The View from New York

Hey all,
Today, as I was spending the morning relaxing and enjoying my vacation back home in New York a really wonderful snow started to fall. Unlike Rebekah-who came home to 2 1/2 feet of snow, this was my first time seeing snow this year in NY. I had my journal with me and this is what came out:


Warm Inside

A little hound nestles up on her pillow,
While full grey clouds pass over the blue sky.

I peak through the blinds
Admiring the fertile winter sky—
My breath appearing on the glass.

Millions of tiny white miracles begin to dance down to earth.
A cold blanket forms on the country road,
Yet it seems to mystically create more warmth in my heart.

My little hound gently paws at the back door;
She wants to romp around in the white miracle.

I am warm inside.

Fellow Non-Profit Needs Help!

Hey Everyone!

I am glad Rebekah caught ya'll caught up on the fact that we are indeed still here in New Orleans serving. I had written a blog on my own personal site (the link is to the right if you want to read it) about my silly plane ride escapade during the Thanksgiving break--I got terribly sick on the plane! Haha, but fornately I am on the mend.

Today I received a rather devastating email for the rebuilding sector of non-profits here in N'awlins. A close partner of lowernine.org's, The Phoenix of New Orleans, got their tool warehouse broken into and close to $3500 of their tools and building materials were stolen. It is really sad because PNOLA has to almost stop rebuilding homes until they can replace the tools they lost. Plus, this time of year is huge for volunteer trips, so they will have many hands to do the work, but no tools...so, due to the robbery, everyone looses.

I felt called to write in support of their rebuild efforts because I know how tremendous it feels to rebuild a home....and how it feels when you do not have the correct supplies, let alone not having any. You feel helpless and ineffective.

PNOLA is looking for donations of tools to replace what was lost. While our organization will try to partner with them and give them some of our supplies, we have a scarce amount of supplies as well. So, while I know it might be a stretch to buy a table saw and send it to New Orleans, please check out their "wish list" and consider donating a small amount of money to their cause. I will enclose the link to the news blurb on what went down, and how you can help them out, so they can continue to rebuild this city that us 3 SJW's love to call home.

www.pnola.org

Thieves Steal Thousands of Dollars Worth of Tools From Volunteer Organization

Laila Morcos ABC26 News December 9, 2009

Related links Phoenix of New Orleans

NEWORLEANS - When lifelong, Mid-city resident Wallace Turner heard the news, he was shocked. 'I'd like to see someone to help them because that's who's been helping them in the past," he says.

The Phoenix of New Orleans warehouse on Iberville street became the scene of an overnight break-in. Thousands of dollars of tools are gone. "We already didn't have enough tools to do what we were doing, and now the little bit of tools that we did have have been taken from us, so now we don't have anything," says Kristi Jacobs. She says the organization that helps rebuild houses in Mid-city and surrounding areas can't host volunteers or do any work now. "All the things they took are things that are 100 percent necessary to do the things we do. We can't rebuild."

And now, the organization is going to have to rally for more donated tools. "They took a couple of generators, a couple of table saws. They took a mitre saw, they took all of our ladders and wheelbarrows and screw guns and batteries and batteries that power screw guns," she says.

PNOLA's helped many people, like Turner, who's doing his part. He's going to donate his own wheelbarrow to give back.

PNOLA needs a lot of tools to continue their volunteer work. For a list of those items and how to help them out, go to their website, www.pnola.org

Copyright © 2009, WGNO-TV

We're still alive!

Hey ya'll!

Just wanted to let everyone know that we are all still alive and going strong! Our days have been pretty full, and we have a pretty packed weekend ahead. Helen Prejean is taking us to Grand Isle for the weekend! I am sure the trip will be a blast, Helen is always fun to be around. :)

In some recent news, one of our community members decided to leave the program. Although the timing may have been a little off, we wish Rian the best of luck in all her future endeavors. The months she has spent in the SJW house have had a great impact on my personal growth, and I wish her all the best.

