placement today!--the Education Center at Ethel R. Lawrence Homes, an affordable housing development in Mount Laurel, NJ. The homes are very nice. The Ed Center is in a double-wide trailer.
I’m still not sure what I think of the concept though, even after hearing the spiel for a third time... Luckily, I don’t have any qualms about what I’m doing, which is helping the kids with their schoolwork. It’s the larger mission of the housing development that I’m not sure I buy into. In a way, it does just seem like a band-aid and not a real solution to the root of the problem: endemic urban poverty. It doesn’t improve the cities by taking the well-behaved poor families away and putting them in a suburb…
On the other hand, one article I read talked about it in terms of providing housing for the people who are already working in these wealthy communities but can’t afford to live there. That makes sense to me. It's a very different principle than the first one, but I guess they kind of go hand in hand, in a way...
I’m still not sure what I think of the concept though, even after hearing the spiel for a third time... Luckily, I don’t have any qualms about what I’m doing, which is helping the kids with their schoolwork. It’s the larger mission of the housing development that I’m not sure I buy into. In a way, it does just seem like a band-aid and not a real solution to the root of the problem: endemic urban poverty. It doesn’t improve the cities by taking the well-behaved poor families away and putting them in a suburb…
On the other hand, one article I read talked about it in terms of providing housing for the people who are already working in these wealthy communities but can’t afford to live there. That makes sense to me. It's a very different principle than the first one, but I guess they kind of go hand in hand, in a way...
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
History
As the bus wound its way through the Pennsylvania countryside on our way to Blue Ridge, I was reminded of one of the reason I chose to come to the Eastern US, which I had temporarily forgotten about: the history. Everything out here is just so much older than anything out West by 2-300 years. I was struck by how different the architecture in the towns looked and felt, and I loved seeing all the old farm houses and barns. I find the stone buildings, especially, just incredibly beautiful. There's something about them...and there's nothing like it in Oregon.
On our way to Camden from orientation we stopped in Gettysburg and wandered through the cemeteries, and I was once again overwhelmed by the incredible feeling of standing on the same patch of ground where such a sad and historic event took place so many many years before.
On our way to Camden from orientation we stopped in Gettysburg and wandered through the cemeteries, and I was once again overwhelmed by the incredible feeling of standing on the same patch of ground where such a sad and historic event took place so many many years before.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Orientation
Orientation was stressful. And wonderful. And draining. And energizing.
I met some amazing people, had some really good conversations, enjoyed spending time outside and listening to the cicadas, and was inspired by some really good presentations about JVC's four values. And I got to sing with our impromtu choir during each of the 3 masses that we had.
But emotionally, it was an up, down, up, down kind of week. Wondering how well I'd get along with my community members, then spending some time with them and feeling reassured, but then having a conversation about alcohol that makes me unsure about it after all, but then having an awesome discussion about spirituality, and so on. At the end of the 5 days, I was saddened to have to leave all the other people I'd met and made friends with (especially my 8 fellow non-Catholics) who were living in other cities, but I left with the comfort of knowing that I'd see them at least one more time and probably more throughout the year.
I met some amazing people, had some really good conversations, enjoyed spending time outside and listening to the cicadas, and was inspired by some really good presentations about JVC's four values. And I got to sing with our impromtu choir during each of the 3 masses that we had.
But emotionally, it was an up, down, up, down kind of week. Wondering how well I'd get along with my community members, then spending some time with them and feeling reassured, but then having a conversation about alcohol that makes me unsure about it after all, but then having an awesome discussion about spirituality, and so on. At the end of the 5 days, I was saddened to have to leave all the other people I'd met and made friends with (especially my 8 fellow non-Catholics) who were living in other cities, but I left with the comfort of knowing that I'd see them at least one more time and probably more throughout the year.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
This Year
I'm writing this from a hotel in Baltimore, Maryland, as I get ready to head to rural southern Pennsylvania for the week. I will be attending the orientation for the eastern region of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps until next Tuesday when I head to Camden, New Jersey, which will be my home for the next year. It's taken me a long time to get to this point, as you may know, but here I am! I didn't know until 2 1/2 weeks ago exactly where I was going to be working and living this year.
