2009 Toy Give-a-Away

What a long last work week of 2009. I typically only work Monday through Thursday, which leaves Friday as a community day. This past week DICP held its annual Toy Give-a-Away on Friday December 18th. Since it is our big Christmas event it meant that we would need quite a few volunteers and to top off all of that the guy who usually runs it broke his leg about three week ago. Needless to says this means I worked Friday, as planned but was trying to figure things out on the fly. Now don't get me wrong all of our staff was around doing what they usually do for the event but it was very crazy for me with it being my first time at the event. Here’s a recap of the day:

Once Friday rolled around I woke up bright and early (6am) and headed down to the parish to make sure everything was in order. Upon my arrival I looked around the corner to find over 100 people waiting in line for their tickets. The first person in line had arrived at 6pm the night before making sure to get the best spot. So the way the day works, people line up and beginning at 7am one of our staff begin to hand out tickets to those in line. The calling of the tickets started at 9am starting with the first ticket and person and ending with the last, whose ticket number was in the 400’s. (Very clever I know.) In order for the families to get tickets they have to have legal documentation for each child and each child only gets one gift each. So the grandma and the parent can't come and get gifts for the same children. The day began very smoothly, all of our volunteer elves showed up and the seniors program had the coffee and food ready to go. Now our volunteers elves help our ticket holders find gifts for their children. Before they can come back to pick gifts, two of our staff members call out ticket numbers and fill out a slip for the guardian/ parent that shows how many kids, which gender and age of each child that the guardian will “shop” for. Once that is filled out an elf brings the guardian back and helps them find gifts for each child on their slip.

On Friday December 18th the Denver Inner City Parish served over 400 families and had collected 3,700 toys. In a year when even Toys for Tots is down in total toys collected, it is truly amazing to say that I was part of an agency that was able to make a difference for so many children and families at one of my favorite times of year.

Tugs at the heart strings

So while I grew up it took many years to talk my dad into letting us adopt cats and eventually we moved on to dogs. Man I love my dogs and I really miss them.

One thing I have noticed since I moved to Denver is the amount of stray dogs just wandering the streets. It reminds me of being in Lima, Peru, an international city. I have no idea why there are so many here in Denver but every time I see one it pulls at my heart strings. Like a month ago when I was out walking with Meghan and we saw one almost get hit by a car in the middle of the street, or today while I was waiting for the bus for work and there was one limping around like one of its back legs was hurt. Every time I see one, doesn't matter the size or how matted their fur is, I just want to take them in and give them a hug and a bath. I guess it bothers me so much because you don't think about it being a problem here in the US.

Favorite time of year

So as Christmas draws near I can't help from feeling far from home. I have settled in very nicely here in Denver and the housemates and I even bought a fake Christmas tree and some ornaments to liven up the place but it can't quite fill the gap of the traditions from home. This is my favorite time of year, all of the anticipation, the decorating, the family time and knowing what to expect. For the first time ever I wasn't home for Thanksgiving and realized that I was going to miss spending Advent Sundays at my home church of Broadstreet.

It was just yesterday during our community day that we were talking about the fact that advent hasn't always been a celebration. For a long time it was a somber time of year, a time of anticipation and uncertainty and I feel like I can connect to that. Although I am thankful for everyone here who has made this feel like a second home, it can't replace almost 25 years of tradition. I come home in just over one week and can't wait! I know that my excitement is shared by those I love who are waiting for my return but I also know how hard my transition will be when its time to say goodbye and return to my new home. I look forward to seeing all you back home and know that when I return Denver it will be to the open and welcoming arms of the new traditions and additions to my life.

So for loved ones near and far, friends new and old I wish you Happy Holidays and thank you for all of your support. Here is a toast to fond memories and new traditions waiting to be made. All my love during my favorite time of year.

Food Shortage...

This week at DICP I witnessed our food bank run dry for the first time since I have been here. On Wednesday we served 120 families, with our normal Wednesday average being 30-40 this was almost triple our average. I was amazed by this number but entirely shocked.

