A Season of Hope & Renewal
After over a year under COVID-19 protocols, we are beginning to emerge from a time none of us could have ever imagined. With that emergence comes a feeling of hope, the promise of new life, and a new reality post-COVID.
All throughout the pandemic, the SSJ Neighborhood Center continued its work of uniting neighbor and to neighbor and neighborhood to neighborhood by providing opportunities for connection, enrichment, and empowerment. Social distancing and masks certainly didn’t put a damper on our mission or the needs of our community. Through it all, we held firm to our belief that relationships are the key to what we do and who we are!
As neighbors, we learned how to gather in-person and online for the flourishing of all people. Online, our English classes flourished in the spring semester as students and teachers stretched themselves to learn new things in new ways. The virtual format of classes allowed groups to gather in a safe way and with a new form of intimacy. Most classes stayed small with one to five students per class. This size allowed our teachers to give personal attention to their students and the virtual format allowed us to welcome students at a distance who we wouldn’t normally be able to serve in-person. At the end of April, morning and evening classes (nine sections in all) concluded with everyone in agreement of how much our community was able to accomplish this semester!
On May 1st, the Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker, our community gathered with neighbors from Norwood-Fontbonne Academy (NFA) to kick off the growing season in our community garden. Students and their families from NFA partnered with the Neighborhood Center to grow seedlings this spring and to collect much needed goods for our neighbors to establish their garden beds. After a day full of weeding and clearing space, the beds were seeded for the season ahead. With everything from sunflowers to cilantro and corn to cucumbers, we are watching as the garden comes to life and our neighbors are busy tending their plots for a bountiful harvest.
In this Year of Saint Joseph, the Neighborhood Center has been reflecting on “Patris Corde”, Pope Francis’ Apostolic Letter on Saint Joseph, each Tuesday on our social media pages by delving into the wisdom Joseph has to share with us. The Neighborhood Center has also been celebrating the gift of our workers and the improvements we’ve seen on site at the Center. Our trees have been trimmed, we’ve readied the ground for new outdoor spaces, our Bolsa Room has gotten new storage/shelving, and a laundry space for neighbors is being setup.
A year after we moved outside, our food distribution continues to be held outdoors as we welcome our neighbors who are in need of food. On the third Wednesday of each month, nearly 200 families join us for distribution, with more neighbors coming throughout the rest of the month for food and other necessities from our pantry. By the grace of God, we have been blessed with generous donors who keep our shelves stocked and whose generosity has allowed us to begin offering specialized goods to families with babies and young children.
Our faithful volunteers have helped us to weather the difficulties of this time; their presence and hard work is a gift as we work together to make this ministry possible. Those unable to join us in-person have been busy sewing grocery bags for our neighbors to use and to reduce our use of plastic for the good of the Earth. Truly, we give thanks for the gift our volunteer are to the neighbors they encounter, the hidden ways they serve, and the many ways they live out our mission by partnering with the Neighborhood Center.
With Summer 2021 upon us, the Neighborhood Center is beginning to prepare to welcome neighbors back into the hallowed halls of the building. This summer conversation circles for those learning English will take place as well as the (hopeful) resumption of sewing and crocheting classes and the addition of other programming that will allow our neighbors to gather to build community while caring for the health and safety of all.
Soon we hope that things will be a little bit more “normal.” In the meantime, we rejoice in the gifts of life and love that are ours each day. We are blessed to share in community with so many and look forward to what God has planned for the months ahead. Surely it is a time full of grace and we pray that all who join us in person and in spirit know that we are one, sharing in the gifts God gives us and standing united in hope and love!