Since I haven't written in over a month, I suppose I should let you know we raised about $150 dollars for UNICEF. Thanks everyone for your generous contributions. :)

We all got a chance to have a nice little break for Thanksgiving. I went home for about 6 days, and it was wonderful to see my family and friends. I had a great time, but there was a little part of me that missed the liveliness of the city. There also were a couple times I had to give Traci a call or text Becky some inside joke we had.

We are going home again in a little while. Becky and Traci leave on the 18th, and I am leaving for home on the 20th. Christmas is my favorite holiday, and my friend Maria has a terrific cocktail party every New Year's that has been in my date book since last year! haha.

Last weekend we had the nice surprise of snow! It was remarkable how chatty everyone was about the snow, and most people could recall the last snowfall. The snow didn't stick, but it sure had everyone all stirred up. We were in Baton Rouge listening to the wonderful Joyce Rupp talk about opening our doors to God. The experience was an incredible one, and I am greatful for the opportunity to participate in the retreat. She has great advice, and I really enjoyed her presence.

Thanks for all the support! Sorry it has been so long! Happy Holidays!


~Rebekah

Useful Web Browsing; Wired Discipleship

Alright, close your other Safari window, I know Facebook is open in it, and you too are wondering why!? Its only 9am and your status has changed 3 times?! I know, I have already changed mine 4 times, and contemplated joining mafia wars.

Sound familiar?

We are all SO guilty of using our free computer time on quasi-empty(yet fun/informative) things such as Facebook and AOL Instant Messenger.

I have a solution. Start browsing with purpose. Be clear on what you are searching for--know that this is hard and takes time. The internet has so much powerful information on it, hone your search!

To get you started, I have for you an awesome 15 minute youtube video about "Validation (re. modern day discipleship). Additionally, check out the other link, "The 8 Irresistible principals".

We live in a wired world. Might as well wire in effectively and set your browser to "spiritual nourishment!"

Love you all!

Traci

ps: If you like this concept check out stumbleupon.com This is a great site to have a custom search bar ready for you, whenever your little heart desires some computer face time.

Trick-or-Treat...for a cause!

Hey ya'll,

Just thought I would update you with a little project we are planning. As many of you are aware, social justice is a pillar of our program. One thing I remember doing as a teenager was to Trick-or-Treat for an organization called UNICEF. I know we were able to raise a good bit of money doing it, so I brought the idea up with other members of the house. Everyone agreed that we would take to the neighborhood streets and ask for donations. To open up to a larger audience, I have created a donation page for anyone to donate money if they so choose. Please do not feel obligated, but I wanted to give the opportunity to anyone who might wish to participate. Below is a link to the page; just click and follow the directions on the page to make a donation. Thanks for all your support!

http://inside.unicefusa.org/goto/SJWNewOrleans

~Rebekah

Rebuilding Alex's House

Hey Ya'll, Traci here again...

It is mid-October and I find myself in the midst of something great at my work; I am in the process of helping to rebuild a home from start to finish! I am working on the lovely corner of Lizardi and Royal Street in the Lower Ninth Ward helping to rebuild Mr. Hubbard’s home that was flooded during Katrina. When I arrived here, I was assigned to this house and so I could start in on documenting my work as I am creating a formalized training program for rebuilding homes for lowernine.org.

At first I was a little tentative to stick to one house for more than a month; I enjoy variety, and commitment scares me, haha. But, after working at this 100 year old house, and helping to lead my own crews, it has become “mine”. I feel such ownership for this house, I want to take care of it, rebuild it to the best of my ability and infuse it with tons of love!

I think something that has made working on Alex’s house even more enjoyable is the fact that I have a great co-worker named Tim. Tim has previous construction experience, so he is the project manager on this site and I have been recently dubbed “his lil partner” by Darren and others. Day in and out we have worked together; sometimes we work with 7 other people hanging drywall, other days it has just been Tim and I sawing pieces of siding and talking about our lives as we wait for our supervisor to pick us up at the end of the day. I find it so powerful to have gotten to know a co-worker so much, so fast, and that we both feel very dedicated to “our house”. Whenever new workers come with us, we divvy up the tasks and both lead our small groups. This has been great since on the days that it is just me and Tim he teaches me certain things, and then I get to demonstrate what I learned to others when necessary.