Over the last few weeks I have been noticing an increase in the amount of people using the food bank, many of whom have cars. I attributed the increase to the holiday season, but when I mentioned my observation to our food bank manager he had an interesting explantion which I had never thought of. He told me that as many costs rise and people try to pay their bills they are more likely to use food banks, knowing that they can at least feed their family for free for a couple of days, alleviating some of the stress in their lives. So they may have a car and a place to live and to many of us they seem like people that we work with every day but in many ways are living pay check to pay check.

After serving 120 families in one day all I could think, was " I am glad that could help that many people in one day but what will we do when people show up Thursday and Friday?" As I was leaving work Thursday our building supervisor was unloading a truck and trailer full of donated food. Someone had taken care of our problem.



I found a great article talking about many issues of dealing with hunger within our country. (http://feedingamerica.org/newsroom/press-release-archive/49-million-at-risk.aspx) Check out the Feeding America website for more information.

Finding Comfort

So I have been trying to find verses that are comforting no matter what is going on. Here is one I really like.

"So do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will bring worries of it own. Today's trouble is enough for today."
        Matthew 6:34 *NRSV

I would love to learn some that you find comfort from.

Reflection on Two Months as a YAV

So I have been trying to figure how to really explain my experience as a YAV so far. Whenever I talk to people they are asking, "How is Denver?" "How are you doing?" "Tell me about your job." Of course my first response is "Everything is great!" Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying everything here and by no means feel like I made a mistake by deciding to become a YAV but there are certain things that I never expected to encounter. I have been spending some time this week trying to reflect on my time here so far and figure out how to use the challenges of the last two months to enhance the next two months.

Here are some of things that I have been enjoying so far:
~weekly running clubs
~Friday community days
~laundry and grocery trips with the roomies on Friday nights
~building relationships with the staff at the parish
~finding a church home at Central Presbyterian downtown
~Racine's California Chicken Sandwich (grilled chicken, 2 strips of bacon, avocados, tomatoes and spicy mayo)
~reading time on the light rail
~almost daily viewings of the mountains (as long as its clear)
~snow in October
~online tv reruns
~bread runs with Adrianne
~finding friends
~joining an indoor soccer team
~making room to recognize God's presence daily

I have been spending sometime today reading my fellow YAVer's blogs and it has been reassuring. We may not all be going through the same things but it seems that we are all going through something and are still positive and excited about our experiences.

As of Friday it will be seven weeks until Christmas and that means on Monday I will have been here for nine weeks.

Children at Church

So tonight was my first "children's worship" session. The parish holds bi-monthly worship services for the community and serves dinner afterward. So when I was asked to work with the parish full-time back in September, one of the things they added to my job description was starting, planning and leading a children's worship time to coincide with regular worship.

When I was asked to take on this "new" program I was a little apprehensive but figured "What the heck? I have taught Sunday School, I will be fine." At first I had no idea where to even start. I asked Barb, back at BSPC (the Christian Education Director), for a few suggestions and she gave me some great ideas but I quickly realized that I had no budget. I also knew I wasn't going to have much freedom to follow a pre-made curriculum. Essentially I wasn't going to have Barb hand me a packet with all of the scriptures and activities for the fall classes. I also realized that I really had no idea how many or what age of kids I would even have show up.

All of these things seemed to be important and once again left me with an uneasiness in the pit of my stomach. As I began to look for free resources, one fell into my lap. I was talking to one of the parish pastors and she mentioned the Parish Resource Center. The Parish Resource Center is run out of the basement of a Presbyterian church and if your agency is a member you have access to all sorts of religious resources. This is a service that DICP is a member of and I gained access to all sorts of curriculum, activity books, music, movies, and games. Even though it took me three buses and an hour to get there I was excited to find something that enabled me to use more than the free online coloring pages that I had found.

So tonight was my big night to shine. I had been planning for two weeks what we would do. Per request of the head pastor I made an outline for the night and began to prepare the wonderful activities I had put together. Two women who participate in the worship service volunteered to help out and so I knew my night would be great. I mean what could go wrong; I had my outline, my letters cut for human scrabble and the "plant your seed" activity all ready. I obviously had no idea what I was getting myself into because 5:15pm rolled around and 10 kids came down the steps screaming and my two volunteers hadn't shown up.

