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Presbyterian Church (USA)
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Engaging young adults in transformative mission to inspire a lifetime of caring.
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Fall reflections from our volunteers
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Volunteer:
Erin Tolar
Home City:
Bloomington, IN
Partner Organization:
Green Opportunities
(from Erin's 11/10 blog post)
I sat down with a YouthBuild student I work with at Green Opportunities about a month ago. At one point, she asked for a ride home. I told her I didn’t have a car, and reminded her that she could catch the bus like I do. “Really?” she looked at me skeptically. “You seem like the type of person who has a car.” After further questioning, I admitted that I do own a car, and would have access to it again next year. She looked directly at me, frustrated, and said, “This isn’t a game for me. I’ve been riding the bus my whole life, and I’m just not going to do it.” “This isn’t a game for me.” Those words shook me to my core. This interaction told me that I need to put a lot more thought into how to frame this year for the students I’m working with. If they believe that I think this is a game, then I have failed them. I must learn how to verbally position myself not as a (white) savior, or as someone using them as a stepping stone in my own life.
Read the rest of Erin's blog post here
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Volunteer: Sarah Potter
Home City:
Pensacola, FL
Partner Organization:
Youth OUTright
(from Sarah's 10/6 blog post)
So today I want to talk about where we live. The Young Adult Volunteers at the Asheville site have the privilege of living at the Brooks-Howell retirement community. Brooks-Howell is was founded in 1975 by the United Methodist Women for retired deaconesses and missionaries. Their mission lines up with our mission, and so they were excited to have young people around to be involved and befriend the residents. The six of us volunteers live in two, 2-bedroom apartments. Whenever we're not working at our non-profits, we work with the residents about 5 hours a week. We attend Sunday school every Saturday and we are welcome to do activities with them if our free time allows. These residents are impressive. They were missionaries. They traveled the world, spreading the word of God. They know what we are going through; adapting to a new community, job, and simple living. At the end of the week, it's hard to keep working. We're exhausted from our nonprofits and it's hard to see the long term of what we're doing. But yesterday reminded me why its worth it. In the afternoon, another volunteer and I were downstairs in one of the open areas talking to a resident while we colored and she was watching the baseball game. A CNA rolled up one of the residents who is elderly, non verbal and in and out of the present. She looked up at me from her chair, reached over and held my hand. She soon switched hands and grabbed my other hand, so we were both holding each others hands. She then lifted up our right hands to her face, "kissed" my hand, and then put them up to her cheek to prop her head up. She leaned toward me. I laid my head on top of hers. We sat there like that for about 30 minutes.
Read more of Sarah's post here
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Volunteer: Katie Jenkins
Home City:
Mason City, IL
Partner Organization:
Homeward Bound -
[Welcome Home Project]
(from Katie's 9/17 blog post)
I have felt so fortunate this week to have been placed (whether strategic or divine) at the “Welcome Home Project” of Homeward Bound. By meeting people where they are and accepting the challenges they carry with them, Homeward Bound invites people into a community that gives them the support they need. As I have spent some of my time orienting to the vast services Homeward Bound provides, I have been in awe with the acceptance and understanding each case manager and staff member gives to their clients. Time and time again, I have heard that the problem in being homeless is that you live in a fish bowl where alone time is never an option. The homeless population does not have any doors to hide behind when it comes to expressing emotions or engaging in self destructive habits. This week especially, I have been forced to see the privilege that I carry. As a young adult, I have a wide family of relatives, faith members, friends, and colleagues. Without my support system, I could easily be on the streets. I am among the other 70% of Americans that are TWO PAYCHECKS away from becoming homeless. A reality that many people fear to acknowledge.
Want to read more of Katie's story? Click here!