Overall at Alex’s house I have learned how to install insulation, cut and hang drywall, do residing, and fire proof and weatherize a home. Once the drywall is hung totally, we will help to tape and mud the joints and then hopefully get to do some flooring and painting!

To give you a clearer understanding of what I have been doing, check out the video Tim and I made at “our house”. It was filmed prior to hanging the sheetrock. This link will take you directly to the video, while you are there check out my other videos of NOLA!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNToA9i51FU

Shaping the Gift

Feel yourself in suspense and incompleteness

Limbo in God’s hands—

Knowing His work is slow and deliberate

Drip, drip

Rain against the windows

It sounds like possibility

An infinite combination of pitters and patters.

Relax, unwind

Let your spirit massage out the past hurts and pains;

Trust that they were worth it.

This is slow work, that of God.

The anxiety of the future “working out”,

Has a salty taste to it I believe.

Swirl it around in your mouth,

Spit it down the drain

Let the plan go.

Get in the car, windows down

Warm sun on your forearm.

Admire your present skyline—

Love your present…

Inhale the smells, good and bad.

Look to today,

Romp around in today!

Today might be it…

Hold on,

Let go,

Live boldly and thoughtfully.

Your life is a gift.

New Photos from SJW New Orleans!

New Photo's Below!

Hey Readers

Look out below and above! Scroll down to the bottom of our blog or look directly above to check out our up to date St. Joseph Worker photo album. There are pictures of New Orleans, Traci and Rian out and about in the city, and plenty of lowernine.org. Also, be ready for some fresh posts soon! Thanks for the support.

A Terrible Case of the Junkies

You ever wake up on the wrong side of the bed? My grandma used to tell me to go to bed and get up on the other side. Yesterday, that’s how I felt. I had a terrible case of the junkies.

Now, for those of you who don’t know, the junkies refer to just an overwhelming feeling of BLAH. There is no real reason for them, and every now and then we have the misfortune to contract them and hold on to them for a day or two. It hasn’t happened in a while, so I guess I was overdue.

Poor Traci. She had to bear the brunt of all my frustration. I just completely unloaded on her, and I thank her for not getting upset with me!

Thankfully, I think I found the cure. I had some good alone time, talked to some people who are close, and had a good days work today.

I don’t know what your junkie cure is…it’s different for everyone. I hope, though, that I am through for a while because a terrible case of the junkies is never something fun!

~Rebekah

A Product Sharing the State of the Heart

Hello readers.

Today i was hoping to share with you a poem I wrote during one of our Tuesday night gatherings. For those of you reading who are wondering what I mean by "gathering" on Tuesdays the four of us workers and our program director, Jackie, get together to "Share the state of the Heart". This is a St.Joseph tradition that we are now very familiar with. It involves sharing a meal in community and then discussing basically where we are at using one simple word (which describes our heart's state). We can then choose to elaborate, chat about our word, do some journaling or whatever we see fit. Recently, we did a guided journaling session in which the question set forth was "What is my Truth?" This is what came out for me. I would invite you to ask yourself this question...

My Truth

Respect, compassion, unconditional optimism

My truth rocks the boat of convention

I float on waves of happiness

And eat uncertainty for breakfast

Real, warm, testing the limits of this world—

My truth;

My words on fire

Awake, starkly & beautifully aware…

Of this remarkable existence and its inhabitants

My truth shines like the stars

My truth lets the past go,

It does not brood over the future;

My truth just is…

I am.

Thinking, growing, learning

A Mecca of uncharted territory—

Crashing into others;

My truth stifles fear and burns with intensity

Free is my heart

Open is my soul

Gorgeous is my body

Brilliant are my surroundings

My truth makes love with this life and its curious beings

Empowement 2009

Hey guys, Rebekah here. Just thought I would update you a bit on a conference I attended a few weeks ago.