Needless to say the night got better and after making name tags and reading Mark 4:26-29 we started to learn "This Little Light of Mine.” Before I knew it, it was time for the kids to join their parents for the end of the service and dinner. I know now that I am going to have to recruit another one or two volunteers to help out. (One of the two did show up.) I also learned that I can't handle 10 children from the ages 2-13 all by myself.

Although we didn't make it through everything I had planned I think it went pretty well and I am looking forward to our next worship time together. We will be celebrating Dia De Los Muertos and building alters.

Long Over Due Update

Since its been a while since I have updated everyone with what is going on here in Denver, I thought I would share a little bit more about the Denver Inner City Parish with all of you.

With my primary job description being the volunteer coordinator I have been spending a lot of my time trying to not only learn about DICP history but also about all of the programs that they offer to the community on the west side of Denver. Here is a basic overview of the parish:

“The Denver Inner City Parish is a nondenominational, non-profit agency dedicated for the past four decades to serving the secular and spiritual needs of West Denver's low-income community. We offer a "familia" model of support that provides holistic, "wrap-around" educational and human services, all of which help develop self-sufficiency for people of all ages.”

Currently DICP offers 11 programs (Seniors, ReNew, the Emergency Food Bank, La Academia, Night School, Puentes (Bridges), Afterschool Programs, Summer Day Camp, Summer Meal Program, Young Fathers, Worship) and does it with only about 20 people on staff. Although this means I have a lot to learn and I am sure I will face many challenges along the way I am excited about the work I have been called to do.

Seniors: The Parish Seniors program works to enhance the health, social well-being and quality of life for West Denver residents 55 years and older.

ReNew: “Project ReNew provides reintegration programs for those returning to Denver from the Department of Corrections. We work to reduce community crime by rebuilding the lives of individuals who have previously made poor choices.”

Emergency Food Bank: “The Emergency Food Bank at the Denver Inner City Parish is our longest running program and serves a strong need in the community. The clients who use our food bank range from low-income working families to homeless individuals. This past year, we have served over 1,700 different families.”

La Academia: “La Academia at the Denver Inner City Parish is a private, non-profit school located in West Denver serving 80 ninth through twelfth grade low-income students. Founded in 1971, La Academia has addressed the educational and social needs of at-risk youth..”

Night School: “Our Adult Night School assists an additional 20 students who earn their high school diploma or prepare for the G.E.D. test.”

Afterschool Program: “The Afterschool Program is relatively new and is run by the same staff member as the day camp. Many of the objectives and goals are similar to the day camp program. This program is also geared toward boys and girls ages 6-11 and pulls mainly from the elementary and middle school within close proximity to La Academia.”

Young Fathers: This program is to help young men from the ages 16-24 to learn the skills of fatherhood. It focuses on teaching how to create strong relationship between father and child and provides them with many resources that they may never have known existed.

Worship: “The Parish holds ecumenical worship services twice each month, several of which are bilingual.” For many community members this is the only service they can attend on a regular basis.
One aspect that has begun since I have started my work here is creating a Children’s Educational hour, which I will be leading up with the help of our two pastors.

I know that this is a lot of information but isn’t it amazing to see how much the DICP provides within the west side community?

I’m not sure that even a brief description of the programs does DICP justice in the work that they do in their community and as you can imagine trying to find my way within this great agency has been a challenge. I have been spending the last month meeting with our program directors as well as finding Volunteer Coordinators at other non-for-profit agencies within the city to meet and consult with. So far I have met with three wonderful women who have proven to be great resources and provided me with all sorts of reading materials and websites to look at. All of their input and advice has been a Godsend but in many ways has provided me with too much information. I have slowly been able to sift through the many resources and have found a starting point. I have made a list of things that will need to be done and am not sure of the order in which they need to be done right now but trust it will become clear as I continue muddle through.

It is these programs and the staff that run them is what makes me leave in a state of awe everyday. I know that God has brought me here to help and trust that not only will he give me patience when I worry about things I can not change but that he will also provide the strength to get me through.


