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.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
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.
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.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
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).
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).
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
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.
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.
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