So why JVC? The four values that JVC operates under are Social Justice, Simple Living, Spirituality, and Community, which are all things that resonate deeply with my own values and where I am in my life right now. I will be living in a house with five other volunteers and we will share all income and expenses except for our $80/month personal stipend. There will be three retreats during the year to reflect on our work, our lives, and our faith. Our work is with justice-oriented social service organizations, and we will be challenged to think about the deeper roots of structural and systemic change beyond the charitable service.
I personally will be working with an after-school educational program at Ethel Lawrence Homes, a low-income housing development outside of Camden. I can tell you a whole lot more about it once I actually get there and start working... For those of you that don't know, Camden is right across the river from Philadelphia. It will be exciting to be living so close to a big city (practically in it) for the first time in my life. Camden itself is a city of about 80,000 people, mainly African-American and Hispanic, and an extremely high percentage of its residents live below the poverty line.
I don't know how regular my internet access will be (maybe a few times a week?), but I will try to update my blog every so often
So why JVC? The four values that JVC operates under are Social Justice, Simple Living, Spirituality, and Community, which are all things that resonate deeply with my own values and where I am in my life right now. I will be living in a house with five other volunteers and we will share all income and expenses except for our $80/month personal stipend. There will be three retreats during the year to reflect on our work, our lives, and our faith. Our work is with justice-oriented social service organizations, and we will be challenged to think about the deeper roots of structural and systemic change beyond the charitable service.
I personally will be working with an after-school educational program at Ethel Lawrence Homes, a low-income housing development outside of Camden. I can tell you a whole lot more about it once I actually get there and start working... For those of you that don't know, Camden is right across the river from Philadelphia. It will be exciting to be living so close to a big city (practically in it) for the first time in my life. Camden itself is a city of about 80,000 people, mainly African-American and Hispanic, and an extremely high percentage of its residents live below the poverty line.
I don't know how regular my internet access will be (maybe a few times a week?), but I will try to update my blog every so often
Friday, August 8, 2008
The Day Camp Saga
Oh me, oh my, what a summer. What can one do but laugh? Every week has been its own kind of adventure...
Astoria's day camp went great like last year (although can someone explain why a one-hour trolley ride is necessary, and why you'd feed children rice crispy treats right before it?). Of course, being the first week, we as staff had our own kinks to work out with lesson plans, choosing/leading songs, and team dynamics...
Camp got done on Thursday, July 3rd, and on Friday Gretchen drove me down to Corvallis to spend 4th of July with me and my family and the Brownsville croquet club. She left on Saturday, but I stayed home until Sunday and took the bus back to Portland, where Gretchen met me and we drove back to Collins, eating blueberry crisp with makeshift rhubarb spoons on the way...
We had the whole next week off from day camp, so on Monday we attended CPR/1st Aid training. Then on Tuesday and Thursday I spent a total of 11 hours pulling stinging nettles from around the parking lots and trails at Collins Retreat Center -- and I only got stung 4 times! At the end of the week, I went on an 8-mile (!) hike with Gretchen and her friend Melia up past Punchbowl falls.
Then, we had Molalla. It was their 3rd year and they had a lot of returning volunteers, which you’d think would make it easier…sigh. Gretchen, Katrena and I commuted from Collins every day and spent our evenings making up skits for morning watch. Katrena got sick part way through Monday and couldn't lead her craft station in the afternoon, so that was interesting. And then Julia had to leave two of the days before day camp was over, so I had to take over music at campfire. And we had to do an evening program for them, and they had an extra half day of camp, which means we had to expand our curriculum and come up with a new set of activities. Whew!
I was wiped out, but after a good night's rest, Gretchen and I decided to venture into Portland on Saturday. We drove to Milwaukee and then took her scooter to First UMC the closing worship service of Western Jurisdictional Conference, the consecration of new bishops. Got to see my grandmas and my parents and tell them about the most recent development in my search for a volunteer placement: that I would be interviewing at a place in New Jersey in the coming week!