If you would like any more information about any of these programs please feel to get in touch with me or check out the website (http://dicp.org/index.html).

Craziness

Sorry for the long period without an update, things have been a bit crazy over the last two weeks. For those of you who don't know, right about the time I found the YAV program I was also asked to take on a leadership role for the professional fraternity that I joined in college. Since March I have been serving as the national Leadership Conference Director, which basically means I have been in charge of my making sure every little detail is planned and executed to make the best event possible for the 70 or so people that will be in attendance. I knew when I accepted the nomination that the big push for this event would coincide with the first month of my placement here in Denver. In some ways I knew it was going to be rough but I have to admit that it hasn't been as bad as it could have been. I have a great group of committee members and the host chapter at NJIT in Newark, New Jersey has been great!

So now the planning is done, I finished all the final paperwork and now I get to relax and enjoy it. I fly to Newark on Wednesday and get to see a bunch of great friends for three days. Keep me in your prayers for a smooth weekend ahead.

My Job... (a brief introduction with much more to come)

So my agency placement took quite a while to find and to be honest I wasn't really sure that it was going to be a good fit for me. It took me less than one day to realize that I am where God intended for me to be. It has now been almost two and a half weeks since I have started at the Denver Inner City Parish (DICP or the parish) and every day I am grateful and excited about the work that I will be doing over the next year.

The basic overview of my job is pretty easy to explain. I am going to be the Volunteer Coordinator for the parish. It sounds pretty straight forward and in a lot of ways it is, until I add in that this is something that over the 50 years of the DICP's existence they have never had. That being said, they have used volunteers throughout that time period and at least have a pool of people to draw from. Maybe that makes my job easier, maybe it doesn't.

I also got some very exciting news last week, my placement with the parish started out as part-time  and last week they asked me if I would be willing to take it on as my full-time placement for the year. It was so great and an answer to one of the things I had been praying about quite a bit.

Just today I had another one answered.

As a part of my up in hours, comes an adjustment in duties. Starting today I will begin developing a children's program for the DICP's worship service, which meets every other week. I really wanted to work with children in some capacity this year. I just felt that after teaching Sunday school last year that it was something that I really enjoyed. If you team that up with my goal to become reacquainted with the many Bible stories that you learn as a kid I have found my outlet.  There are quite a few children that attend the services and like most kids they get antsy when they have to sit too long. Steve, the DICP pastor has asked for me to take on working with the kids, teaching Bible stories and completing crafts. I know it will be a lot of work but in many ways it is what I was really looking for during this year and I didn't have to look very hard, it just fell into my lap.

God really is great.

Great Day!

 Monday-Sept. 14th

So I will be writing more later this week as I work on my newsletter for the Broadstreeter but I wanted to let everyone know that I had a great day today.

I had my first two meetings with two of our program directors at the parish. (I will go more into the programs provided later.) During my meetings I learned more about the history of the programs as well as the services they offer. I also began the conversations about volunteers and how they are currently being used and how the directors could see them being used in the future. I got great feedback from both and am feeling great about my placement. I really feel like this is where I am suppose to be and is the work I am suppose to be doing.

I can't wait to meet with the rest of the program directors and follow other volunteer coordinators at other agencies. I am extremely excited to begin this next phase of my life. Its almost indescribable how right I feel and have felt all day.

I just want to thank you to all who have been supporting me and thank God for leading me to this place. I can't wait to share the coming experiences with you.

Week in Review

So there is a lot to catch up on and its hard to believe that I have already been away from home for two weeks. It feels like I have been in Denver for at least a month. I am going to try to keep my review short but I apologize if it gets long, like I said there is a lot to cover.

Monday-August 31st
   We left Stony Point at 7am by bus for a short ride to La Guardia, at least shorter ride than the way to Stony Point. After a short flight to Baltimore and a lot of good-byes to new friends, Rachel and I grabbed a bite to eat and found our flight to Denver. Once arriving in Denver we found our luggage, Molly (our site coordinator) and our other house mate (Meghan). During our ride to our new house we found that we would be the first tenants in our four bed room duplex. After dinner, tacos Molly-style, we took a brief walk through our neighborhood, began to unpack and get to know one another.

