Hablas Espanol?

Hey all,

For the past few weeks I have been doing service at the Welcome Center, which is a site in North Philly that focuses on teaching English and Citizenship classes to Philadelphians who are working to attain citizenship and are eager to learn a new language. The site offers great placements for SJU volunteers who share an interest in issues concerning immigration or volunteers that simply want to spend time with some great open minded people.

At first I was very nervous to start service at a new site. I have volunteered weekly at soup kitchens, homeless shelters, nursing homes, and schools, but have never had to really teach anything. I have taken multiple courses in Spanish in high school and at SJU, but never really was placed in a situation that required me to speak Spanish in my daily life. I was ignorant to the fact that because I speak English, I automatically have opportunities open to me that would not be possible otherwise. The English classes that the Welcome Center provide for Philadelphians are opening doors for greater opportunities. When I think about this, it is hard not to bring enthusiasm to each visit to the Welcome Center.

This site has also given me the opportunity to put myself in the student role and let the class teach me. In the SJU atmosphere, I often am focussed solely on grades and other things that plague the mind of a College student. Each week I feel privileged to be able to open my mind to the stories and experiences of others through service. I have learned so much from the class in only two weeks of service! Although everyone generally laughs at my meager attempts to speak Spanish to explain myself during class, I am genuinely benefiting from the constant exposure to a language that I have wanted to become proficient speaking. Class has been great so far, I only hope that the class is getting as much from my visits as I am getting from them.

Tom

The Homeless -- help not needed??

I visited 802 North Broad Street the other day for one of my site visits. I'm also planning on volunteering there full time now, but that's besides the point of this blog. So I was walking around with Carly Maurer, the SSC of 802 for Thursdays, and two other volunteers underneath City Hall. As we were walking upstairs by the big clothing pin, we saw a man sitting on a milk crate. He was asking people for money, wearing combat gear, and (the most unfortunate part) sporting half of a leg. Carly, the two other volunteers and I happen on this man and approach him. We casually say "Hi" and he begins a long, drawn out tirade about how people don't even see him on the streets of Philadelphia. He feels invisible, and he wonders why people don't give him "a penny, nickle, or quarter" even though he knows that these people have the money. His name was James, and after a few more minutes talking with him, another man came up and began to scold James about what he was talking about, and so our group of four went up the stairs and out of the scene.

After this event, a discussion ensued: James seemed to talk about how people don't help him out by giving him "a penny, an nickle, or a quarter," and how people don't even notice him. At the same time, when I offered James a sheet that had places where he could find meals in Philadelphia, James denied it. Also, according to one of the volunteers, James spoke about how he felt as if he didn't want the help of those passing him by. As weekly service volunteers, this is a conondrum to us.

So here's my question that I will leave open for discussion. Leave your opinion in the replies.

What does a volunteer do if he or she encounters someone like James, someone who is hypercritical of society, but when someone tries to help, this someone doesn't take it? Is it a matter of perspective? In your own view, what factors contributed to James' point of view?

Happy thinking!
-Jeff

Rock the Vote

I recently changed my service site from Inglis House to a new site called "Social Advocacy." I had done service at Inglis House for a long time, and felt like it was time to move on. The new site, "Social Advocacy", is actually a program where we go to a different site each week and do things that have to deal with advocating for the poor in our area.

Their big focus is, right now, the election season. I don't know the statistics, but there are many many homeless people in America and the Philly area that don't know their voter rights or just aren't registered. This could be because of a variety of things, some including apathy, but most for the simple reason that they don't have an address (hence, homeLESS).

Last week we went to a Red Cross shelter to register people to vote. Ryan Marotta is our Service Site Coordinator, so he planned for us to go and just talk to the people there and let them know that if they haven't registered, they can and probably should. We registered about 6 people to vote, which was pretty good in my opinion.

One of the challenges that I had though was a conversation we had with one of the men there. He was telling us a lot about his life, and for the first time ever I heard someone that was legitimately PROUD that he had only worked "ten days in his life". He was bragging to us about how he used legal loopholes to scam the government, and he told us some other unsavory stories. He was actually a really funny, nice guy, but there was definitely something about the conversation that left me feeling uneasy.

Especially because this man is registering to vote!!

The other people were great and expressed a lot of happiness in being able to vote in this election. They were afraid that if they moved before election day then they wouldn't be able to vote, but we were told that they could return to the district of where they registered or whatever.

Anyway, it was a really great time and I definitely saw the merit. This week we're going to a Fair Trade coffee shop. I'll let Ryan or one of the other volunteers blog about that one!!

--Sal

P.S. Here's an interesting chart about each state's policies on homeless voting.

http://www.veteransparty.us/homeless.htm

St. Catherine Laboure Medical Clinic

Hey hey!

So this morning I went to St. Catherine's. When I got there, the physician's assistant and the doctor were waiting to greet me and tell me how happy they were. They told me that another student who used to volunteer there weekly from St. Joe's had found out that the "regular" volunteer (an older woman with a normal schedule) would be out on Monday. Without volunteers, it is very difficult for the clinic to run smoothly, so this student went to the clinic on Monday morning just to lend a helping hand. The doctor who founded the clinic is actually a St. Joe's grad and therefore knows how awesome our university is, but the P.A. could not stop singing the praises of SJU volunteers. She said we are far more committed and passionate than any of the volunteers she has had from Penn, Nova, Lasalle, etc. It was quite the compliment! And to continue boosting my ego, they asked me to help double check the patient finances this year. I have been volunteering there for two years and they are veryyy picky about who handles money, so I felt really honored that they trust me so much!

After all of this, I spent a long time copying a patient's chart. I was also able to get a few patients set up in rooms (aka take blood pressure and weight and then chat about life a bit) and to talk to a representative from Campus Philly who is trying to get people from the clinic to speak at a volunteer fair about the importance of public health.

I'm super excited because this Saturday I'll be going to a Presbyterian church with some people from St. Catherine's to run a blood pressure clinic. For some reason, people tend to love chatting when they have blood pressure cuffs on, and I always have the most interesting conversations while doing that! :)

<3 Carla

Honest to Blog?

Hey everybody!

Sal here, and if you are an SJU volunteer, then

I
WANT
YOU

to blog about your experiences doing service!
Did you take any pictures?
Did you meet someone new?

I know that you're probably saying "WOW! Look at Campus Ministry--they are sooooo 21st century! It's totally modern!"

Tell your fellow students how it's going, what challenges you face doing service, and how you see Ignatian values being lived out at your service site.

I know that I will be updating here as well, but if you are reading this and you are interested in blogging, send an e-mail to

SJUWeeklyServiceBlog@gmail.com

and we'll set you up with the password and username so you can blog too!