Clatskanie was next...where do I even start? Well, first there was the fact that Gretchen wasn't going to be there because she had to be in charge of vacation bible school at the church where she works, which means I had to be the stand-in director and team leader for the week! Then there was the matter of finding a new staff person because Julia couldn't commit to the whole week. Luckily, we knew their camp was going to be small and therefore we could only have two small groups of kids and work in pairs, but we still had to figure out how to modify the schedule and decide who was going to lead what activities each day.
So we get there on Sunday for their volunteer meeting and guess who's there? The coordinators. That's it. No volunteers to be found anywhere. Apparently, this happened last year, too. Hmmm... So we ask them to call their volunteers to tell them to show up at 8:15 in the morning so that we can orient them before day camp starts; we unload our van; and then go over some details with them, such as the special visits from the fire and police departments, which is happening on Tuesday morning, right? Well, actually no, it's on Monday! (Ack! That means we have to revise Monday’s schedule and figure out how to combine our small group sessions and how to un-combine Tuesday's!)
But then 10:00 arrives on Monday morning and the firetruck doesn't. The coordinator calls the fire station, only to learn that surprise surprise they had us on the schedule for Tuesday, not Monday! And the police station? Same thing! So we're back to square one, except that we’re already partway into our revised schedule…so we just fill the time with games. On Wednesday, which is water day, 6 new kids show up and bring a whole lot more energy and distraction with them, and the sun goes into hiding. We survived the day, but thank goodness Thursday was back to normal! Except for the fact that a photographer from the newspaper showed up right in the middle of quiet time...she kindly waited and interviewed us until it was over and then got a picture of them playing with the parachute.
Besides being in charge of the staff and the schedule changes and the program and the music, and everything else, I was also trying to contact the office in New Jersey that I was supposed to be interviewing with for a JVC position. I finally reached them and had an "interview" during my lunch hour on Wednesday -- which was really me asking them questions, not the other way around.
I think I made it sound like kind of a horrible week, but it wasn't. Despite all of those little frustrations and surprises and challenges, it turned out to be a pretty nice week!
On Thursday evening, we drove back to Portland, picked up Gretchen in Milwaukee, and then proceeded to drop off Kat (at her doctor's office for an appointment she had forgotten about until that afternoon) and Mikie (at her friend's house), before heading to downtown Portland to meet Leah and Vickie for dinner! Yay!
On Friday, I got the call from New Jersey that they were offering me the job -- woot! But then we got a call from Kat, letting us know that she wasn't going to be able to be on staff the following week -- per her doctor's orders. Ack! So Gretchen and I spent the rest of the day trying to think of people who might be able to fill in at a moment's notice, because we knew we weren't going to be able to do Beaverton with only 3 staff members. We finally found someone who was interested and available (for the first 3 days...) at 8pm that evening. So that meant another new staff person to train, the last week of day camp...
I went to church with Gretchen on Sunday before we went to Beaverton, and lo and behold, guess who I ran into? My friend Katie, who I hadn't seen since April! Turns out her uncle goes to that church -- who knew? We were both in shock at seeing the other one there -- probably her more so than me.
Well, Beaverton came around and, well, no one showed up for their volunteer meeting, either. But they did all come in the morning like Gretchen requested, thank goodness, because it would have been a mess without that orientation, and it was a challenging enough day as it was. All but two of their shepherds were 18 or under, and only a few of them were really into the idea of giving the kids direction and telling them what to do, so pretty much everything started late that day. It got better as the week went on though. And it was really cool to have the diversity: most of the shepherds and a bunch of the kids were from a Korean Methodist congregation in Milwaukee.
The real adventure of the week though was when Kacy, our newest staff member, got sick halfway through the day on Monday (sound familiar?). Luckily this time we only had 3 small groups and so Mikie and Gretchen were able to fill in for her when they didn't have a group of kids in the afternoon. But it meant we had to rearrange our schedule for Tuesday... Then she called on Tuesday night and told us that she was going to come back for Wednesday. Kat's youngest brother also came to help out on Wednesday, which was a little bit random, but helpful, and we were glad to have in back on Thursday, too, since Kacy wasn't there. I felt sorry for the shepherds that week -- every single day had a different schedule!
