MercyWorks Winter 2010 Newsletter

When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world. --George Washington Carver Over the past few months the MercyWorks volunteers have fully transitioned into their job placements and have further explored the five program values—professional development, community, simple living, social justice and spirituality. They continue to develop their professional skills each day. In addition to learning on-the-job from co-workers and supervisors, the volunteers have participated in nearly 90 hours of training, including CPR, first aid, crisis prevention, conceptual framework of care, and youth care worker certification. The volunteers have been busy getting to know the youth through tutoring, goal-setting, visiting with families, teaching life skills such as cooking and cleaning, and participating in many activities at Mercy Home and around Chicago. Recent activities with the youth have included a Thanksgiving dinner celebration hosted in the new cafeteria at the Hay Boys Campus, cheering on Chicago sports teams, attending theatrical performances, and giving back to others through volunteering at local non-profit agencies that serve children, families and the elderly. Due to the volunteers’ varying work schedules, Wednesday community nights have remained a sacred time to share a meal with one another and examine the program values. Community nights have included exploring spirituality and prayer life, viewing the film King Corn and discussing the implications of daily choices as consumers, learning about hunger around the world and distributing food to the homeless, attending a talk about sex trafficking at St. Xavier University, examining gangs and their impact on the lives of the youth of Mercy Home, attending a talk about the death penalty at St. Clement Church, bowling, and ice skating in Millennium Park. A four day Fall retreat in Burlington, Wisconsin allowed for some time away to reflect on the MercyWorks values. The group reflected on their work and community. Coworkers Tom Gilardi, Daniel Nelson and Lori Kinast conducted sessions on the retreat and provided invaluable feedback and advice. The volunteers had their first reflection and mass with Father Gary. Other activities

included a haunted hayride, low ropes course, canoeing, basketball, fireside chats, and decorating journals.

The 2010-2011 MercyWorks volunteers at the ice rink

In addition to community nights and Fall retreat, other special events have provided opportunities for spending time with one another and building relationships. Twelve of the volunteers helped out at RingSide for Mercy’s Sake. The volunteers hosted Thanksgiving dinner in the MercyWorks apartment and welcomed friends, family and co-workers. They hosted friends, family and alumni at a liturgy and brunch on the second Sunday of Advent. They decorated the apartment for Christmas and helped out at holiday celebrations for the Friends First mentees and mentors, AfterCare members, and the residents of Mercy Home. Most of the volunteers will take some time off around the Christmas holiday to reconnect with family and friends back home.

Did You Know? 58 of the 112 MercyWorks alumni have stayed on as full-time paid employees after their service year. 70 of the 112 MercyWorks alumni have gone on to receive an advanced degree. The 126 current and former MercyWorks volunteers have come from 53 different colleges. 22 volunteers have come from the University of Notre Dame, 9 have come from University of Dayton and 7 have come from Marquette University.

Being A Witness To Another’s Life I have come to realize that what I really came to Chicago for was a sense of legitimacy in my life. After sixteen plus years of study and learning, I wanted action and doing. I wanted to experience the things I had read about in classes for years—the places, the people, the politics. I didn’t want to entirely give up my contemplative life, though. That’s where the MercyWorks Volunteer Program came in. While still allowing me to express my theoretic reflection side, volunteering at Mercy Home for Boys and Girls has challenged me to develop my practical action side. It was a transition for sure, but having the opportunity to do direct service with the youth of Chicago has really been a blessing. Sure, I could have found a job somewhere and helped the causes I believed in with my finances, but I have found that I personally don’t learn or grow from that. No, for me to understand how something (in this case residential social work with at-risk youth) works, I have to immerse myself in it. My experience has to pull me out of my comfort zone, throw me into the lives of the youth, and stretch my awareness of the world. How does this happen? Through seeing my youth come home from school everyday, bubbling with energy because they got on their high school basketball team or brooding over a poor test score. By celebrating their completion of a science project, mourning their loss of a friend, and letting them scream and yell at me when they are frustrated. This is the only way for me to truly test my textbook knowledge, to see if what I think I know about the world lines up with reality. Direct service isn’t really about helping people at all. Direct service is about removing the layers people place between themselves and others and interacting with another human being—it’s about being a witness to another’s life.

Rachel is a graduate of St. Norbert’s College and is originally from Colby, Wisconsin. She is currently serving as a Youth Care Worker in Daley Home. She enjoys writing and took some time to reflect on her experience as a MercyWorks volunteer during the past four months.

Upcoming Events

December 16-22 Holiday Celebrations for Youth

and AfterCare Members February 6-9 Winter Retreat at LaSalle Manor March 12 Shamrocks for Kids TBA Spring Quarterly Liturgy

Alumni Updates

Joanna Griebel (’01-’02) is living and working in Los Angeles, CA. She works for Sony Pictures Imageworks as a Production Assistant. She is currently working on the movie Green Lantern which is due out next Summer. Matt Pilon (’03-’04) was married to Alicia Judkins this summer in Rice Lake, Wisconsin. Father Scott celebrated the wedding ceremony. Liz Bomgaars (’03-’04) is engaged and set to get married in June 2011. Javier Herrera (’04-05) recently passed the Texas bar exam and is working at his father’s law firm in San Antonio, Texas. Jean Fitzgerald (’04-’05) is in her second year of a Masters in Teaching in Art Education at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She will be visiting schools in Haiti in January as part of her thesis research on students' relationships with books and literacy. You can see some of her own book sculptures on exhibit through January at the Williamsburg Art and Historical Center in Brooklyn, New York. To follow all of her artistic antics and musings, you can visit her blog: www.heartjean.blogspot.com. After seven years of dating, Becka Lutz (’05-’06) is now engaged! Her fiancée, Phil, recently proposed to her while on a trip to Chile. Karen Sarmir (’07-’08) will be graduating from the University of Michigan with her Masters in Social Work on December 18th. Upon graduating, she will be working for the Alzheimer’s Association, Greater Michigan Chapter. John Paffen (’08-‘09) is living and working in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is the Enrollment Manager at the ESF Dream Camp Foundation. Rachel Feerick (’09-’10) recently accepted a job at Alaska Crossings as a Field Guide. She will be doing behavior modification while guiding 13-18 year old youth in the wilderness while canoeing, backpacking, and mountaineering.

10 for $10 Challenge and Reunion Giving

In honor of the MercyWorks Volunteer Program’s 10th anniversary and reunion, MercyWorks hosted a “10 for $10 challenge” and also solicited donations through the mail. Many thanks to alumni, their friends and family that made donations. $4,300 was raised in honor of the 10th anniversary. Special recognition goes to the 2004-2005 MercyWorks volunteers who raised $1,230.