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Volunteer:
Klari Farzley
Home City:
Little Rock, AR
Partner Organization:
Asheville Poverty Initiative -
[12 Baskets Cafe']
(from Klari's 9/12 blog post)
My first week here coincided with some tension that has been bubbling up around this non-profit and three other organizations that share space at 610 Haywood Road. Even though 12 Baskets Cafe is classified as a community center, the city of Asheville has recently attempted to pursue a case against the cafe (and the others) on the grounds that it is a shelter in a location that is not zoned for shelters. Thankfully, this case was revoked a few days ago. But the fate of two other organizations that share the space, Steady Collective and Firestorm Bookstore, are still uncertain. Steady collective is a needle collection organization, which also distributes clean syringes, naloxene (used to reverse fatal opioid overdose), education materials etc. Their needle access services occur at Firestorm for 2.5 hours/week, a location that was specifically chosen based on local data demonstrating high rates of injectable drug use in the neighborhood. Today I attended my first meeting with Community Organizers. “We’re not saying you are a shelter, but you function more like you are a shelter” Apparently, this is something that was actually said to the person who runs Steady Collective in their meetings with city lawyers. Even more troubling: “It’s not what you do, it’s who you do it for.” The reason for the uproar surrounding all four of these organizations is complex, but I believe this is the heart of the problem. It is a fear-based rejection of the people they “do it for”: The homeless, the addicts, the mentally ill, the people that have been turned away by society. God says “truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for the least of these, you did not do for me.”
Find Klari's full blog here
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Volunteer:
Azing Chin
Home City:
Princeton, NJ
Partner Organization:
YWCA - [Stand Against Racism]
(from Azing's 9/17 blog post)
I am working with the YWCA in Asheville as the Community Engagement Assistant and I absolutely love it! The YWCA’s mission is “Eliminating Racism and Empowering Women,” and I get to work with some amazing people to work towards this mission. It is a great learning experience for me and I got so lucky because everyone embraced me with open arms and are willing to teach me. But more than that, I feel like I am doing work that matters. I get to reach out to volunteers and I also get to become a co facilitator for Racial Justice Workshop, teaching people at the YWCA and also other people in the community about the history of Asheville and the ways in which racism affects everyone. I find such great joy in seeing white, older men come to these workshops and spaces, hoping to learn the language and tools to educate themselves and bring it to their friends and families for the future. No matter what your background is, no one is ever too old to learn or to make reconciliation; it is never too late.
Want to hear more about Azing's journey? Click here
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Volunteer: Brittany Heun
Home City:
Caldwell, NJ
Partner Organization:
Homeward Bound -
[AHope Day Center]
(from Brittany's 11/4 blog post)
Last night and this morning I had the privilege to volunteer for a mobile shelter that rotates around some of the faith communities in Asheville. This program is called Room in The Inn (RITI), and is women’s shelter that operates out of Homeward Bound and A HOPE. This program houses about 12 women who start their evening with shelter at A HOPE, after it closes for the day, and then they get transported to the faith community that is hosting them for the week. This week, the church I’ve been attending, Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church, was hosting them. I decided that I wanted to sign up for an overnight shift and see what it was like to volunteer for this program I’ve heard so much about. I wanted to experience the program outside of a work lens. The volunteer slot that I signed up for started Saturday at 6pm and ended Sunday at 7am. It was very nice spending time with the host women and with the RITI women. I learned a lot from listening to their thoughts and opinions on the world around us. I realize that this time of year has been very tense time with the elections. Everyone has their different views and opinions, but it was great to see a group of women of varying ages all connected by common interest. We were able to have a constructive conversation where everyone could be heard and valued. It was refreshing to have a conversation like this, as I have not had to much experience with this is larger group setting very often. Many of the other volunteers were astounded that someone who was doing a volunteer year, would take the time out to volunteer some more! I thought it was a great night, and I’m glad I took the time to help out and learn more about the program first hand.
Interested in learning more about Brittany's year? Click here!
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Monday, January 14
5:30-7:30 PM
HFA Friend-Raising Event
A Night of Music & Stories
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Consider Hands and Feet of Asheville on #GivingTuesday
If you are interested in supporting the volunteers who serve the city of Asheville, please consider us on
#GivingTuesday
! You can give via our
website
or by using the PayPal button below. Thank you!
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