When it was all over (oh, and don't forget the evening that Lisa Jean came over to our host home to evaluate the season with Gretchen and me), we packed the van, went home, and crashed. We finished our breakfast on Friday morning just in the nick of time before Julia arrived to do some debriefing with us. Mikie had had to leave for her sister's on Thursday evening and Kat was rafting, so it was just the three of us. It was good to see Julia one more time -- she is a jazz/folk musician who went to college with my aunt and knows both my parents very well, and I grew up listening to a lullaby album of hers... Then Gretchen and I spent the afternoon and evening sorting out the craft and supply bins and making inventory lists for them, and being goofy, and pretending to be upside-down cockroaches, and looking at each other's photos, and not going to bed until 12:30.
My parents came to get me on Saturday and we went berry-picking, and then Gretchen came with us to spend the night camping with us and we hiked to Bagby hot springs. On Sunday morning, we went our separate ways, and after a funeral in Corvallis in the afternoon, my parents and I headed out again for a night at the beach. When we got home Monday afternoon, it was time to say goodbye to summer vacation and start getting ready for the next big thing...
Astoria's day camp went great like last year (although can someone explain why a one-hour trolley ride is necessary, and why you'd feed children rice crispy treats right before it?). Of course, being the first week, we as staff had our own kinks to work out with lesson plans, choosing/leading songs, and team dynamics...
Camp got done on Thursday, July 3rd, and on Friday Gretchen drove me down to Corvallis to spend 4th of July with me and my family and the Brownsville croquet club. She left on Saturday, but I stayed home until Sunday and took the bus back to Portland, where Gretchen met me and we drove back to Collins, eating blueberry crisp with makeshift rhubarb spoons on the way...
We had the whole next week off from day camp, so on Monday we attended CPR/1st Aid training. Then on Tuesday and Thursday I spent a total of 11 hours pulling stinging nettles from around the parking lots and trails at Collins Retreat Center -- and I only got stung 4 times! At the end of the week, I went on an 8-mile (!) hike with Gretchen and her friend Melia up past Punchbowl falls.
Then, we had Molalla. It was their 3rd year and they had a lot of returning volunteers, which you’d think would make it easier…sigh. Gretchen, Katrena and I commuted from Collins every day and spent our evenings making up skits for morning watch. Katrena got sick part way through Monday and couldn't lead her craft station in the afternoon, so that was interesting. And then Julia had to leave two of the days before day camp was over, so I had to take over music at campfire. And we had to do an evening program for them, and they had an extra half day of camp, which means we had to expand our curriculum and come up with a new set of activities. Whew!
I was wiped out, but after a good night's rest, Gretchen and I decided to venture into Portland on Saturday. We drove to Milwaukee and then took her scooter to First UMC the closing worship service of Western Jurisdictional Conference, the consecration of new bishops. Got to see my grandmas and my parents and tell them about the most recent development in my search for a volunteer placement: that I would be interviewing at a place in New Jersey in the coming week!
Clatskanie was next...where do I even start? Well, first there was the fact that Gretchen wasn't going to be there because she had to be in charge of vacation bible school at the church where she works, which means I had to be the stand-in director and team leader for the week! Then there was the matter of finding a new staff person because Julia couldn't commit to the whole week. Luckily, we knew their camp was going to be small and therefore we could only have two small groups of kids and work in pairs, but we still had to figure out how to modify the schedule and decide who was going to lead what activities each day.
So we get there on Sunday for their volunteer meeting and guess who's there? The coordinators. That's it. No volunteers to be found anywhere. Apparently, this happened last year, too. Hmmm... So we ask them to call their volunteers to tell them to show up at 8:15 in the morning so that we can orient them before day camp starts; we unload our van; and then go over some details with them, such as the special visits from the fire and police departments, which is happening on Tuesday morning, right? Well, actually no, it's on Monday! (Ack! That means we have to revise Monday’s schedule and figure out how to combine our small group sessions and how to un-combine Tuesday's!)