Tuesday
    Tuesday morning we woke for devotionals and what turned into a long day learning our way around the city. After a tour of the Gathering Place (www.the-gatheringplace.org), Rachel's agency, we picked up our month long public transit passes and began the downtown tour. We ate lunch at the original Rock Bottom Brewery on the 16th Street Mall, wandered through the State Building (making a stop in the cupola to take in the views of the city no mountains though), admired the beauty of the Brown Palace Hotel and located the Art Museum, YMCA and downtown Library. Molly showed us the location of the DOOR (http://www.doornetwork.org/) office and the two buildings that make up the Denver Inner City Parish (www.dicp.org), my agency. That night we learned how to make our own calzones with a homemade dough recipe of Molly's.

   Side note: For the first three-ish days we could not see the mountains because of the fires in California but we relished in the fact that although we walked around the city in 90 degree weather for several hours we didn't sweat much at all.

Wednesday 
    We stayed in for the morning and early afternoon to get paperwork taken care of and to spend some time getting to know more about each other. During an afternoon trip to Walmart we found window treatments for all of the rooms in the house as well as trashcans. (Crazy the things you take for granted.) After home-made spaghetti sauce and pasta we headed downtown once again to watch a great Rockies game (they won!) and to see the mountains for the first time. We also had our first experience with "Denver weather." They say, if you don't like the weather wait 10 minutes and it will change.

Thursday
     In the morning Molly took us on a driving tour showing us where all of our local "resources" were. Then we had members of the Denver DOOR Board and people from our agencies come over for lunch. It was a great way to meet all of the people who have been awaiting our arrival. After lunch we took naps and discussed more paperwork items and then had the special treat of "Little India" for dinner, which is Molly's favorite Indian restaurant in town.  

Friday
    We took some time to talk about reflection and self care and then got a tour of Meghan's agency, Metro CareRing (www.metrocarering.org). That afternoon we had a plumber show-up to take a look at our shower, which was acting more like bathtub. That evening my roommates and I took our first solo bus ride to go and enjoy the Taste of Colorado Festival.

 

  

  

Saturday

    We awoke to find out that not only had our shower not been fixed the day before but that we were going to have to evacuate our house for the entire day while they fixed it. My roommates indulged me by allowing me to find a place to watch the first OSU game of the year. Not only did we find some place but we found the meca of places, the alumni sponsored OSU bar in Denver. I was able to watch the majority of the second half and entertain my roommates with my antics at the same time.

     

Side-note: The Penn State sponsored bar was located in the basement of the same building, making for a convient location for me, the OSU lover and Rachel, the PSU fan.

After the game ended and OSU won in their typical fashion we headed to the Tattered Cover, a local bookshop and then back down Taste for more of the previous day's entertainment. 

Sunday

    We met Molly for church and spent the day lounging preparing for our first hike in the mountains. Rachel's parents took us out to dinner during their brief stop on their way out to California and we got to act as the tour guides. Strange feeling considering we hadn't even lived here for a week yet. We showed them a wonderful time, allowing them to experience the wonderful public transportation system and a new pizza joint. They enjoyed wandering the 16th street mall as much as we still do.

Monday- September 7th

     Waking up at 7am to be out the door at 7:30 is amazingly easy when you know you are going to the Rocky Mountains. We spent the whole day either traveling to/from or climbing around Rocky Mountain National Park. It was a bit crowded but it was easy to over look because of the beauty. On our way back we saw some Elk and stopped in Estes Park for ice cream. I am going to let the pictures below tell you more about our 7+ mile hike.

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

 

A little request...

I wanted to update you a bit about what is going on. We are all having a great time here in Stony Point and in all there are just under 70 YAV's who are getting ready to go out to our sites across the country and the globe. We have been learning about a variety of topics from Globalization to Race and Gender and everything in between. It has been a great week, with a lot of information and has helped all of us create another community to receive support from as we begin this journey.

I am writing this morning to ask that you keep us in your prayers as we all depart on Monday and head to the communities in which we will be serving for the next year.

Exciting News!!

Just an update the Denver site finally has a house!! We will be just north of the city...more details to come!