Let me back up a bit. Daughters of Charity had there staff meeting about a month ago. At that time, I was given a handout. This handout stated information about registering for a walk to help NO/AIDS raise money to help treat and support the people of New Orleans with HIV. So, being particularly drawn to this population, I immediately went to the website when I had a free chance and registered to participate.

While on the website, I couldn't help but notice the Empowerment 2009 conference (it was the first thing on the website). As I read more about this conference, I learned it was open to the public and free. I was elated! So, after getting the permission from work and all appropriate people, I went.

There has to be something said about someone who shares their HIV positive status. There is a large portion of our society that still looks negatively on this population. Being a relatively new disease, only about 30 years old now, I feel there is still a large deficit in information to the general public. HIV truly effects every person on this planet. An estimated 40 million people are thought to be infected with HIV worldwide, and only half are aware that they are infected. And if you think about the six degrees of separation, I am sure you know someone who knows someone, etc.

So, when I entered the Marriott on Convention Center Blvd., I was pleasantly surprised to see the room packed so full people were standing. People from all different races, men and women. All together to understand this virus a little better.

The introduction was by a man who was diagnosed with HIV in the 1980's. He was an active participant in his care, and even challenged medical providers to give him more than one medication to treat his condition. He encouraged people to be active in their role as a patient, and to speak up. He said, "I just wasn't going to be scared anymore! If there was something I wanted to do, I did it." And he is here now, because he had an active role in his health care.

Possibly the most moving speaker was a young women. She was diagnosed in the early 90's when she was pregnant. Her child is HIV negative. She spoke to the crowd with intensity. I can still hear her words echoing in my head, and I think that everyone can use them. She said, "We are not here to empower you. We are here to give you the tools to empower yourself!"

Such a powerful speech.

It got me thinking. I am here, but I can't fix all the problems. New Orleans still is suffering a lot. More than the rest of the country is aware, and you really can't tell until you are here experiencing it. The thing I see mostly are those people who don't have jobs. Migrant workers without social security numbers. Everyone still gets sick, and everyone still needs health care.

Maybe I can't make it free for all. But I can help make the clinic a little better. Whether it be by following up with patients, helping to organize a little or even doing small tasks that no one else has the time to complete. I work where I am needed, and hopefully when I leave there will be something I have done here to make it a little easier for those people who need the clinic.

Empowerment.

Traci's Bicycle Adventure

So let us talk about riding bicycles. They are fun, can get into places that cars can’t, and offer a sweet way to see a city AND get your daily dose of cardio. Now, if any of you are familiar with me and bikes, well we do not seem to mix very well, although I really do love riding. When I lived in Sacramento, after swerving my bike tire into a lite rail track, my bike made me eat the tracks and pavement….and I affectionately dubbed this occasion as “taking a dump on my bike”. The people of Sacramento did NOT get my humor.

Fast forward to today. Zzzp.

I have been fortunate enough for a departed lowernine.org staffer to pass on her awesome green Huffy to me! Today, being my half day at work, seemed like a great day to take my first official bike ride home from work. I had my route carved out through the French Quarter, and was looking forward to the 8 mile pace.

The ride started out fabulous; a brisk breeze whistling through my helmet, easy to navigate flat roads, and little to no traffic, since it was after the lunch rush. There were however, a bunch of ominous black clouds that came up the river and headed my direction, fast. I figured, “Ah, I will make it to the Ferry, get across the river, and will scoot home and miss this storm”.

“Muhahaha” Said the Gods…

As I hit mile 3 on Decatur and slowly coursed through the busy French Quarter, the clouds opened up! Now, let me tell you, when people say it rains hard in N’awlins, they do not mean that solid upstate NY downpour (and even that is heavy rain). They mean monsoon like conditions; raindrops the size of golf balls (okay, maybe I am being dramatic..) and wind whipping the golf balls into a frenzy!! My point is, it rains damn hard when it does here.