But then 10:00 arrives on Monday morning and the firetruck doesn't. The coordinator calls the fire station, only to learn that surprise surprise they had us on the schedule for Tuesday, not Monday! And the police station? Same thing! So we're back to square one, except that we’re already partway into our revised schedule…so we just fill the time with games. On Wednesday, which is water day, 6 new kids show up and bring a whole lot more energy and distraction with them, and the sun goes into hiding. We survived the day, but thank goodness Thursday was back to normal! Except for the fact that a photographer from the newspaper showed up right in the middle of quiet time...she kindly waited and interviewed us until it was over and then got a picture of them playing with the parachute.
Besides being in charge of the staff and the schedule changes and the program and the music, and everything else, I was also trying to contact the office in New Jersey that I was supposed to be interviewing with for a JVC position. I finally reached them and had an "interview" during my lunch hour on Wednesday -- which was really me asking them questions, not the other way around.
I think I made it sound like kind of a horrible week, but it wasn't. Despite all of those little frustrations and surprises and challenges, it turned out to be a pretty nice week!
On Thursday evening, we drove back to Portland, picked up Gretchen in Milwaukee, and then proceeded to drop off Kat (at her doctor's office for an appointment she had forgotten about until that afternoon) and Mikie (at her friend's house), before heading to downtown Portland to meet Leah and Vickie for dinner! Yay!
On Friday, I got the call from New Jersey that they were offering me the job -- woot! But then we got a call from Kat, letting us know that she wasn't going to be able to be on staff the following week -- per her doctor's orders. Ack! So Gretchen and I spent the rest of the day trying to think of people who might be able to fill in at a moment's notice, because we knew we weren't going to be able to do Beaverton with only 3 staff members. We finally found someone who was interested and available (for the first 3 days...) at 8pm that evening. So that meant another new staff person to train, the last week of day camp...
I went to church with Gretchen on Sunday before we went to Beaverton, and lo and behold, guess who I ran into? My friend Katie, who I hadn't seen since April! Turns out her uncle goes to that church -- who knew? We were both in shock at seeing the other one there -- probably her more so than me.
Well, Beaverton came around and, well, no one showed up for their volunteer meeting, either. But they did all come in the morning like Gretchen requested, thank goodness, because it would have been a mess without that orientation, and it was a challenging enough day as it was. All but two of their shepherds were 18 or under, and only a few of them were really into the idea of giving the kids direction and telling them what to do, so pretty much everything started late that day. It got better as the week went on though. And it was really cool to have the diversity: most of the shepherds and a bunch of the kids were from a Korean Methodist congregation in Milwaukee.
The real adventure of the week though was when Kacy, our newest staff member, got sick halfway through the day on Monday (sound familiar?). Luckily this time we only had 3 small groups and so Mikie and Gretchen were able to fill in for her when they didn't have a group of kids in the afternoon. But it meant we had to rearrange our schedule for Tuesday... Then she called on Tuesday night and told us that she was going to come back for Wednesday. Kat's youngest brother also came to help out on Wednesday, which was a little bit random, but helpful, and we were glad to have in back on Thursday, too, since Kacy wasn't there. I felt sorry for the shepherds that week -- every single day had a different schedule!
When it was all over (oh, and don't forget the evening that Lisa Jean came over to our host home to evaluate the season with Gretchen and me), we packed the van, went home, and crashed. We finished our breakfast on Friday morning just in the nick of time before Julia arrived to do some debriefing with us. Mikie had had to leave for her sister's on Thursday evening and Kat was rafting, so it was just the three of us. It was good to see Julia one more time -- she is a jazz/folk musician who went to college with my aunt and knows both my parents very well, and I grew up listening to a lullaby album of hers... Then Gretchen and I spent the afternoon and evening sorting out the craft and supply bins and making inventory lists for them, and being goofy, and pretending to be upside-down cockroaches, and looking at each other's photos, and not going to bed until 12:30.
My parents came to get me on Saturday and we went berry-picking, and then Gretchen came with us to spend the night camping with us and we hiked to Bagby hot springs. On Sunday morning, we went our separate ways, and after a funeral in Corvallis in the afternoon, my parents and I headed out again for a night at the beach. When we got home Monday afternoon, it was time to say goodbye to summer vacation and start getting ready for the next big thing...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)