Faith-based social services come from a faith commitment. For Christians, following Jesus leads people into service--not membership in a church. Mission, in faith-based services, is to protect, advocate and interact with those served. Churches often sponsor social services in which faithful people work. The difference between the two is the conflict in mission.
THE STORY
The title “At the Roots, Reaching for the Sky” reflects how we started where people were in their needs and feelings. We worked with low income, African Americans as they wished and requested. We did not tell people what they needed, but were always there for support. We never promised the impossible to people struggling with poverty, prejudice and racism. We were, however, reaching together for what we knew we could accomplish. I spent every week for nearly 40 years meeting and being with African American men, women and children. I tried to be patient and listen carefully. I wanted everything we did to be the best it could be. One of my favorite statements to staff, board and volunteers was “just because people aren’t paying for our services, does not mean they shouldn’t be the best available.”
Everything we did, and all the stories and conclusions in this book, relate to how our society affects African American families and children. Whether it is the critique of church-based social services, the work of Midtown or the hope for the future, the questions I asked were, “Did it benefit our neighbors or did we do harm?”“Were we standing with people or were we afraid?”“Did we try to understand people’s circumstances or decide for them?”“Were we friendly and open or did we act like the work was too hard?”
This story involves thoughts and experiences which come from being part of a special “community”. It includes reflections on faith, poverty, community-building and peace. Context is the key as elements unfold to describe how people in mid-city St. Louis, Missouri were able to grow beyond expectations of one another and form unifying bonds as they worked to “build a peaceful community.”
Freedom…is authenticity, truthfulness, fidelity
to the pursuit of truth and to truth when found…
in its intimately Christian sense, however,
freedom has a higher meaning than all of this.
Freedom, in the deepest experience of it, is love.
To be free is to be-for-others, an impulse
To the service of others.
John Courtney Murray
INTRODUCTION
The key to the whole of life is to be able to put oneself in the second place.
Turgenev
I am a white guy. I have a Master’s Degree in Social Work. I was a member of the Catholic Church and still believe in the tenets of Christianity. I worked with families and children in neighborhoods in the city of St. Louis, Missouri for nearly 40 years. I don’t believe in a “colorblind” society. In fact, I think we should notice the color of our neighbors and celebrate our differences. I don’t think America is a melting pot where everyone blends together. I don’t think it’s a mosaic of many-colored tiles without a plan for the design. I think America is a vegetable stew, without meat, so no ingredientreceives more attention.All the many types of vegetables add their own flavor and color and the juice or gravy helps tie it all together as a unique dish. America is this dish of people of many colors, religions, origins, and languages and the sauce of America is democracy and hope. I tell you this so my story of people coming together to create a peaceful community has a context. Also, I describe myself because in America race and class are what most divide us.
WORKING TOGETHER
My wife Joyce and I had the opportunity to work in St. Louis, Missouri city neighborhoods for more than 35 years. North of downtown in Cochran Housing projects, far north in an oppressed and ignored neighborhood, or in a mid-city part of town, we were able to meet and be with families and children nearly every day of those years. We were very fortunate to have such an opportunity. It was what we hoped to do with our lives.
We graduated from St. Louis University School of Social Work. We received our Master’s degrees in Social Work and immediately went to work. I spent one year working as a VISTA volunteer--Volunteers in Service to America, the program before AmeriCorps--at the Missouri Public Interest Research Group. When Joyce graduated, she began at the agency where she had completed a practicum. We were excited to be “in the field” and truly tired of school.
After my year as a VISTA volunteer, I joined Joyce at the United Church of Christ Neighborhood Houses (UCNH) where we worked for more than 10 years. There we engaged children, teens and senior adults using social group work. The goal of our work was to help children and youth develop the social skills they needed to succeed in a world which would not be favorable to them. I spent some time managing and providing social services in a Section 8 senior and family housing complex called Lafayette Towne. I also helped open a new site for UCNH, in a near south St. Louis city neighborhood, where I returned to group work.
After 10 years at the “Neighborhood Houses” I left and found a job at Catholic Charities of St. Louis. I became director of an “outreach” center. A few months later Joyce joined me to provide social group work in this new community. Yes, we worked together at both agencies and spent our lives together sharing in the most wonderful of journeys.
Our time at the Neighborhood Houses was a valuable learning experience and we met hundreds of wonderful children and teens. Leaving that job to work at Catholic Charities provided an opportunity to develop our own approach to people, programs to address their needs and an opportunity to treat people as we believed they should be treated.
Love is the suffering
of making another person’s problems
more important than your own.
Anonymous
THE BEGINNING
The journey began as we worked with families and children in a Southern/Midwestern city--Southern in attitude, Midwestern by location. We were with mostly African American families and children in one of the most segregated and racist cities in America. We saw their daily struggles and their capacity to cope. We experienced the happiest of moments with our neighbors, and some of the saddest imaginable. Every day we saw what poverty and racism could do to people, but we also saw an extraordinary amount of resiliency, self-determination and grace. We found people living happy lives amidst the struggle to survive the violence of poverty. We met people who were able to find the strength to trust us, although they had been hurt so often by white people. We found anger and hostility, at times, but more often friendliness and generosity beyond belief.
I often gave a tour of the neighborhoods we served to new staff, students, volunteers and board members. The tour included a description of the neighborhoods, their demographic make-up and the way people of different backgrounds interacted. At the end of the tour I would tell the “tourists”, although poverty was prevalent and people came for help, lack of income and opportunity was but one aspect of their needs.
The people we met through our work carried two burdens. The first burden was whatever need was created by their level of income. The other, much heavier burden was how they were thought of by other people. Although it was hard for people to ask for help, it was even harder if the person they were asking did not see the second struggle. We had to see the second struggle! When people are blamed for the “bad” things happening in their neighborhood, when their neighbors avoid them on the street and when other people’s prejudice is their daily experience, it is hard to trust, anger simmers under the surface, and frustration is a justifiable feeling.
The place we spent more than 25 years was called MIDTOWN. There we were able to build an organization dedicated to helping people--always with dignity and respect. We were able to help our neighbors begin to understand everyone had something to contribute. We worked hard to help people trust their contribution was just as important as anyone else’s. We helped people overcome the fear that other people