So it rained and I got stuck, on a bike, in the rain. I continued through towards the ferry as all the tourists ducked into Café Du Monde. I think one onlooker snapped a picture of me as he and his wife laughed at my soggy shorts…not cool touristy man!!

The ferry gave me a moment to get cover.

Then, I resumed my crusade for home, now on the westbank of the river…my side, where home is.

“About one mile” I thought. I got this.

No I did not got this. Lol.

The rain came down heavier!! It was raining so hard, I couldn’t see, so I got off my bike and walked it through all the murky depths of the street puddles. Anyone walking past me would have thought I had spent the whole morning getting sloshed on Bourbon Street, or smoking a joint, because I was laughing so hard at my second unfortunate bicycle adventure.

I arrived home drenched; my feet felt like someone had replaced my sneakers with water jugs and my clothes were dripping. All the dirt that was caked on my body, from work, was now all washed off.

“At least I did not take a dump on my bike this time” I mused.

Oh bicycles. They are so silly.

Hope Trumps Disaster

“You know what gets attacked first in the midst of a crisis or disaster such as Katrina?” The bishop proclaimed in the microphone in Our Lady of Prompt Succor church today.

“Hope. A group of people’s hope gets attacked first.” He said, answering his own question with intensity.

He went onto say later that, “I am thankful today to be standing here before you people and be able to say that during that time of crisis four years ago, your hope was attacked by hurricane Katrina, but I can see you have all given yourself over to God, and hope has prevailed”.

As the 3 of us workers sat in our pew in that church in St.Bernard parish, one of the hardest hit areas by Katrina from the industrial canal breech, I felt like I was part of something very important. The Eucharist was brought up by the men and women of the police and fire department of the parish and I got chills. The church was packed; black, white, young, old.

Today marked the 4^thanniversary of hurricane Katrina making landfall on the gulf, and the bishop was absolutely correct, hope was prevailing.

Church bells rang this morning throughout New Orleans, there was a second line parade starting at the street corner in the lower ninth where the industrial canal broke and water came crashing through. Me and Rebekah went to the New Orleans Museum of Art this morning since they were screening Spike Lee’s documentary “When the levees broke”. We watched half of it and then went to the other side of the museum to view a special collection of “Katrina” photos that were on display for one day only. The names of the people who lost their lives’ were honored outside the museum as well. There was a 24 hour rebuild-a-thon happening all day and night in the lower 9^th ward in which many university students and government/military personnel turned out to help serve a still crippled area.

I guess my point is….hope. So much was done today to fill the city with hope on a day which, similar to September 11^th, is usually veiled with grief and dark energy.

As I reflected on my time here as a SJW tonight at church, I felt very connected to something bigger.

I sat there, and examined the scraps on my forearms that occurred from lifting lumber into a house I am helping to rebuild. This week was my second full week of work, and I am not gunna lie to you, I lost sight of the bigger picture a bit here and there. My body has been aching from the new forms of physical labor I am participating in. I arrive home drenched in sweat, sawdust, and grease from the nail gun. I have been working on many sporadic pieces of different houses, thus I have not been able to see too much of my progress yet; I learn one thing and then it is on to the next thing.

But in light of all the uncertainty (and dirty clothes) my service with lowernine.org provides me, it has also helped me to glimpse this interesting hope that seems to float throughout New Orleans.

As I was telling my friend Sue on the phone the other night:

“You can feel something down here, I mean don’t get me wrong, many of the houses are still boarded up and completely ruined, but there is a really positive energy floating around. It is almost as thick as the air itself."

Each day as me and Rian cruise through the lower 9 to work or when I am actually out on the job there are sounds of hope: hammers nailing the houses back together, table saws cutting 2x4s to frame up new windows on a home, kids in uniforms are yelling to each other as they all walk to school together.

The other piece that has thrown me for a loop as far as hope goes is how grateful many locals are in relation to people coming in to help.