What I'm doing...

So I realized that I haven't really written anything about what journey I am beginning. Here is a copy of my Minute for Mission that I gave at my church. Hopefully this will clear up any questions you might have about this next phase of my life.

My name is Hilary Engelhart. I am here today to talk to you about an opportunity I’m about to embark on offered through the Presbyterian Church (USA). Before I go into the details of this opportunity it is important for you to know a little bit more about me. I was born and raised here in Columbus and grew up within the walls of this church. Growing up I was involved in all sorts of activities, but being an active member of the church as a youth was one of the most life transforming experiences to date. As a child I participated in children’s camp, was a member of the children’s choir and a member of the fellowship groups. These childhood activities later transformed into counselor positions, youth retreats and being a yearly member of mission trips. I am not sure that I could tell you the number of events that I participated in but it was the mission trips that really changed how I looked at the world. I traveled to Allentown, PA several times as jr. high and as a sr. high was part of Peru Crew 1 and 2 as well as traveling to rural West Virginia for a trip or two. Despite all of this, it wasn’t until I went away to college that I realized the impact these activities had left on my life.

I graduated in 2008 from the University of Cincinnati and in the months since then, while pursuing my career, I have been pulled in another direction, one that goes back to my roots, one to help those in need. I can look back over the last year and see the signs that have brought me to where I am today. It started with an interest in working with the children of Broadstreet by teaching 2nd and 3rd graders and working with that fellowship group. The second piece of the puzzle happened one Sunday morning in lent during a sermon about “throwing deep.” I left church that day with a feeling that I had something more to give. After looking into ways to get involved in mission trip like programs, I found the Young Adult Volunteer program offered through P.C. (USA).

With the support of Broadstreet’s session and the congregation, I was accepted as a YAV, or Young Adult Volunteer. This program was created by the General Assembly in 1994 with the idea to provide opportunities for “young adults between the ages of 19-30 to share their gifts” with those in need. For the next 11 months I will live in an “intentional community of learning and service with a focus on my faith and faith as it exists within the global church.”

In May, I found my placement with the Denver site and since then have been working with my site coordinator to find the agencies in which I will work with for the next 11 months. One of those will be the Denver Inner City Parrish, where I will be working as a Volunteer Coordinator and setting up their Volunteer Database. I will be leaving on August 24th for a week of orientation and training and then heading to Denver with two other YAVs to begin our work there.

I want to thank everyone for their support. I know that without all of you, and the experiences I was able to take part in here at Broadstreet, that I would never have been able to begin this journey.

Last Day in Columbus

So today is the last full day that I will be in Columbus for several months. I went to church this morning to say good-bye to Ann and Amy and then hurried home to help prepare for the large going away party this afternoon.

Yesterday we spent the day cooking, cleaning and I did the last of the laundry and packing for the trip. Today we had family and neighbors and some great friends stop by to help send me off in the only way my family knows how to, with a big bang!

I had a great time playing croquet, learning about crazy people jumping out of hospital windows, how to catch, skin, kill and fillet a fish and just enjoying the company. In some ways I can't believe that I am leaving tomorrow. Once I get out to New York the pictures will commence and hopefully so will the posting of them.

Thank you to everyone for your well wishes and I hope that you will all enjoy reading this blog about my YAV year.

Less than a month

So this week I found out more about the second girl, Meghan. So many Meghan's in my life. The three of us have been emailing in back a forth some and I think that we all are very excited to start this new phase of our lives. I am going to be the oldest member of our house, which I expected but isn't a bad thing.

I have also found out that one of the two organizations that I will be working with is the Denver Inner City Parrish. I will be a volunteer coordinator for them and will be helping to setup a volunteer database for them.

I guess that is all for now. I will sending out a first round of thank-you notes today because at this point I am a quarter of the way to my fundraising goal. Thank you to all who have contributed so far.

Still the beginning...

So I don't know which organizations I am going to be volunteering with but I have finally been introduced to one of the girls that I will be living with. Her name is Rachel and ironically she is from Cincinnati. Its such a small world. I guess we will have plenty to talk about. (I hope that the other girl doesn't feel left.)