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STAT Program: Student Trips and Transformations

Trips7STAT Program: Service Trips and Transformations
By: Deb Lidbury, STAT Coordinator
Bellin College Faculty

On January 2-9, 10 students traveled to south Chicago on a service trip to the neighborhood called “Back of the Yards”. The area has this name because it is where the large stockyards used to be located in Chicago. Now it is an area of high poverty, crime, and unemployment. Our objective was to “learn” the connection between these issues and peoples’ health.

While some might suggest that our presence there would be seen as “gifts” to the community, what we learned is that to be engaged with a community, more importantly, we needed to be engaging ourselves. In order to build trust with those we were looking to connect with, we needed to literally pour our own energies into whatever needs were presented to us. While we knew our time with this neighborhood was limited, we needed to demonstrate that we were consistently willing and able to be flexible when differing opportunities and challenges arose.

trips6When the organization where we were
working had a boiler that failed, we learned that our chances to work with Hispanic mothers to learn English and to help tutor children in their after school program wouldn’t be a possibility as the building was too cold to offer those services. Our first day of adjustment allowed us the chance to totally clean the lower level of the building where the childcare, meal, and activities were normally held so that once the programs were ready to reopen, the teachers and students were welcomed with a warm and clean environment.

Next we connected to another program in the area that serves Hispanic mothers and children who are homeless and need assistance acclimating to this area as new residents. While we had the great joy of preparing two meals for the group, we also sorted clothes and toys, and prepared breakfasts for their soup kitchen that they offer twice a week to the areas’ homeless adults. We went to a unique church service where the mission is providing reconciliation among families affected by violence including a focus on boys between the ages of 14-24 who return to the community after incarceration. We shared a meal with them after the service, and one of them showed us their art area where there were powerful images of the lives and concerns of this group.

trips3Other opportunities we were involved in included helping at food pantries and distribution sites, and riding in the Bread Truck in the evenings. This experience was particularly meaningful: we served sandwiches and hot chocolate, and distributed hats, scarves, mittens and toys at 6 different sites where the homeless congregate. Anthony, the driver, is from the neighborhood, and has been doing this for the past 7 years. He shared many hours with our group teaching us not only about his neighborhood, but sharing the stories of the strengths of this community as well as the challenges that the media often focuses on. Another very special person was Molly, the nurse who coordinates their free clinic. She perhaps expressed it best when she said, “The term community cannot be overused, only over-looked. We must strive to be so engaged in our own “hoods” that there are no strangers, that not only are we co-existing, we are in fact intertwined in the lives of those sharing our physical space because to God, we are also sharing their heart space, their mind space, their place of service to the world.”

About STAT:
The Student Trips and Transformations program (STAT) is an alternative break tripsservice program that gives students the opportunity to engage in off-campus experiences serving in communities working with vulnerable people as a way to become active citizens involved in their own communities now, and in their futures as professional leaders. The program offers students a chance to travel to local, regional, and national locations where they are challenged to both provide service and reflect on those experiences as a way to grow personally and professionally. Participants are provided leadership skills, exposed to new perspectives, and ultimately gain a broader understanding of the concepts of social justice and community partnership. Along the way, students are immersed in new cultures and have life-changing experiences that contribute positive change within themselves and the world.

Action Through Service – Personal Growth – Life Changing Experiences

This program was formerly know as TRIPS (Transforming Responsibility Into Powerful Service)

Visit our website for more information and details about upcoming trips: STAT Program at Bellin College

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