Usually when I meet new people here they ask the classic question of,

“So, why are you here?”

My response is an abridged version which sounds like “I moved here from New York, I am a volunteer working in the lower ninth ward rebuilding homes, I will be here for 10 months”.

After I say this I am always met with a hug and “thank you” whispered into my ears or handshakes and that very intense kind of eye contact, where the other person is really trying to convey their emotions through their gaze. I expected to have some grateful responses here and there, maybe down the line from homeowners who I helped directly, but definitely not from complete strangers who praise my bravery for even taking the step to say “yes” to a certain call to serve other Americans.

So as today marks the 4^th year that this crazy yet loveable city was really knocked down by nature and fate, I feel blessed to have found my way down here at a time when hope is being reborn. My fellow SJWs and I get to be a part of reviving a part of our country! Even just by being people who exude a positive spirit we can contribute to that hope that the bishop was talking about.

Cheers New Orleans!

Love, Traci

Help with Posting a Comment

Dear Readers

We have gotten some questions about readers not being able to post a comment to each respective entry on this blog. If anyone could write back (in a comment form) on how to successfully post to our blog this piece of information would be greatly appreciated!

Here is a quick 411. If you want to make a comment on one of the entries, scroll to the bottom of the entry, there will be a hyperlink which says "comment/post comment". Once clicked you will have a window in which to type your feedback. Now here is the tricky part. It asks you for an "account" (i.e. google, OpenID, AIM, etc). If you have a valid gmail address click that one. I believe you can also opt to "comment anonymously". Meaning, if you do not have any of the account/email types blogger accepts, commenting in an anonymous format would suit your needs. Just make sure to sign your entry so we know who it is from! Thanks so much for the lovely comments already!!

~SJW Fab 4, out.

3 Day Week Rewind

Hello all, Traci here!

It is Sunday, the day of rest, but I feel as if I have been in fast forward all week and it is hard to slow down! Aside from our jobs, which I will brief ya’ll on momentarily, the 4 of us girls have been doing a lot. We have been frequenting many different grocery stores and farmer’s markets in order to try and stretch our food stipend as best possible and walk the talk of sustainability. We have been experimenting with different modes of travel in and around the city, such as the Algiers ferry, driving across the bridge, and under calculating drastically how much walking any gal can do in high heels and 98% humidity just to check out the French Quarter. Maybe I will ask the girls about the idea of swimming across the Mississippi to cool off after our adventures on foot….

Anywho, work.

We all started our jobs this past Wednesday and everyone made it successfully each day; although we all resembled zombies a bit each morning around 7am. I know Rebekah described her first few days, so I would like to do the same. Rian and I are carpool buddies, since our service sites are barely 5 minutes away from each other. The morning traffic made me miss my hours as a late night bartender, but thankfully Rian did the driving the first few days, so I took shotty and slowly acclimated to a daytime shift of work.

I work at www.lowernine.org which is a small non-profit, located in the lower ninth ward, which specializes in direct rebuild services via short and long term volunteer participation. Although I was only there 2 days out of the 3 (we will cover where I was…on day 2) I really love the energy at lowernine. It run out of a house right in the 9^th ward, so the connection to the community I am serving is very present. I instantly enjoyed all my “co-workers” since most of them are aged 18-30 and therefore we all have tons of enthusiasm and happen to be on the same page with things.

Wednesday I got a feel for how our homebase/office ran, had a few meetings with some key staffers as to get a gist of the organization, and helped prepare dinner for the volunteers. Why did I cook them dinner? Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that, most of the volunteers who stay a short amount of time stay directly at the lowernine.org house. The house holds about 15-18 volunteers at a time, and they all take meals together and alternate roles of housecleaning and such. Even though I do not live there, helping to prepare the meal was a meaningful piece of solidarity, I thought.

