A little reflection on my experience with Catholic Charities

From my journal dated 5/24/11

As I drove around the Southside of Chicago today doing my home visits, I reflected upon who I am, who I have become and the people who have shaped my experience here in Chicago.  My clients and coworkers and Catholic Charities have definitly been influential to me in more ways than one.  They have opened my eyes to the community of Roseland and the surrounding areas while taching me how to be faithful and thankful for the things I have in my life.


There are so many different experiences I can write about with different clients but since this one happened today, I'm going to talk about it. Every time I go to a home visits, I go from house to house and each one can be completely differenty.  One can have little to no furniture while the other can be a fully furnished house.  Today was no different.  Each house I went to in Altgeld Gardens, Calumet City, Riverdale, and Chicago, they were all different.  This year I have learned more about the Southside and the neighborhoods than I would have ever imagined.  I have been in some of the best houses and worst houses; I have been in some great neighborhoods and not so great neighborhoods. Don't worry Mom I am always careful.  God has protected me through all of my travels and I have never felt threatened while I am doing my job. 


After I left work, I dropped off bus cards to a pregnant client who needed them to go to the hospital for stomach pains.  As I left, I said, "have a nice night" to the people standing outside my client's house.  When I was walking to my car I thought to myself if this would be true.  They said "you too" in response but did they really think they were going to have a good night or was it just something to say? Then I thought to myself, I;m getting in my car, driving home to my house in Beverly to then go to a dinner at the Knibbs house down the street.  We have plenty of other nice dinners to go to in the next couple of weeks but these residents of Altgeld Gardnes probably won't be doing the same thing.  It's sad to be able to drive away from somewhere and know that where you are going is completely different from where you are leaving from.  As I drove away I turned off the radio and prayer...

Dear God, Please keep the community of Altgeld Gardens safe tonight.  Blem them with your presense always but especially tonight.  Please keep them free from abuse, crime, drugs, and violence.  Allow them to have a night free of all this.  Bless them with your love, safety and guidance.  In Your name I pray, Amen.

Thankfully I did not hear anything about something happening in Altgeld Gardens that night but sadly that complex has a lot of crime and situations other nights.  It's hard for me to drive the 15 minutes from east to west at the end of the day to home and realize where all my client's are spending the night.  Are they in a safe place? Are the babies sleeping in their cribs? Is someone sleeping in a shelter? Sadly this uncertaintly is the "lifestyle" of the Southside neighborhoods and most of my clients.  Each day I come home thinking about a client or clients who I have saw that day or caught my attention in some way.  Catholic Charities has opened my eyes to so much and I thank the staff and program for allowing me to grow.  I thank my clients for allowing me into their lives to help them and listen to them.  I thank my roommates for being there to listen to a crazy story of the day. I thank God for guiding me through this year and lifting me up when I was down.  Thank you to everyone who has inspired me this year and who will continue to inspire me for the rest of my time in Chicago.

Chicago Fact:  Altgeld Gardens is a housing project located in the Riverdale Community Area of Chicago, Illinois, USA. The residents are 97% African American according to the 2000 US Census.^[1] Built in 1945 with 1,498 units, the development consists primarily of two-story row houses spread over 190 acres (0.77 km²). It was built to satisfy the need for African American veterans returning from World War II and was originally owned by the federal government, but was granted to the Chicago Housing Authority in 1956.  (cited from Wikipedia)

AV website blog post from February

                                                Cause you gotta have faith…

Faith. This small word is a three dimensional figure that was given to me by a family friend before I came to orientation for this AV year. It now sits on my nightstand beside my bed on top of my journal so every morning and every night I see it. Coming into this year of service, I knew that my faith life and spirituality were present but I never knew how much it could grow during my year of service. Over the past five months, my spirituality is something that I am very proud of and live each day by with a deeper level than ever before. One of the ways that my faith life is grown is through prayer. Every morning as I sit down at my desk to start my job, I pray a prayer that was left for me by past volunteers. Each day I do this I am reminded of why I am here and who I am serving: God, my community, my clients, and myself. Faith has become a defining factor of who I am and how I live my life as an Augustinian Volunteer.

Working at a Catholic organization and being part of a Catholic based volunteer program has been both a challenge and a blessing for me. Merrimack College taught me the ways of Augustine and reminded us to live our lives for other people and for God. Community was a word that you couldn’t go a day without hearing and my life now is no different. The community of Catholic Charities is extremely diverse, welcoming, and spiritual. My coworkers have taught me what it means to be faithful and how to live a life that is devoted to praising God and everyone around us. Ms. Tyson, the Case Manager that sits in the cubicle behind me,
always says that she is blessed to her client’s on the phone which always made me smile but until a couple weeks ago, I was never able to fully understand it and live by it. Ms. Parker is another Case Manager that sits near me and is always listening to Inspirational 1390 radio as she works and helps clients. Both of these coworkers have showed me how powerful faith can be and how it can be a part of our everyday life through the smallest of words and actions. One of my favorite memories of this year was when I went to a home visit before Christmas to visit a client and her daughter and give them Christmas presents for the family. As I walked into the door with a big black bag filled with Christmas goodies, I was greeted by two little boys who ran up to me, stopped because they didn’t recognize me, but then walk right at my feet into the living
room. Throughout the whole conversation the boys were watching me and “showing off” by jumping around the room. After my client told them to stop, they sat on the couch patiently waiting for our conversation to be over. Right before I was about to leave the house, the little boy asked, “What’s in the bag?” I said, “Presents for you, from Santa.” With huge eyes, he asked, “You know Santa??” My client then said, “Yes she does. He was at her work and gave her the gifts to bring to us.” Then the little boy ran over and gave me a big hug saying, “Thank you! Thank you!” The other little boy came over and did the same thing while Mom just sat there and smiled. As I was walking towards the door to leave, the boys waved and hugged me goodbye as if I was the lost family member they never knew. I then told my client Merry Christmas, she gave me a hug and said thank you for the gifts and then said, “Ms. Moretti, I hope you have a blessed holiday and a blessed day.” At first I was overwhelmed with emotion that I didn’t know what to say but after a few seconds I found myself saying, “You too. I hope you have a blessed day.” For the first time in my life, I truly felt blessed to be alive, healthy, and where I am today. Each day is a challenge and a blessing but I know that my faith is stronger than it has ever been and I know that is because God is with me at all times.

I honestly never thought that one year of service was going to change me so much but it has. I am truly blessed to say that faith is a part of who I am today and will continue to be for the rest of my life. My year as an AV has been full of ups and downs already but I know that one thing is consistently inspiring me each day: my faith. I want to share with you a quote I found as I was browsing the internet on Martin Luther King Jr’s Birthday that I think is quite fitting. He said, “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” Life is not about planning out your every move and knowing everything that is going to happen. Life is about taking a chance and having faith in yourself, God, and others to know that you will continue to be blessed by every miracle God has given you. This is what I have learned about my faith this year and I hope all of you will take a chance to remember how blessed you are and know that faith will always be your guiding grace.


Chicago Fact: I will surely miss a lot of things about Chicago but one of the big things I'll miss is Monday prayers at Catholic Charities.  I have never worked at a place that was so open about praying in the middle of the day and I have come to really appreciate it.  So thank you Ms. Perry for inviting me to prayer and praying with us during our good days and bad.