Thursday, my supervisor at lowernine lined up a different gig for me with Rebuilding Together-a national rebuild program. RT was under a deadline crunch for submitting a grant proposal worth millions of dollars, so I was enlisted for the day as an “intern” to help gather research to put into the grant. My task all day Thursday was to Google my brains out until I found some useful statistics surrounding rebuilding New Orleans post Katrina. This included things such as contractor fraud, the current amount and condition of the FEMA trailers still scattered about the city, and key economic demographics to support the grant.

Sounds fancy right?? Haha, yeah that is what I thought!

Although I felt like a wet noodle after sitting at that computer reading all day, I was proud that I found many tidbits of informative data that RT worked into the grant proposal. Thus, I was part of something big to help move the city forward! Not to mention, so many things started coming together for me as far as understanding my job, and how things get done in the non-profit sector.

Finally, Friday.

Boy was I happy it was a short week. I am sure your familiar with the “new job” curve aren’t ya? First it is a sense of fight or flight your first day: “What the heck did I get myself into here? How did I end up in New Orleans working for free again?” Then, if you don’t run, it turns all warm and fuzzy for the next few moments. “I LOVE my job, and everything is WONDERFUL”. Then comes informational overload and inevitably the crash. (After this the curve flat-lines for the most part…but in general the first few weeks in any job is tough and filled with ups/downs)

Friday was a half day at lowernine since our supervisor held a small “appreciation” pool party at her friends house in the late afternoon heat. Overall Friday was good. That tension of being “the new girl” broke like a fever, giving way to this interesting sense of starting to belong and be part of “the crew”. A few playful shoves around the kitchen as I helped a few of the other volunteers shell shrimp to make gumbo served as a positive affirmation. I dunno about you, but being someone with a lot of dry Irish wit, getting pushed around a kitchen and punched in the arm (lightly), is a good sign.

This week coming up, I will officially get out on the rebuild sights and start physically working. Friday I went out to a few sights to round everyone up and got a good look at where our progress was at the various homes we are rebuilding for people. I am really looking forward to wearing the new FREE clothes I got at the nearby thrift store to paint and hang sheetrock in the coming weeks. I love working in an environment where you see the tangible progress and can have a wardrobe full of paint-ridden clothes to show for it.

So aside from the nightly “crashing” that occurred for me, the new job is off to a good start! Thanks for reading!

-Traci

Rebekah's Two Weeks

So it has been roughly fourteen days since I have completely upturned my entire life to move in with four complete strangers, and I have never felt as sure in a decision until now. We have been sent out to our charities, and for the last few days I have been orienting to the Daughters of Charity Services of New Orleans (DCSNO). http://www.dcsno.org/
This is a completely different kind of nursing to me, as I have been a nurse in the hospital for the last 2 years. It is really interesting to see the type of holistic care and the dedication the staff has placed into providing this care. I find it very encouraging.

I have only been at DCSNO since Wednesday, so it is hard to say how exactly I feel so far. I almost feel full of information. In the last couple of days, I have learned an seen so much. I am trying to keep it all straight, but like any first time at a job, it will take some getting used to.

Speaking of adjustments, having roommates is another thing I haven't had in a while. And having more than one is something I haven't had since college! Not only are we all coming from different geographic locations, but we also have very different diets. This is going to create somewhat of a challenge since we have to shop for food together. But it is easily something we can work out. We just have to figure out how to shop to live simply, which will take some work finding out what everyone likes or doesn't like and what corners we feel can be cut to save some extra cash.

One of my favorite experiences so far was going to the Jazz Mass at St. Augustine's. There are hardly words to describe the soul moving music combined with the liturgy. It was pretty amazing to see what a positive effect music can bring into all our lives. If anyone came to New Orleans around the time of one of these masses, I would tell them to go no matter what their religion. The entire church was packed, and although there was no air conditioning on the hot Louisiana Sunday, everyone stayed until the Jazz band marched out the front door. They held the Jazz Mass for the Satchmo Festival. New Orleans holds this festival in remembrance of Louis Armstrong.

I can't help but think that this is definitely the path God has chosen for me. The other three girls here are pretty cool. I was a bit afraid that they would be very different from me, and in many ways they are. We all get along pretty well, and I think that is a really good thing. I think we all ended up here because of different reasons, and though we all have our own experiences and backgrounds, we are all supposed to be here. I am really looking forward to this year and the adventures and experiences to come!

Introducing....

Hey ya'll!! Welcome to the SJW blog page. We are writing to ya from the hot, interesting, and incredibly diverse city of New Orleans...affectionately referred to as N'awlins by many locals who harbor an awesome southern twang. As it states in the header of this page, this is the St. Joseph Worker Program's first year ever in New Orleans, thus this blog is meant to inform the congregation of Sister's, our friends and family, as well as any interested readers of how the year is developing. My name is Traci, and I am writing this first post. But, for future posts, don't be suprised as voices change and we all contribute our own renditions of what it means to take on a year of volunteerism through this program.

Okay so, since we only moved into our home one week ago, our jobs have not yet begun. We just completed a week of orientation with our Director, Jackie Schmitz (CSJ) and other extremely wonderful people of the area. Each day of orientation we focused on a different pillar of the program.

In light of the fact that we do not have any work experience to reflect upon yet, I thought it would be nice to introduce the team of workers and where we will be working!

Rebekah Clark graduated from West Virginia University in Morgantown, WV in May, 2006 with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. While gaining experience as a telemetry nurse in a hospital setting, she is also passionate about education and care for those who cannot afford healthcare. She has volunteered as an Emergency Relief Worker with the Red Cross. Born in Minneapolis, she has also lived in Chicago and Hampton, Virginia. She loves spending time with family and friends, and is a supporter of animals and the environment. Rebekah will be working as a nurse care manager at the Carrollton Medical Center as well as visiting other healthcare locations for training, orientation and professional experiences.

Becky Kleive graduated from St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN in May, 2009 with a double major in Women’s Studies and Environmental Studies. While in college, Becky also engaged in an off-campus study experience called “The Oregon Extension,” which is a program teaching intentional community-building in a remote, mountainous environment. Her creative leadership at St. Olaf’s included co-directing the Vagina Monologues, hosting a radio talk show and educating audiences around the environment. Becky is passionate about education, community organizing and direct service work. This summer, she spent some time visiting her father (who is in the Peace Corps) in Samoa. Becky will be working with the St. Vincent De Paul Adult Learning Center for Empowerment. Rian Kistner graduated from the University of Dayton in Dayton, OH in May, 2009 with a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering and a minor in Music. Rian is passionate about using her gifts and leadership skills to assist in community growth. In recent years, she has used these gifts in many ways, from serving as a Team Leader for the Teens Encounter Christ program and Music Ministry Leader in Dayton’s Campus Ministry Department to serving as President of Dayton’s chapter of the Society of Women Engineer’s and as an International Living and Learning Community Member. As a St. Joseph Worker, Rian will work with the Community Center of St. Bernard as a Community Service Advocate as a direct contact with community members seeking assistance to rebuild their lives in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Traci Salisbury graduated from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY in May, 2008 with a major in International Business and a minor in Global Studies. Traci’s optimistic nature and zest for life support her passion for “servant leadership” and community involvement. Traci has served as a hospitality assistant at a women’s shelter with the Mercy Volunteer Corps, a facilitator with Just Faith Ministries for teens, a Soup Kitchen Volunteer, and a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity. Traci will be working with Lowernine, an agency dedicated to teaching home rebuilding to volunteers and community residents; facilitating access to social services; working with youth; and experimenting with models of sustainable economic development in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, LA. *** So, yeah, that is the four of us in a nut shell! We will be posting as our adventure continues to unfold! Lastly we would like to take the time to send out a huge thank you to all the people who put their heart and soul into our program, especially Judy Minear (CSJ) and Karen Salsbery (CSJ). Without their passion for this new frontier, none of us would be blessed with this opportunity to grow. Thank you so much!